Hello Everyone!

While this may look like an easy question to answer, short underlines can often be tricky! Let's break down what's different about each option so we can narrow it down to the right one!

Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears of insufficient supplies capable of meeting the demand this winter.

A. of insufficient supplies capable of meeting
B. of supplies that would be insufficient for meeting
C. of insufficient supplies that are unable to meet
D. that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting
E. that supplies would be insufficient to meet

After a quick scan through each option, here are the major differences I noticed:

1. Their endings: of meeting / to meet / for meeting
2. Their beginnings: of / that

If we start with #2 on our list: beginning the phrase with "of" versus "that." This is a quick way to eliminate 2-3 options right away, so let's start there. There is a subtle difference between being "afraid of X" and "afraid that Y":

Afraid of X = you are afraid of a noun (person, place, thing, or idea) OR event that starts with an gerund (an -ing verb)

I am afraid of spiders.
The students are afraid of failing their history exam.

Afraid that Y = you are afraid of an event might happen; the phrase after "that" MUST be an independent clause

I am afraid that Simon will make fun of me.
The settlers were afraid that their house might burn down.

Since we are talking about people being afraid that an event might happen (not having enough oil/gas to stay warm in the winter), we know it doesn't work to say that people are afraid OF supplies. They're not afraid of gas or oil - they're afraid that they will be cold without enough supplies. This means we can eliminate answers A, B, and C right away!

Now we're left with D and E, so let's focus on the differences between the two:

D. that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting

This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, it's overly wordy. Why would you say "that there would be supplies insufficient" when you can just say "that supplies would be insufficient?" Another red flag is the gerund phrase "for meeting the demand this winter." The GMAT doesn't like gerund phrases unless they are absolutely necessary. In this case, it's not.

E. that supplies would be insufficient to meet

This is CORRECT because it's clear and concise for readers. There is no mistaking what the people are afraid of here!

There you have it - option E is the correct answer!


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