To be recent (in) that...

[felerian]

Hi,

Would you like to help me, please?

In a standardized college admissions test I came across two alternative answers to a multiple choice question:

It was recent in that he moved to Oregon.

OR

It was recent that he moved to Oregon.

Which one is correct, please? I intuitively chose the second option, but I have no idea whether there is a phrase like "to be recent that...". (I would use the adverb recently)

Please do help me, as I will have to opportunity to correct the mistake in two days.

Sincere thanks indeed.

[Alan]

I think you're misunderstanding the sentence. 'In that' here means 'to the extent that/ with regard to the fact that'.

The second sentence is not grammatical.