The alarming findings of a new study indicate that a deadly disease, named "white-nose syndrome" for a fungus that appears on the body parts of hibernating bats, is spreading among Northeast bat populations so rapidly, largely because of bats' social behavior and migratory nature, that should the present rate of infection continue, the populations of the region's most common bat species will become extinct within the next 20 years.

idiom so X that Y is applicable here.
so a and e remain :
(A) that should the present rate of infection continue, the populations of the region's most common bat species
(E) that the populations of the region's most common bat species, if the the present rate of infection did continue,


in E - > the modifier will become extinct....is unnecessarily separated from the populations.

atulmangal wrote:source- knewton prep

The alarming findings of a new study indicate that a deadly disease, named "white-nose syndrome" for a fungus that appears on the body parts of hibernating bats, is spreading among Northeast bat populations so rapidly, largely because of bats' social behavior and migratory nature, that should the present rate of infection continue, the populations of the region's most common bat species will become extinct within the next 20 years.


(A) that should the present rate of infection continue, the populations of the region's most common bat species

(B) should the present rate of infection continue, the populations of the region's most common bat species

(C) should the present rate of infection be continued, then the populations of the region's most common bat species

(D) the populations of the region's most common bat species, were the present rate of infection continued,

(E) that the populations of the region's most common bat species, if the the present rate of infection did continue,

Sentence structure as I perceived,

The alarming findings ... blah blah .. is spreading among Northeast bat populations so rapidly, .. blah blah .. , that should the present rate of infection continue, the populations of the region's most common bat species will become extinct within the next 20 years.

Here if we notice, the part in blue is a modifier, and the sentence after the modifier (underlined) should continue from so rapidly. Taking this into consideration, the sentence should begin with that eliminating choices B, C and D.

Between A and E.

I felt E to be awkwardly constructed thus A.

Please correct if I am wrong.

Hi,
The alarming findings of a new study indicate that a deadly disease is spreading among Northeast bat populations so rapidly that should the present rate of infection continue, the populations of the region's most common bat species will become extinct within the next 20 years.

so X that Y.
So, B,C,D are out and A, E are left.
that the populations of the region's most common bat species, if the the present rate of infection did continue, will become extinct within the next 20 years.

Hence, A

you guys rock, seems like i'm the only one who picked the wrong ans Op E, OA is indeed A

here is the official explanation:

Choice A is correct. Though the sentence is long and and a long section of it is underlined, the meaning of the sentence is clear as written. The sentence describes a rapidly spreading disease among bats, a disease spreading so rapidly...that a prediction about the effect of this disease is made. So...that expresses that the extent of a quality is of such a magnitude that it has a certain effect. It's easy to see in the sentence below how the that must be linked with the so in order to express this meaning:

"The basketball player is so tall that he must duck when entering the house."

Without that, the expression is incomplete. The sentence in this question includes the long intervening phrase largely because of bats' social behavior... to distract test-takers from making the connection between the so and that. Noticing the absence of that in B, C, and D should help you eliminate these answer choices off the bat (no pun intended).

Additionally, should the rate continue correctly expresses that, if the rate remains constant, then, at a time the future, the species will become extinct. The unusual order of these words is a grammatical form used to show hypothetical situations. Take a look at a simpler example:

"Should the rain stop before noon, the baseball game will resume."

When using should to express a hypothetical condition, the verb paired with should must be in root form-that is, the infinitive minus the word to. Thus, should [the rate] continue is correct.

The answer is A.

The other options introduce errors.

Choices B, C, and D fail to pair so with that to express that how rapidly the disease is spreading is what will lead to the bats' extinction.

Additionally, choices C and D introduce verb tense errors.

In C, though be is in fact the root form of the verb to be, using be continued makes it seem as though the rate of infection is a action that can be continued by another, rather than an action that will continue on its own.

In D, should is eliminated all together, and were...continued becomes incorrectly phrased. In this answer choice, continued is presented both in the past tense and as a transitive verb (as if someone had to "continue the rate"). The proper phrasing would be were [the rate] to continue.

Choice E uses did continue, a past tense condition that cannot have a future result (that the species will become extinct).

The answer is A.

you guys rock, seems like i'm the only one who picked the wrong ans Op E, OA is indeed A

here is the official explanation:

Choice A is correct. Though the sentence is long and and a long section of it is underlined, the meaning of the sentence is clear as written. The sentence describes a rapidly spreading disease among bats, a disease spreading so rapidly...that a prediction about the effect of this disease is made. So...that expresses that the extent of a quality is of such a magnitude that it has a certain effect. It's easy to see in the sentence below how the that must be linked with the so in order to express this meaning:

"The basketball player is so tall that he must duck when entering the house."

Without that, the expression is incomplete. The sentence in this question includes the long intervening phrase largely because of bats' social behavior... to distract test-takers from making the connection between the so and that. Noticing the absence of that in B, C, and D should help you eliminate these answer choices off the bat (no pun intended).

Additionally, should the rate continue correctly expresses that, if the rate remains constant, then, at a time the future, the species will become extinct. The unusual order of these words is a grammatical form used to show hypothetical situations. Take a look at a simpler example:

"Should the rain stop before noon, the baseball game will resume."

When using should to express a hypothetical condition, the verb paired with should must be in root form-that is, the infinitive minus the word to. Thus, should [the rate] continue is correct.

The answer is A.

The other options introduce errors.

Choices B, C, and D fail to pair so with that to express that how rapidly the disease is spreading is what will lead to the bats' extinction.

Additionally, choices C and D introduce verb tense errors.

In C, though be is in fact the root form of the verb to be, using be continued makes it seem as though the rate of infection is a action that can be continued by another, rather than an action that will continue on its own.

In D, should is eliminated all together, and were...continued becomes incorrectly phrased. In this answer choice, continued is presented both in the past tense and as a transitive verb (as if someone had to "continue the rate"). The proper phrasing would be were [the rate] to continue.

Choice E uses did continue, a past tense condition that cannot have a future result (that the species will become extinct).

The answer is A.

hey Atul,
dont be harsh on urself. In a cat envir it would have been difficult to spot the error in E. So keep calm and carry on. I guess ur test day is somewhere near. All the best. U rock !!