Sentence Correction

Those with a cynical turn of mind might speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, might not have started the rumor
that caused its competitor to declare bankruptcy.

(A) speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, might not have started
(B) speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, had not started
(C) speculate if, in its eagerness for profit, the new corporation started
(D) wonder as to whether, in its eagerness for profit, the new corporation did not start
(E) wonder whether the new corporation, eager for profit, had started


OA E why not D

reply2spg wrote:Those with a cynical turn of mind might speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, might not have started the rumor
that caused its competitor to declare bankruptcy.

(A) speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, might not have started
(B) speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, had not started
(C) speculate if, in its eagerness for profit, the new corporation started
(D) wonder as to whether, in its eagerness for profit, the new corporation did not start
(E) wonder whether the new corporation, eager for profit, had started


OA E why not D

IMO E

D) wonder as to whether, in its eagerness for profit, the new corporation did not start

incorrect: as to is a wrong usage; eagerness for is wordier then eager for profit

Look out the sentence's mood/activity... you will be noticing that there are two activity,both were happened in past, and one of them started earlier than one..good catch..now see those two activity:
1.Company started doing rumor==>started earlier
2.Competitors declared bankruptcy==>started after rumor
Therefore as per rules of past perfect tense, it would be applied to first activity, hence 'B' or 'E' would be correct and others are out!

Why not 'B'=>
1.First of all in GMT, put your preference to 'whether' instead of 'if'.
2.For 'had not started' , 'not' is used incorrectly, imagine, if no rumor was there, then why were competitors in panic?
So Answer would be 'E'.