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705-805 Level|   Modifiers|   Parallelism|         
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 16 Jun 2021, 21:20
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egmat
Hi All,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” joins two independent clauses. But we have a dependent clause after “but” that does not connect too well with the preceding independent clause. The meaning of the sentence is not very clear from the way this sentence has been written.

POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Isn't "they" ambiguous in the answer options? It can refer back to journalists right? can you explain a little more if you don't mind.
Thanks
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 18 Jun 2021, 07:25
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I had a hard time ruling out A here. Two questions.

Is it impossible to split "will be" and "can be" as is done in A?

Why cant you write "but that they"? In my native language, swedish, we often use the construction "but that". It doesnt sound wrong to me. Here is an example from english:

"What surprises me is not that they do not play well, but that they play at all."

However, this sentence is parallel. But you mean A is not parallel because "but" is not followed by the same type of clause (independent)?

"I prefer nothing but that they act like themselves, and I like myself."

Can anyone elaborate on this? Thanks!

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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 22 Jun 2021, 20:06
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arya251294
egmat
Hi All,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” joins two independent clauses. But we have a dependent clause after “but” that does not connect too well with the preceding independent clause. The meaning of the sentence is not very clear from the way this sentence has been written.

POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Isn't "they" ambiguous in the answer options? It can refer back to journalists right? can you explain a little more if you don't mind.
Thanks
Show more

arya251294 - Firstly, pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule. Coming to the correct option - no, they cannot refer back to journalists. It makes zero sense to say that the journalists think that the journalists themselves could be made sufficiently safe in the future. Also, we're talking about the safety of the power stations. The existence of another plural noun in the sentence does not make it a logical antecedent.

Hope this helps! :)
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 23 Jun 2021, 06:22
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GMATNinja here the usage of 'but' is more of a connector (and therefore should be followed by a verb) rather than as a ',+ FANBOYS' right, which is used to connect independent clause right?

Gagan
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"But" is a conjunction, so it must connect like forms. What those forms are will always depend on context. For example:

    1) Tim tossed his children in the ocean, but later he remembered that they can't swim.

Here, "but" connects two independent clauses.

    2) Tim tossed his children in the ocean but dove in after them.

Now "but" is connecting two actions.

    3) Tim's children were somewhat frightened, but mostly unfazed.

Finally, "but" is connecting two modifiers.

The best way to see how a conjunction works in a given sentence is to look at what comes immediate after it. If you were evaluating answer choice (A), for instance, a "that" clause comes right after "but," so you'd be looking for another "that" clause earlier in the sentence for the second one to be parallel to. If you were evaluating answer choice (C), an independent clause, "they will," comes after the "but," so you'd be looking for an independent clause earlier, etc.

Put another way, there's no way to anticipate what should come after the conjunction. There will always be a variety of ways to write any given sentence. Instead, you want to see what does come after, and then ask yourself what this component is parallel to and whether the parallelism makes logical sense.

I hope that helps!
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 16 Jul 2021, 22:05
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egmat
Hi All,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” joins two independent clauses. But we have a dependent clause after “but” that does not connect too well with the preceding independent clause. The meaning of the sentence is not very clear from the way this sentence has been written.

POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hi, As you mentioned that - "when the reported speech is in the present tense, then the future tense verb in the statement should be "will" - don't we apply the same in case of "can"? don't you think option D should have had "can"?
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 11 Aug 2021, 03:01
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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.
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(A) that they will, or could,
the final inclusion of comma after could isn't required since could be are dependent clause and not independent

(B) that they would, or could,
Similar reasoning as A

(C) they will be or could
There is an absense of verb due to which the meaning is incomplete

(D) think that they will be or could
The meaning in addition of the exclusion of the comma makes it perfect

(E) think the power stations would or could
would and could together is unnecessary and they is suffcient and explicit staement of power station isn't required
Therefore IMO D
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 24 Aug 2021, 10:34
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egmat
Hi All,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” joins two independent clauses. But we have a dependent clause after “but” that does not connect too well with the preceding independent clause. The meaning of the sentence is not very clear from the way this sentence has been written.

POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
Show more

Hello
For the same reason (use of would) that you rejected E, why can't we reject D as even D uses "could"?
any expert can respond GMATNinja egmat VeritasKarishma
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 24 Aug 2021, 22:41
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egmat
Hi All,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” joins two independent clauses. But we have a dependent clause after “but” that does not connect too well with the preceding independent clause. The meaning of the sentence is not very clear from the way this sentence has been written.

POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hello
For the same reason (use of would) that you rejected E, why can't we reject D as even D uses "could"?
any expert can respond GMATNinja egmat VeritasKarishma
Show more

"could" is used to say that an action or event is possible.
The journalists think that the reactors could be made safer in future.

"would" is usually used with imaginary situations, especially when the situation is not expected to happen.
If better materials were available, the reactors would be made safer.

Hence, use of "could" is justified here, but "would" is not.
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 10 Apr 2022, 05:35
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Hi AndrewN,

I hope you are doing great. I stumbled upon this SC question during a revision and fell into a ponder.

Here, many "experts" and "users" have commented on the validity of the word "would".
The one that caught my attention is this one:
KarishmaB

"would" is usually used with imaginary situations, especially when the situation is not expected to happen.
If better materials were available, the reactors would be made safer.
Hence, use of "could" is justified here, but "would" is not.
Show more
I believe, we can use "would" to depict the "expectations" of the journalists. Because, the usage of "would" when stating expectations about future, which may or may not be fulfilled, is correct.
Example,
1. "The analysts expect that after the appointment of the new CEO, the profit margins of the company would increase". They expect profits to increase, they are not sure that the profits will increase, so using hypothetical "would" is correct. No?
2. In order to stimulate her child's senses, she would need to learn more engaging activities.
In both examples, the results may or may be reached (uncertain). Similarly, in the given question, Journalists are speculating about the safety of nuclear reactors. So, in my opinion, using "would" should not be considered wrong.

There are other issues with (E) that make it incorrect, such as the absence of "that", which makes it a run-on sentence, and would and could be are not parallel. So, I understand why it is incorrect but is the usage of "would" really unwarranted here?
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 10 Apr 2022, 09:10
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Hi AndrewN,

I hope you are doing great. I stumbled upon this SC question during a revision and fell into a ponder.

Here, many "experts" and "users" have commented on the validity of the word "would".
The one that caught my attention is this one:
KarishmaB

"would" is usually used with imaginary situations, especially when the situation is not expected to happen.
If better materials were available, the reactors would be made safer.
Hence, use of "could" is justified here, but "would" is not.
I believe, we can use "would" to depict the "expectations" of the journalists. Because, the usage of "would" when stating expectations about future, which may or may not be fulfilled, is correct.
Example,
1. "The analysts expect that after the appointment of the new CEO, the profit margins of the company would increase". They expect profits to increase, they are not sure that the profits will increase, so using hypothetical "would" is correct. No?
2. In order to stimulate her child's senses, she would need to learn more engaging activities.
In both examples, the results may or may be reached (uncertain). Similarly, in the given question, Journalists are speculating about the safety of nuclear reactors. So, in my opinion, using "would" should not be considered wrong.

There are other issues with (E) that make it incorrect, such as the absence of "that", which makes it a run-on sentence, and would and could be are not parallel. So, I understand why it is incorrect but is the usage of "would" really unwarranted here?
Show more
Hello, PyjamaScientist. You raise an interesting query on language usage and verb tense in particular. I agree with KarishmaB that would is, in fact, typically used in the manner she stated.

In the first of your two sentences, we need to consider what the analysts expect, and someone expects something to happen (or not), so expect profits to increase would be perfectly reasonable, but if we were to swap out the infinitive for a noun clause instead, we would likely see expect that profits will increase. Would would more typically be paired with expected in such a context.

In the second sentence, the adverbial [in order] to stimulate does not create a timeline, so in isolation, the sentence could go either way:

2.1) In order to stimulate her child's senses, she would need to learn more engaging activities.

The sentence conveys that at some point in the past, she had to do something, or, alternatively, that some unspecified conditional is playing out: If she were to stimulate... she would need...

2.2) In order to stimulate her child's senses, she needs/will need to learn more engaging activities.

Not to complicate matters, but a simple present needs could work in the above context as a sort of recommendation for the present. Will need would clearly project into the future.

Now, in the sentence at hand, we have journalists surveyed view... but think. Do not be fooled by surveyed. It is the present-tense view and the subsequent think that steers us toward will [be] as opposed to would. Focus on just the latter half of the sentence. We can ignore could, since it is common to all answer choices.

(D) Journalists think that nuclear power stations will be made safe in the future.
(E) Journalists think that nuclear power stations would be made safe in the future.

The safer, more grammatically rooted bet is always going to be (D) here. (E) invokes a conditional that is not at all present on the screen—i.e. would be made safe... if...

I think many native speakers would use the tenses interchangeably, but on a test of grammar, (D) should get the nod.

Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 17 Aug 2022, 14:55
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This query may be outside the scope of question but I wonder whether we can replace "could" with "can" here? would and could together looks paralleled to me in term of tense.
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 22 Aug 2022, 20:45
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pan1pan2
This query may be outside the scope of question but I wonder whether we can replace "could" with "can" here? would and could together looks paralleled to me in term of tense.
Show more
"Can" seems to imply a present tense characteristic of the plants. For example:

    "Nuclear power plants CAN produce a lot more energy than coal power plants."

Are nuclear power plants ACTUALLY producing a lot more energy than coal power plants? We don't know. But we do know that the nuclear power plants are currently capable of doing so.

In choice (D), "can" doesn't really make sense because we are talking about a hypothetical scenario "in the future" -- what the plants COULD be capable of in the future, not what they are capable of right now. So "can" doesn't fit.

I hope that helps!
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 21 Nov 2022, 04:53
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egmat
Hi all,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” is followed by a dependent clause that begins with the connector "that". So, structurally, there should be another clause starting with "that" that can be parallel to the "that" clause after "but". But there is no such clause present in the sentence before "but". So, this sentence is incorrect because there is a parallel connector here but not the other parallel entity.




POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.

Thanks
Shraddha
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Hi Shraddha,

It has been taught to us in eGMAT course that we use would for uncertainty and we cannot decide the usage of would based on the tense of the reported speech.
Can you please explain the logic applied here?


Thanks
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 22 Nov 2022, 05:45
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egmat
Hi all,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” is followed by a dependent clause that begins with the connector "that". So, structurally, there should be another clause starting with "that" that can be parallel to the "that" clause after "but". But there is no such clause present in the sentence before "but". So, this sentence is incorrect because there is a parallel connector here but not the other parallel entity.




POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.

Thanks
Shraddha


Hi Shraddha,

It has been taught to us in eGMAT course that we use would for uncertainty and we cannot decide the usage of would based on the tense of the reported speech.
Can you please explain the logic applied here?


Thanks
Show more

Hello monkinaferrari,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the use of the reporting verb "view" in the present tense indicates that the reported action - "will be...made...safe" - takes place in the future, and since "view" indicates a statement of opinion, the use of "would" is redundant.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 17 Jan 2023, 00:05
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egmat
Hi all,

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.



Error Analysis:

Conjunction “but” is followed by a dependent clause that begins with the connector "that". So, structurally, there should be another clause starting with "that" that can be parallel to the "that" clause after "but". But there is no such clause present in the sentence before "but". So, this sentence is incorrect because there is a parallel connector here but not the other parallel entity.




POE:

Choice A: that they will, or could,: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: that they would, or could,: Incorrect. Same errors as in choice A.

Choice C: they will be or could: Incorrect. Pronoun “they” appears as the subject of the second independent clause and “a majority of the international journalists surveyed” is the subject of the first independent clause. The placement of “they” is such that it refers to the subject of the first independent clause that makes the sentence illogical.

Choice D: think that they will be or could: Correct.

Choice E: think the power stations would or could: Incorrect. Use of “would” is incorrect in this sentence. When the reported speech is in the present tense then the future tense verb in the statement should be “will”. “would” is used when the reported speech is in the past tense. In this choice the reported speech “think” is in present tense. Hence the verb “will” should be used here and not “would”.

Hope this helps.

Thanks
Shraddha
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As far as I know we can use "would" ,if we are talking about some action / event that might or might not happen. So why usage of would is wrong in E
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 18 Jan 2023, 09:56
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
sztiwari
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

Concepts tested here: Parallelism + Redundancy/Awkwardness

• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("but" and "or" in this sentence) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present” and “that they will, or could, be made sufficiently safe in the future”; please remember that any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this sentence) must be parallel. Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism between "will" and "could"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("or" in this sentence) must be parallel.

B: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present” and “that it would, or could be made sufficiently safe in the future”; please remember that any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this sentence) must be parallel. Further, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between "would" and "could be"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("or" in this sentence) must be parallel.

C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present” and “they will be or could be made sufficiently safe in the future”; please remember that any elements linked by a conjunction (“but” in this sentence) must be parallel.

D: Correct. This answer choice maintains parallelism between “view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present” and “think that they will be or could be made sufficiently safe in the future”. Further, Option D maintains parallelism between "will be" and "could be".

E: Trap. This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "would" and "could be"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("or" in this sentence) must be parallel.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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If E had " would be or could be", would that be a correct choice?

As per one solution posted by egmat, "would" is not the correct usage. It should be "will"
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 18 Jan 2023, 21:04
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If E had " would be or could be", would that be a correct choice?

As per one solution posted by egmat, "would" is not the correct usage. It should be "will"
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Would is usually used in the following cases:

What people wanted to do in the past
e.g. I tried but she wouldn’t listen to me.

Typical behaviours in the past
e.g. We would get up at 6’o clock every morning.

Request
e.g. Would you help me?

Imagination
e.g. It would be very difficult to convince her.

Second & Third Conditionals (hypothetical or unlikely cases)
e.g. If I knew, I would tell you.
e.g If he had told me this earlier, I would have helped him. (future in the past)

Normally, 'would' is used in the past or 'future in the past' or hypothetical situations. For present/future, we use 'will.'
Hence, 'will' is a better choice in the given sentence.
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A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear powe 18 Feb 2025, 05:08
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