Kasia@EconomistGMAT wrote:Responding to the dramatic affair, the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences would soon befall them.

A. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences would soon befall
B. a speech has been prepared by the minister of finance warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences will soon befall
C. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences will soon befall
D. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences had soon befallen
E. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences soon fell upon

Answer A is grammatically incorrect as it incorrectly uses the Future-Past (would befall) in the result part of a Conditional 1 sentence. We identify the sentence as a Conditional 1 sentence by the use of unless + the Present in the condition part (unless... are). Accordingly, the result part of the conditional sentence should be in the Future or Present tense. Answer B corrects the original Conditionals error by using the Future tense in the result of a Conditional 1 sentence, but it creates a Dangling Modifier. The sentence begins with a modifier: Responding to the dramatic affair. A modifier should be placed right next to the noun it describes. The only noun that this modifier can logically modify is minister. The noun minister, however, is quite far from the modifier that describes it. Therefore, it seems like the speech is responding to the dramatic affair.
Let's have a look at answer C. This answer choice corrects the original Conditionals error by using the Future tense in the result of a Conditional 1 sentence. This might be the right answer but we need to check all the remaining choices anyway.
Answer D is grammatically incorrect as it incorrectly uses the Past Perfect (had befallen) in the result part of a Conditional 1 sentence. Answer E, on the other hand, incorrectly uses the Past Simple (fell) in the result part of a Conditional 1 sentence.
Thus the correct answer is C.

Ankur87 wrote:

Kasia@EconomistGMAT wrote:Responding to the dramatic affair, the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences would soon befall them.

A. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences would soon befall
B. a speech has been prepared by the minister of finance warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences will soon befall
C. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences will soon befall
D. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences had soon befallen
E. the minister of finance has prepared a speech warning the public that unless their ways are changed, dire consequences soon fell upon

Answer A is grammatically incorrect as it incorrectly uses the Future-Past (would befall) in the result part of a Conditional 1 sentence. We identify the sentence as a Conditional 1 sentence by the use of unless + the Present in the condition part (unless... are). Accordingly, the result part of the conditional sentence should be in the Future or Present tense. Answer B corrects the original Conditionals error by using the Future tense in the result of a Conditional 1 sentence, but it creates a Dangling Modifier. The sentence begins with a modifier: Responding to the dramatic affair. A modifier should be placed right next to the noun it describes. The only noun that this modifier can logically modify is minister. The noun minister, however, is quite far from the modifier that describes it. Therefore, it seems like the speech is responding to the dramatic affair.
Let's have a look at answer C. This answer choice corrects the original Conditionals error by using the Future tense in the result of a Conditional 1 sentence. This might be the right answer but we need to check all the remaining choices anyway.
Answer D is grammatically incorrect as it incorrectly uses the Past Perfect (had befallen) in the result part of a Conditional 1 sentence. Answer E, on the other hand, incorrectly uses the Past Simple (fell) in the result part of a Conditional 1 sentence.
Thus the correct answer is C.

Hello Kasia,
Can you please explain conditional 1, 2 and 3 in brief.
I am confused.