A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present but that they will, or could, be made sufficiently safe in the future.
(A) that they will, or could,
(B) that they would, or could
(C) they will be or could,
(D) think that they will be or could
(E) think the power stations would or could
Obvious, D is the best. I eliminate E because E omits "that."
My q is Will vs. Would; Can vs. Could.
I am always confused on these pairs.
Any one? Thanks
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Will vs. Would; Can vs. Could
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missionGMATverbal
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GmatKiss
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syflysun wrote:A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present but that they will, or could, be made sufficiently safe in the future.
(A) that they will, or could,
(B) that they would, or could
(C) they will be or could,
(D) think that they will be or could - redundant with "view"
(E) think the power stations would or could - redundant with "view"
Just my thought on this!
Please correct me if i am wrong.
Also i have seen many experts commenting "would, could, might" are bad choices most of the time, and should be avoided!
Please post the source of this question!
TIA,
GK
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sl750
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IMO B
This is an example of subjunctive mood - it is expressing doubt
verb surveyed is in the simple past tense, so we cannot use future tense will, which is used if the verb is in the present tense
They logically modifies stations as it would be illogical to suggest that the journalists would be made safe in the future
This is an example of subjunctive mood - it is expressing doubt
verb surveyed is in the simple past tense, so we cannot use future tense will, which is used if the verb is in the present tense
They logically modifies stations as it would be illogical to suggest that the journalists would be made safe in the future
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Pratishtha21
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A verb parallel to view is missing in options A, B and C . So we eliminate these 3 options.
(A) that they will, or could,
(B) that they would, or could
(C) they will be or could,
Now lets take D and E into consideration.
(D) think that they will be or could - Correct. (they refers to nuclear plants). the helping verb 'be' is needed after will and could. D has both so it is alright.
(E) think the power stations would or could - Incorrect. 'that' after power stations is missing. Also we need a verb after would. Also usage of 'would' is wrong.
Would is used to refer to future in past.
One might be confused about what does 'they' refer to in D, but since all other options have major mistakes, we can go ahead with D.
(A) that they will, or could,
(B) that they would, or could
(C) they will be or could,
Now lets take D and E into consideration.
(D) think that they will be or could - Correct. (they refers to nuclear plants). the helping verb 'be' is needed after will and could. D has both so it is alright.
(E) think the power stations would or could - Incorrect. 'that' after power stations is missing. Also we need a verb after would. Also usage of 'would' is wrong.
Would is used to refer to future in past.
One might be confused about what does 'they' refer to in D, but since all other options have major mistakes, we can go ahead with D.
