Quote:
Many foreign policy experts predict that the next wave of popular protests, when it comes, will be caused by government action
taken to stifle demands for greater regional autonomy that would arise if central funding for disaster relief measures and public works projects were to stagnate.
(A) taken to stifle demands for greater regional autonomy that would arise
(B) they took for stifling demands for greater autonomy that would arise
(C) taken to stifle demands for greater regional autonomy arising
(D) they took to stifle demands for greater regional autonomy arising
(E) taken for stifling demands for greater regional autonomy that will arise
Experts Global Explanation:
PronounA. This answer choice is free of pronoun ambiguity and appropriately uses the “would…if” construction to convey the conditional nature of information. Thus, this answer choice is correct.
B. This answer choice features a pronoun error, as the pronoun “they” has no clear antecedent.
C. This answer choice incorrectly uses the present continuous tense verb “arising” rather than the “would…if” construction to refer to a conditional information. Please remember, the “would…if” construction is preferred for conveying a conditional nature of information.
D. This answer choice repeats the pronoun error seen in Option B, incorrectly using the pronoun “they” without a clear antecedent. Further, Option D repeats the error seen in Option C, incorrectly using the present continuous tense verb “arising” rather than the “would…if” construction to refer to the conditional nature of information.
E. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple future tense verb “will rise” rather than the “would…if” construction to refer to a conditional information. Please remember, the “would…if” construction is preferred for conveying a conditional nature of information.
A is the best answer choice.