Controversial mortgage laws passed last year state that, if at any poi

Question

Controversial mortgage laws passed last year state that, if at any point during the maturation period of the loan the person in whose name it is taken is not able to meet the payments, that person’s spouse  will have responsibilities that include paying  the balance.

(A) will have responsibilities that include paying

(B) will be responsible to pay

(C) is responsible to pay

(D) will be responsible for paying

(E) is responsible for paying

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bigoyal · Answer

IMO D

This is a hypothetical "If...then..." clause. (Note:  then  is optional in the sentence)
When we want to predict something conditional about the future, we can use the present tense in the  if clause  and  will  + the base form of the verb in the result clause.
 Thus option C and E are out for using "is" instead of "will".

The correct Idiom is "Responsible for" and NOT "Responsible to".  E.g I'm responsible for my low gmat scores. 
 Thus option B and C is out for using incorrect idiom "Responsible to".

Option A is wordy and awkward.

irajeevsingh · Answer

sure, the idiom is "responsibility to" and not "responsible to".

bigoyal · Answer

So that contradicts your answer of B, which says "will be responsible to pay "

adalfu · Answer

Good summary...

I incorrectly picked B also. Must memorize idiom:

responsibility to 
and
 responsible for

seekmba · Answer

very good question. I fell for B because I didnt know the idioms.

The correct idioms are;

"responsible for" --> The termites were  responsible for  the damage
"responsibility to" --> It was his  responsibility to  take care of himself.

Hence D.

bogos · Answer

idiomatic
my answer is D

"responsible to" refers to people, e.g. The company should be responsible to its clients all the time.
"responsible for" refers to actions/things, e.g. Members who post questions on gmatclub are responsible for providing the official answers.

chetan2u · Answer

Hi,

you are 'responsible to' someone or somebody.... that means you are controlled or answerable to someone..

whereas resposible for someone or somebody means to take care /control of someone............ 
and responsible for 'doing something'.. this is the usage in this Q...

So D is correct and B is wrong for unidiomatic usage of responsible to

AARONRAMSEY · Answer

1.Be responsible for something or carrying out an action.

For example,
We are responsible for ensuring delivery of the program. (an action)
We are responsible for the program. (a specific thing)

2.Be responsible to a person or group of people. 
For example,
We are responsible to our clients (group of people) for the program.

Ans D

rihamhanna · Answer

sure, the idiom is "responsibility to" and not "responsible to".

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Controversial mortgage laws passed last year state that, if at any point during the maturation period of the loan the person in whose name it is taken is not able to meet the payments, that person’s spouse will have responsibilities that include paying the balance.

(A) will have responsibilities that include paying

(B) will be responsible to pay

(C) is responsible to pay

(D) will be responsible for paying

(E) is responsible for paying

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Official Answer

D

pearljiandani · Answer

Thanks  chetan2u , this helps. What about when we're using "responsibility" instead of "responsible"? Is that followed by to or for

BankerBro · Answer

There had been various discussions on the usage of "for verb+ing" vs "to verb". One such discussion is here already available :

https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-verb-vs-for-verb-ing-144017.html

But when the same "for verb+ing" and "to verb" with 'responsible', there is a distinction in the usage. One such usage is provided in the following question : (Source : gmatclub quiz)
.
Whatever I understood after going through various explanations provided in bits and pieces, here I summarised them as below :
.
" Responsible for " is an ownership position. You own that task that you are responsible for.
To be responsible for someone/something is describing your responsibility. Like being responsible for somebody's welfare, or being responsible for taking out the rubbish.
.

" Responsible to " is a submissive position. The direct object (that you are responsible to) holds you accountable for your task.
To be responsible to someone/something is describing who or what you answer to or have an obligation to. Like a politician is responsible to the people who elected him/her.
.
The differences lies in the interpretation of the meaning. Hope that helps.
.

Kinshook · Answer

Controversial mortgage laws passed last year state that, if at any point during the maturation period of the loan the person in whose name it is taken is not able to meet the payments, that person’s spouse  will have responsibilities that include paying  the balance.

(A) will have responsibilities that include paying

(B) will be responsible to pay

(C) is responsible to pay

(D) will be responsible for paying

(E) is responsible for paying

Option C & E are out because of tense issue which should be future tense.
A is not concise as compared to B & D. A is out
B is out since correct idiom is  responsible for

IMO D

Kinshook · Answer

Correct idiom is  responsible for  
 Responsible to   is incorrect when referring to an action.

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

(A) will have responsibilities that include paying
It's wordy akward and there's a sole responsibility not a lot of responsibilities

(B) will be responsible to pay
pay is not the right use of tense and the idomatic use is responsible for not to

(C) is responsible to pay
is isn't the right wording it should be are

(D) will be responsible for paying
This nails the meaning and other reasoning

(E) is responsible for paying
Similar reasoning as C 
Hence IMO D

f0restreal · Answer

Are we not changing the underlying meaning of the sentence by eliminating the word "Include" ? The sentence is suggesting that paying is only one of many responsibilities.

Thus , only option A retains that meaning .

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