I think its (A). What is the OA?

Your correct....OA is (A).....Can you explain??

"Not one ... is" is the correct form. Discard D and E

Purpose is best indicated by "to + verb" i.e. to buy is preferred over
for buying. B is out

In C, "until a merger agreement be signed" is incorrect.

So, A remains

Jay is right as usual.

Few more errors : if the deal "was" , until "they"

"if the deal were"? id right?

isnt deal singular

To express a degree of uncertainty or unreality, we use a subjunctive mood. So, B and D are out for using "was" instead of "were".

A. Correct.
B. It should use "were" instead of "was"
C. An agreement is always signed between two parties. But "them" here refers to investors.
D. It should use "were" instead of "was"
E. An agreement is always signed between two parties. But "they" here refers only to investors.

Option A.
THIS IS THE CORRECT OPTION. It clearly gives the correct expression of the event with proper tenses and it suffers no grammatical error.

Option B. this option would have been correct but the use of singular verb 'was' over plural verb 'were' makes it unsuitable
Also, 'offer to buy' will be considered over 'over for buying'.
THIS OPTION IS INCORRECT!!!!!

Option C.
'until a merger agreement be signed'???
the use of a plural verb 'be' here does not agree with plural verb 'merger agreement'
Therefore, this option is not correct.

Option D.
The use of 'Not one of' with 'are' contradicts each other and had to be replaced with singular verb like 'is'
Thus, this option is not correct.

Option E.
This option suffers the same fate as option as option D.
'to
Thus this option is not correct.

Hello!

Thank you for your question. Let's go through each answer and decide what is good/bad about each:

Not one of the potential investors is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement is signed that includes a provision for penalties if the deal were not to be concluded.

OA: A

A. is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement is signed that includes a provision for penalties if the deal were
A is the best option because it correctly uses the singular "is expected" to refer to "not one" of the investors. It also makes it clear that a merger agreement needs to be signed, and probably by more than just the investors or bank alone.

B. is expected to make an offer for buying First Interstate Bank until they sign a merger agreement including a provision for penalties if the deal was
B is wrong because it uses the phrase "they sign a merger agreement," but isn't clear on who "they" is referring to - the investors, the bank, or both? It also uses "was" instead of "were" at the end, which isn't the right way to talk about a hypothetical situation. "Was" is used for things we know for sure happened in the past, and "were" can be used to talk about the first of two hypothetical events (first, the merger doesn't happen...next, penalties are given out).

C. is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement be signed by them with a provision for penalties if the deal were
C is incorrect because it uses the wrong form of "to be" when it says "a merger be signed by them." It should be "a merger is signed by them." It's also wrong because we don't know who "them" is referring to - again, is it the investors, the bank, or both?

D. are expected to make an offer for buying First Interstate Bank until it signs a merger agreement with a provision for penalties included if the deal was
D is incorrect because "Not one of the potential investors" needs to be treated like a singular subject, which means using "are expected" (a plural verb) isn't right. It's also wrong because now that it treats the investors as a plural subject, it doesn't make sense to say "it signs a merger agreement." Who is the "it" referring to? Also, it has the same was/were problem as B.

E. are expected to be making an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until they sign a merger agreement including a provision for penalties if the deal were
E is incorrect because it has the same is/are problem as option D. It also uses the word "they" without being clear about what/who that refers to - the investors, the bank, both, or some other group we haven't talked about yet?

I hope this helps! I'm available if you'd like any follow up.