It is vs It were

[prachich1987]

Rust can deteriorate a steel pipe to such an extent that it will snap easily, as though it was a twig.

A)will snap easily, as though it was a twig
B)will snap easily, like a twig does
C)will snap easily, as though it is a twig
D)might snap easily, as though it was a twig
E)will snap easily, as though it were a twig

Source : MGMAT CAT#6
OA : E

[jaxis]

Clearly, E.

Subjunctive mood.

[RACHVIK]

IMO D. Th sentence makes a prediction in future about a certain event.

Whats the OA. It cannot be E since 'were' in subjunctive mood is always followed by 'would'

[AIM GMAT]

IMO E as well . Clearly hypothetical situation , hence subjunctive mood applies here .

[prachich1987]

OA updated in the original post.

[RACHVIK]

Hi Prachi,

I think there is some error. In subjunctive mood, 'were' is never used with 'will'. Can you please clarify with MGMAT on this. The question tends to give wrong interpretation.

thanx

[Jim@Grockit]

Hi Prachi,

I think there is some error. In subjunctive mood, 'were' is never used with 'will'. Can you please clarify with MGMAT on this. The question tends to give wrong interpretation.

thanx

This is not true, unfortunately and confusingly. You won't see those two verbs together as the essence of the same conditional statement, but that doesn't mean they can't be in the same sentence. The phrase "as if" regularly takes the subjunctive "were" in cases where what is expressed cannot be literally true -- clearly, a steel pipe was never actually a twig.