Manhattan CAT Q...problem with subjunctive mood

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The lawyers for the patent holder pressed the federal judge to impose an injunction against the hardware manufacturer, arguing that they should take immediate action in order to prevent further economic damages against their client.
A they should take immediate action in order to prevent further economic damages against their client
B the judge act immediately in order to prevent the client from suffering further damages of an economic nature
C they should act immediately to prevent further economic damages being suffered by the client
D the judge act immediately in order to prevent them from suffering economic damages further
E immediate action should be taken to prevent their client from suffering further economic damages


Guyz i think E is wrong 'coz if it had to be right...it should have been worded as
'immediate action be taken to prevent their client from suffering further economic damages'.
According to me this follows the rule of subjuctive 'that + infinitive form of verb (without to)' But i'm wrong...plz can some explain to me why i am wrong? Does the 'ing' form used here (arguing) alter the rule in any way?
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by EricLien9122 » Sun Nov 16, 2008 12:26 am
I think the big problem with this sentence is "they" refers to lawyers while should refers to judge.

we can rule out A and C.
D: "them refers to lawyers while should refer to patent holder.

B: act (purual) should be acts (singular).

as for E, I don't see a subjunctive mood. It's only subjunctive if the sentence actually has a command type verbs, such as require, mandate....etc (MGMAT book list a few).

The sentence is written in passive voice, and it's okay based on the structure of the sentence.


I hope this makes sense, please correct me if I made a mistake.

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by bsandhyav » Sun Nov 16, 2008 2:20 am
Yeah...i guess you are right. 'argue' would not require a subjunctive mood.

But i feel that sentence B is wrong more 'coz it is wordy and awkward because of the usage of 'damages of an economic nature' rather than sub-verb agreement. Though what u mentioned is perfectly right in terms of gramatical rules singular judge requires singular verb acts. But somehow when i read the sentence with acts it sounds wrong to me. I feel 'coz of the structure of the sentence 'arguing that they should...' the infinitive form 'to act' is more appropriate. What do u think?

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by singalong » Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:24 am
any expert can help me out here?

I was confused between B and E. Chose B. I can say I am wrong about B coz it adds 'client' in the word instead of patent holder.But if you overlook this, I chose B coz it's active.

E uses passive voice though it's not wordy. So in situations like this which option would carry more weight-age.The one which is less wordy or the one which uses passive voice. I say this coz it's widely believed options voice are to be avoided as much as possible.

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by aspirant2011 » Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:46 am
Yup somehow I also feel that in option B act is right instead of acts bec of the usage of should........someone plz clear on the same.....

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by mankey » Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:40 am
My take B. Please provide OA.

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by cyrwr1 » Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:11 pm
E is my choice and to the original poster.

arguing that.... is not a command so "should be taken" works

B is awkward with the construction of "damages of an economic nature"

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by HSPA » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:17 am
+1 for E.. B seems to have more than one mistake.
First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
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by Mayur Sand » Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:27 am
My 2 cents are on E as well . B adds word "client" , which makes it wordy

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by mankey » Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:29 am
On second attempt, I choose E. What is the OA for this one?

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