Sentence Correction

A patient accusing a doctor of malpractice will find it difficult to prove damage if there is a lack of some other doctor to testify about proper medical procedures.
(A) if there is a lack of some other doctor to testify
(B) unless there will be another doctor to testify
(C) without another doctor's testimony
(D) should there be no testimony from some other doctor
(E) lacking another doctor to testify


I know C is right answer . But I want to know the reasons we eliminated others.

anksm22 wrote:A patient accusing a doctor of malpractice will find it difficult to prove damage if there is a lack of some other doctor to testify about proper medical procedures.
(A) if there is a lack of some other doctor to testify
(B) unless there will be another doctor to testify
(C) without another doctor's testimony
(D) should there be no testimony from some other doctor
(E) lacking another doctor to testify


I know C is right answer . But I want to know the reasons we eliminated others.

main reason "c" is correct is that all the other choices are too "wordy". Concise is the way to go!

anksm22 wrote:A patient accusing a doctor of malpractice will find it difficult to prove damage if there is a lack of some other doctor to testify about proper medical procedures.
(A) if there is a lack of some other doctor to testify
(B) unless there will be another doctor to testify
(C) without another doctor's testimony
(D) should there be no testimony from some other doctor
(E) lacking another doctor to testify

A lack of X means NOT ENOUGH OF X.
A: a lack of some other doctor
Here, the conveyed meaning -- that there is NOT ENOUGH OF SOME OTHER DOCTOR -- is nonsensical.
Eliminate A.
.
The future tense cannot serve to express a CONDITION.
For this reason, unless + FUTURE TENSE is ALWAYS WRONG.
Generally, the verb in an unless-clause should be in the SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE.
Incorrect: John will not attend unless Mary will attend.
Correct: John will not attend unless Mary ATTENDS.

B: unless there will be another doctor
Here, will be (future) cannot serve to express the condition conveyed by the unless-clause.
Eliminate B.

E: damage lacking another doctor
Here, lacking another doctor seems to modify damage, implying that DAMAGE is LACKING ANOTHER DOCTOR.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate E.

A modifier should be AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to what it serves to modify.
C: without another doctor's testimony about proper medical procedures
D: testimony from some other doctor about proper medical procedures
C is free of errors and positions about proper medical procedures closer to its intended referent -- testimony -- than does D.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is C.