Those with a cynical turn of mind might speculate if the new corporati

On the GMAT, use “if” in a conditional sentence to show that one thing will happen if something else happens. Use “whether” to show that two alternatives are possible.

the easiest way to identify a conditional sentence is to reverse the order and the meaning will still remain the same:
eg
John will go to Harvard if he gets a scholarship
Reverse- If John gets a scholarship, he will go to Harvard.

In the above sentence, usage of "If" is correct.
But in our question, there are no such conditions, so option A,B,C can be eliminated.


Between D and E, E is correct as explained by others

Can someone explain how E is correct and not D?

Posted from my mobile device

whether is already in negative sense. so no need to put extra negative term.

Could someone help explain why "C" is incorrect?

(A) speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, might not have started - Wrong
>>> usage of if is wrong unless we have an if-then-else situation. Have refers to a singular entity corporation

(B) speculate if the new corporation, eager for profit, had not started - Wrong
>>> same as above.

(C) speculate if, in its eagerness for profit, the new corporation started- Wrong
>>> "its" is possessive. Ambiguous usage. meaning is distorted.

(D) wonder as to whether, in its eagerness for profit, the new corporation did not start - Wrong
>>> did not start changes the meaning. expresses certainty while at the same time using the word "wonder"

(E) wonder whether the new corporation, eager for profit, had started Correct

MartyTargetTestPrep AndrewN KarishmaB

Can you plz. explain how is past perfect correct here in option E, when there is no past verb or two actions showing sequence?

First of all, shanks2020, you should probably tag Marty by his new handle, MartyMurray. That said, there are two actions in (E) that are expressed in the past. It is just that one of them occurs within the modifier at the end of the sentence.

1) Someone started a rumor.

2) The rumor caused a competitor ruin.

Could the sentence be written in the simple past? Yes. However, it is not uncommon to see the past perfect used when a sentence deals with an unknown agent or hypothetical, such as if or its cousin whether. An example would be, I wish I'd made a different decision, in which I'd stands for I had, and there is no other verb in the past tense. Another, related sentence would be, Whether he'd thought about an alternative is unknown, in which the sentence implies that the person chose a different course of action. The point is that you should not approach SC looking to go into autopilot. Written English is complex, and just when you think you have everything pinned down, some new exception comes along and changes your view. It is true that in almost all cases on the GMAT, a sentence in SC that uses the past perfect will have another verb somewhere in the sentence that is in the past tense, but be careful before you decide what a sentence needs to say and commit to an answer choice blindly.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Thanks AndrewN for this wonderful explanation and bringing to our notice of MartyMurray new handle. That is what i wondering. Usually MartyMurray is amongst the first ones to answer.