Constance Horner, chief of the United States government’s personnel ag

A
as i see , c has wrong pronoun usage... them for an applicant

The drugs are not the grounds for rejecting an applicant...the 'usage' of drugs by an applicant is a problem for the chief

The biggiest problem in C is that it uses pronoun 'them' to refer to antecedent of possessive form 'an applicant's'. In addition, 'them' is wrong to refer to singular antecedent.

(C) an applicant’s use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds not to hire them

Recommended falls under subjunctive category. So "should" is incorrect usage. Be is sufficient. Check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjunctive_mood

(A) the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant
CORRECT
(B) any dangerous or illegal drug, if used in the five years prior to applying for a job, should be grounds for not hiring an applicant
"ANY USE OF DRUG" AND NOT "THE DRUG" SHOULD BE GROUNDS FOR BLAH BLAH BLAH.
"APPLYING FOR A JOB" SHOULD BE "APPLICATION FOR A JOB"
(C) an applicant’s use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds not to hire them
SUBJECT VERB AGRREMENT PROBLEM
AN APPLICANTS USE/ THEM IS INCORRECT
(D) an applicant’s use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to applying for a job are grounds that they not be hired
SUBJECT VERB AGRREMENT PROBLEM
AN APPLICANTS USE/ THEY IS INCORRECT
(E) for five years prior to applying for a job, an applicant’s use of any dangerous or illegal drug be grounds for not hiring them
SUBJECT VERB AGRREMENT PROBLEM
AN APPLICANTS USE/ THEM IS INCORRECT

It`s A.

B is not the answer, because the USE is the subject of the sentence.
C is not correct, since applicant`s is Singular, while THEM is plural
D is not chosen for the same reason as C + the Verb is not used in the correct form
E - the same as C + wrong modifier placement

+1 A
C,D,E refer to "an" applicant as them (noun-antecedent error)
B is awkward for various reason ( subject is drug and not the use of drugs, "should" changes the meaning etc) cannt be 100% what the error is for B but i eliminated it due to "awkardness"

Nice question. C, D and E can be eliminated for pronoun error. All these sentences use possesive noun (applicant's) and they, them cannot refer to him

Nice question, took me a while to get around it.
C, D and E may be rejected straight away; all three of them have "...an applicant...they/them...".
B voilates the format of command subjunctive. Left with A.

The sentence is subjunctive mood.

So "should be "....is incorrect ...B is out

Ans C & E contain "them" doesn't have antecedent

"D " contains incorrect idiom "grounds"

Correct idiom "grounds...for"

To actually keep in sync and put the command subjunctive force to peace, we have to use the verb form in its most simple form. "Hiring" is incorrect here and should be replaced with Hire.

Undoubtedly the C option which is the only one which suffices to this prerequisite is also incorrect due to wrong pronoun reference.

Guess this question has no correct options given at all

The answer is logical and it is A!

Hire or hiring is not the purpose. One of the main exercise of those question is to find the meaning (here it is ok because the meaning is simple)

(A) the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds for not hiring an applicant
(B) any dangerous or illegal drug, if used in the five years prior to applying for a job, should be grounds for not hiring an applicant ==> says that the the drugs should be grounds for not hiring It does not make sense at all
(C) an applicant’s use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job be grounds not to hire them ==> Them?
(D) an applicant’s use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to applying for a job are grounds that they not be hired ==> that they not be hired ? This is wrong, wordy, crap..;As you wish...
(E) for five years prior to applying for a job, an applicant’s use of any dangerous or illegal drug be grounds for not hiring them ==> Them?

Hope it helps!

Answer A obvious!

recommended( Bossy verb) that the use of any dangerous or illegal drug in the five years prior to application for a job( Subject) be grounds for not hiring an applicant( Subjunctive mood) [/u].

Hp it helps

"Should" in b IS WRONG. In subjunctive mood we cannot use should. Only base
form of verb is used.
all the blow mentioned verbs require subjunctive mood.
Demand, Dictate
Recommend, Request
Insist, Mandate , Propose.
Apart of these few other verbs can take command subjunctive though may also take infinitive form
Ask, Beg, Intend, Order, Prefer, Urge and Require
This question tests on subjunctive hence B and D are straight out.
"Them" in C cannot refer to applicant's use. Pronoun ambiguity.
E also has pronoun ambiguity
Hence A is correct

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