towerSpider wrote:Why not (F) . . . but less volatile . .

First of all, lol

Second of all, in general it's never a good habit to ask on SC "What if it were...?" because the answer choices are correct specifically in comparison to each other, and the right answer here is not the "perfect" phrasing at all; it's merely less error-ridden than its compatriots.

That being said, you are correct, a totally different but correct construction could have been:

"...see the Middle East as unstable at present but less volatile in the future."

This would make "unstable" and "volatile," adjectives, in parallel construction, connected by "but."

Very clever

AdamKnewton wrote:

Reva wrote: sorry but one more doubt how is "will be " parallel to " could become"

Fair enough. You're right that they are different constructions, in that one is a future tense verb form and the other is a conditional verb form; however, at least they are two-part verb constructions. In all fairness, ALL of the 5 choices have parallel constructions at the end, although some of them have different meanings.

Hi Adam Thanks for the help,U just mentioned Could is a conditional verb form but u are eliminating E because would is also a conditional verb formThen D should also be incorrect