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GMAT OG Problem - Important concept

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by Ankur Aggarwal » Tue May 22, 2012 5:38 am
Hi, can you help me with this OG problem,
" To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility "

A. have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
B. have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
C. would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
D. would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
E. would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic

I understand given the options best ans is 'c'....

But what abt if we have one more option :-
"have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic" which one should we chose - would clause or have to ?
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue May 22, 2012 5:53 am
Ankur Aggarwal wrote:Hi, can you help me with this OG problem,
" To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility "

A. have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
B. have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
C. would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
D. would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
E. would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic

I understand given the options best ans is 'c'....

But what abt if we have one more option :-
"have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic" which one should we chose - would clause or have to ?
If both verbs are in the present tense -- demographers HAVE TO KNOW more than they DO now -- the implication is that both actions are happening in the present.
The result is a nonsensical meaning: how can demographers KNOW more than they KNOW?
To make it clear that the situation is HYPOTHETICAL, the subjunctive is needed: demographers WOULD HAVE TO KNOW more than they DO now.
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by Ankur Aggarwal » Tue May 22, 2012 8:25 am
Thanks for the reply. I now understand the same. just a quick question - what if we add 'will' instead of would ?, Will the sentence be correct ?
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by ihatemaths » Tue May 22, 2012 10:29 pm
is C the answer ? does the word economical exist in GMAT ?
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed May 23, 2012 3:05 am
ihatemaths wrote:is C the answer ? does the word economical exist in GMAT ?
The correct answer is D. I posted an explanation here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-t112336.html
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