bupbebeo wrote:The central issue before the court was how far the regulatory agencies should go in requiring better working conditions in factories.

a, in requiring better working conditions in factories
b, as far as requiring better working conditions in factories
c, in their requirement that factories should have better working conditions
d, as far as requiring that factories should have better working conditions
e, to require factories to have better working conditions

I choose E, but the correct answer is A.

Could anyone can help me explain why?

thanks a lot

A good question this one .

The sentence tricks you to believe that its a subjunctive case and hence you should pick the base form of the verb that is REQUIRE.

As require can be used with TO : We require you TO BE in the office.

Or with THAT : The boss requires THAT John be in the office.

But read the sentence carefully do we really need a subjunctive case here ? No

The central issue before the court was how far the regulatory agencies should go .

Should in the original sentence indicates that this is not a subjunctive case and we dont need to use the base form of the verb.

This is why A is correct and E is not .

Hope this helps.

bupbebeo wrote:The central issue before the court was how far the regulatory agencies should go in requiring better working conditions in factories.

a, in requiring better working conditions in factories
b, as far as requiring better working conditions in factories
c, in their requirement that factories should have better working conditions
d, as far as requiring that factories should have better working conditions
e, to require factories to have better working conditions

I choose E, but the correct answer is A.

Could anyone can help me explain why?

thanks a lot

IMO A

Tough call between A and E.
Both are gramatically fine. But there is a slight dfference in their meaning.

As per A, its a process is already in effect; whereas according to E, regulatory agencies should go to reuire...

And as we know, if both options are gramatically correct, we should select the option which retains the meaning of original sentence. So its A