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BTG Practice Question Expert Help Required

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by mundasingh123 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:26 pm
A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by prachich1987 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:01 am
Obviously not an expert
But would like to make an attempt

IMO : B

A)that it will, or could, -------verb is interviewed.Hence we can't use WILL here.
B)that it would, or could, -----Parallel Correct usage of would ,could
C)it will be or could -------Not parallel
D)believe that it will be or could -------Not parallel
E)think the Middle East would or could------no need to use Middle East.IT can refer only to Middle East
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by mundasingh123 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:05 am
prachich1987 wrote:Obviously not an expert
But would like to make an attempt

IMO : B

A)that it will, or could, -------verb is interviewed.Hence we can't use WILL here.
B)that it would, or could, -----Parallel Correct usage of would ,could
C)it will be or could -------Not parallel
D)believe that it will be or could -------Not parallel
E)think the Middle East would or could------no need to use Middle East.IT can refer only to Middle East
Wrong ! Nice try though
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by AIM GMAT » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:26 am
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

IMO A .

Not sure about the reason.
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by mundasingh123 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:28 am
AIM GMAT wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could

IMO A .

Not sure about the reason.
2 Down .
3 More to Go
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by diebeatsthegmat » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:02 am
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
D
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by mundasingh123 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:36 am
Hey why not E
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by Adam@Knewton » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:08 pm
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
"see the Middle East as... but" requires a verb for parallel structure, not a noun clause as in (A) or (B). (C) changes the meaning of the sentence by making the latter clause a statement of fact, not an opinion of the observers. This leaves us with (D) and (E).

(E) seems promising but "would" is the wrong meaning -- there is no hypothetical or conditional structure here (such as, "if capable leaders were to emerge in the region, it would become less volatile.")

(D) works: "believe" is parallel to "see" and "will be" is parallel to "could become," with the correct meaning retained.
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by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:08 pm
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
still not able to understand why B is wrong. isn't interviewed a past so " would "should be used "future in past". Please correct me. can anyone give one more explanation?
THANKS
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by Adam@Knewton » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:23 pm
Reva wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
still not able to understand why B is wrong. isn't interviewed a past so " would "should be used "future in past". Please correct me. can anyone give one more explanation?
THANKS
"Interviewed" is not a past-tense verb; it is the past partciple of "to interview," yes, but here it's just being used as an adjective, describing the observers. The main verb of the sentence, "see" is in the present tense, and thus "will" is correct instead of "would."

Furthermore, neither of the choices beginning with "that" are acceptable. This would require a parallel "that" noun clause earlier in the sentence, such as, "A majority of observers interviewed think THAT the Middle East is unstable at present but THAT it will be less volatile...." Here, however, the first clause is a simple verb-predicate contruction: they "see the Middle East as unstable." We need another verb to be parallel to "see" as the second verb of which the "majority of observers" are the subject. Only (D) and (E) provide this option (see my above post).
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by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:35 pm
AdamKnewton wrote:
Reva wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
still not able to understand why B is wrong. isn't interviewed a past so " would "should be used "future in past". Please correct me. can anyone give one more explanation?
THANKS
"Interviewed" is not a past-tense verb; it is the past partciple of "to interview," yes, but here it's just being used as an adjective, describing the observers. The main verb of the sentence, "see" is in the present tense, and thus "will" is correct instead of "would."
thanks a lot for the explanation . no more doubts left.
Furthermore, neither of the choices beginning with "that" are acceptable. This would require a parallel "that" noun clause earlier in the sentence, such as, "A majority of observers interviewed think THAT the Middle East is unstable at present but THAT it will be less volatile...." Here, however, the first clause is a simple verb-predicate contruction: they "see the Middle East as unstable." We need another verb to be parallel to "see" as the second verb of which the "majority of observers" are the subject. Only (D) and (E) provide this option (see my above post).
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by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:03 pm
AdamKnewton wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:A majority of observers interviewed see the Middle East as unstable at present but that it will, or could, become less volatile in the future.
A)that it will, or could,
B)that it would, or could,
C)it will be or could
D)believe that it will be or could
E)think the Middle East would or could
"see the Middle East as... but" requires a verb for parallel structure, not a noun clause as in (A) or (B). (C) changes the meaning of the sentence by making the latter clause a statement of fact, not an opinion of the observers. This leaves us with (D) and (E).

(E) seems promising but "would" is the wrong meaning -- there is no hypothetical or conditional structure here (such as, "if capable leaders were to emerge in the region, it would become less volatile.")

(D) works: "believe" is parallel to "see" and "will be" is parallel to "could become," with the correct meaning retained.
sorry but one more doubt how is "will be " parallel to " could become"
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by Adam@Knewton » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:11 pm
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.
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by Reva » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:49 pm
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.
thanks a lot sir.
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by towerSpider » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:14 pm
Why not (F) . . . but less volatile . .
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