Although the rise in incidence of the disease has fueled fears for a

A. has fueled fears for a full blown epidemic progressing - Incorrect. Illogical. 'fear for' is not suitable in the given context.

B. fueled fears that a full blown epidemic is progressing - Incorrect. Tense error.

C. had fueled fears for a full blown epidemic in progress - Incorrect. Same error as in A.

D. has fueled fears that a full blown epidemic is in progress - Correct.

E. fueled fears of how a full blown epidemic is in progress - Incorrect. Awkward.

Answer: D

Although the rise in incidence of the disease has fueled fears that a full blown epidemic is in progress, the Surgeon General assured the reporters that his large-scale treatment plan would bring the spread of the disease under control.

Correct answer must be (D) for the correct usage of S-V agreement usage...

I'm happy to respond to this thread, as I am the author of this question.

This is hard question. Only about 59% of Magoosh students get this right: KeepCalmAdi, viditmalhotra89 , Vyshak, and Abhishek009 all have nailed this tough question. Congratulations!

Mike

how can the fear fueling happen in present perfect, and the assuring happen in past? has fueled fears.... the surgeon general assured???? This does not make sense, can experts pitch in please?

Oreo

Hi!

Can sombody explain to me why A is wrong? IMO, "progressing" correctly modifies the preceding noun "epidemic".



Many thanks!

Yeah, I got this point!

B. fueled fears that a full blown epidemic is progressing

Can you explain why B wrong? Is is because we use simple past tense and simple progressive tense simultaneously in the same clause?

No, using simple past and past continuous tense simultaneously is not the issue - the problem is with the simple past tense itself. The effect of fueling fear is still there, hence present perfect is better than simple past.

(Note: there is no tense called "simple progressive" - either it is simple or progressive, but cannot be both.)

QA : D , that brings a clause , which refers to diseases and the idiom "is in progress" , I also reviewed option B , as there is a verb error , plus verb+ing , is not parallel with the sentence.

Magoosh Official Explanation:

Split #1: verb tense. The rise in cases of this disease is something that happened in the past, and may still be happening—that's unclear. Either the simple past "fueled" or present perfect "has fueled" could be correct—choices (A) & (B) & (D) & (E) have these. The past perfect would be correctly only if we wanted to establish contrast with another past event, but that doesn't make sense in this context: it changes the meaning too much. The past perfect "had fueled" is incorrect—choice (C) makes this mistake.

Also, the progressive tense in (B) is awkward: it's almost redundant to use the progressive tense to say that something "is progressing." Choice (B) is wrong.

Split #2: idiom with "fear."

When we are afraid of something happening, we need to use that: "the fear that X will do this."
When we are afraid of a single noun, we use of: "fear of flying", "fear of spiders", etc.
When we are afraid on behalf of something for which we have concern, then we use for: "I fear for my life", "I fear for the future of their marriage", etc.

Here, what is feared is the "full blown epidemic" and the fact that it may already be underway. Here, the "for" construction is entirely incorrect: choices (A) & (C) make this mistake and are incorrect. The "of" construction in (E) is acceptable. The other two choices have "that" clauses, which are correct.

These two splits leave us with (D) and (E). Choice (D) is sleek, elegant, and powerfully direct. Choice (E) is a dismally colloquial phrasing that does not stand up to logical analysis and would not bear examination in any respectable source of writing. Choice (E) is a complete disaster and is incorrect. Choice (D) is the best answer.

Although the rise in incidence of the disease has fueled fears for a full blown epidemic progressing, the Surgeon General assured the reporters that his large-scale treatment plan would bring the spread of the disease under control.

A. has fueled fears for a full blown epidemic progressing
B. fueled fears that a full blown epidemic is progressing
C. had fueled fears for a full blown epidemic in progress
D. has fueled fears that a full blown epidemic is in progress
E. fueled fears of how a full blown epidemic is in progress


MartyMurray

I can understand "D" is correct. But option C seems correct as well

the action "fueled fears" occurs before "assured". Don't we require to maintain a sequence of tenses??

I am not debating option D but i wanted to know why C is incorrect?

As you noticed, the tenses of "had fueled" and "assured" in the version created via the use of choice C work well together.

Nevertheless, C is not effective because "had fueled fears for a full blown epidemic in progress" does not convey a logical meaning.

The expression "fear for" conveys that the subject is concerned about the object.

Example: Jim feared for Andrea's health.

The above example conveys that Jim is concerned about Andrea's health.

It would not make sense to fear for a full blown epidemic in progress. To "fear for an epidemic in progress" is to be concerned for the well being of an epidemic in progress.

Thus, the sentence version created via the use of choice C conveys a nonsensical meaning.

I love Magoosh questions , albeit legit ones.m(I'm learning the usage of "albeit " , so correct me if I'm wrong

Although the rise in incidence of the disease has fueled fears for a full blown epidemic progressing, the Surgeon General assured the reporters that his large-scale treatment plan would bring the spread of the disease under control.
Meaning - there is a rise in incidence of Dis >> this rise has fueled fears >> what fears?epidemic progressing >> BUT even with this situation , a surgeon say CHILL bro , my treatment would control the spread .

Split 1 : fears "for " - the fears ARE of epidem ... the epidem is not afraid.... fears for literally means epidem has fears ...
A & C gone...

split 2: fueled vs had fueled vs has fueled : the rise is still ongoing and it continues to instill fear .... the disease started to rise and is still rising and correspondingly fueling fears ... present perfect " action started in past and still continues ... so we need " has fueled "
B & E gone...


D is the best

daagh. Please share your view. I am still adamant that the first sentence should have past perfect. I also understand that no other choices are satisfactory and that could make D as the best answer.

Just for the sake of understanding, wouldn't "had fueled fears that a full blown epidemic is in progress " be a better option? Besides, what does "is" signify here?

For example,
He told me that he is smart - conveys the meaning that he is always smart.
He told me that he was working- conveys the meaning that he worked in the past. He is not working anymore.

So is the endemic always progressing? shouldn't we use was here?

Thanks
Darshak

Darshak
Mike has already clarified about this point. Let's be guided by his views.

Why are we eliminating C?
Past perfect or fear for ? or both