BTGmoderatorRO wrote:If the proposed expenditures for gathering information abroad are reduced even further, international news report have been and will continue to dimish in number and quality.
(a). have been and will continue to dimish
(b). have and will continue to diminish
(c). will continue to diminish, as they already did
(d) will continue to diminish, as they have already
(e). will continue to diminish

OA is E
OA says E but whats wrong with option B. An Expert view will be appreciated.

The structure "if ____, then ____" implies CAUSE + EFFECT. Logically, the cause must happen before the effect. Therefore, the verb tenses must follow suit.

"If expenditures... are reduced..." --> present tense. It's hypothetical, so this reduction hasn't happened yet, but it could presumably happen right now. If this reduction causes the diminishing in news report quality, that diminishing must happen after the reduction.
"If expenditures... are reduced, news reports have diminished..." --> this is illogical for cause + effect.
"If expenditures... are reduced, news reports will diminish.." --> this makes logical sense.

For more on IF + THEN structures that test verb tenses, see:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/verb-tense- ... tml#733298
https://www.beatthegmat.com/a-simple-tr ... tml#637051
https://www.beatthegmat.com/sentence-co ... tml#575581