Many passengers missed the train: if its arrival was announced on the

Question

Many passengers missed the train: if its arrival  was announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not .

A. was announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not
B. were announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not
C. would have been announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not have 
D. had been announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not have 
E. were announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not have

Fresh Verbal Question From GMAT Club Tests'. Written by  sayantanc2k

Bunuel · Answer

Updated the question. Please try it now. Sorry for inconvenience.

Sushil117 · Answer

now that it's a hypothetical situation,A,C & D are out
between B & E,B conveys a surety of event .
IMO B

winterschool · Answer

Many passengers missed the train: if its arrival was announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not.

A.  was  announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not  Incorrect 
B.  were announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not   Correct 
C.  would have been  announced on the station’s public address system, then they  would not have   Incorrect 
D.  had been  announced on the station’s public address system, then they  would not have   Incorrect 
E. were announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not  have   Incorrect

sentence explain a hypothetical situation, so eliminate A, C & D
was in A is incorrect, C is straight out, In D had been uses wrong
between B & E - have in E is redundant
Answer B

sayantanc2k · Answer

May be you need to relook into the options. "IF hypothetical subjunctive, THEN conditional" is used for a situation that is unlikely to happen in future. Is such a situation depicted in the stem? PyjamaScientist Would you like to take a shot at this one?

PyjamaScientist · Answer

This question tests understanding of "If and then conditional (third type)". 
   What is a type 3 conditional?  
The type 3 conditional refers to an impossible condition in the past and its probable result in the past. These sentences are truly  hypothetical  and  unreal  because it is now too late for the  condition  or its  result  to exist. There is always some implication of regret with type 3 conditional sentences. The reality is the opposite of, or contrary to, what the sentence expresses. In type 3 conditional sentences, the time is the  past  and the situation is  hypothetical .

Structure of Type 3 conditional:
    In a type 3 conditional sentence, the tense in the "if" clause is the past perfect, and the tense in the main clause is the perfect conditional or the perfect continuous conditional.
   If clause (condition)  +  Main clause (result) 
 If + past perfect  +  perfect conditional or perfect continuous conditional 
 If this thing had happened  +  that thing would have happened. 
 You would have gotten wet  +  if it had rained.

With this in mind, let us solve the question at hand:
  Many passengers missed the train in past. It is now an irrefutable fact and nothing can change the results of it. So, the sentence that follows, " if its arrival was announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not. " tries to state an  impossible condition  (as we can not go back in time and make the public announcement) and states a  probable result  had that  announcement  been done. So, this sentence clearly qualifies in the "Type 3 conditional" structure, as the underlined sentence truly states a  hypothetical  and  unreal  action whose  result  is impossible to occur. Among the given choices, only option  (D)  makes the cut.
Many passengers missed the train:  if its arrival had been announced on the station’s public address system ,  then they would not have  (missed the train). Notice the ellipsis at play here as, "missed the train" is implied, and since it exists in the sentence already  (Many passengers  missed the train ) , it is alright to omit it at the end to preserve the conciseness.

P.S.
 sayantanc2k , I love your questions, perhaps the only thing close to actual GMAT SC questions, so it's a privilege to attempt to solve them. 
But, I am having a kind of epiphany or a déjà vu to this question with regards to posting an answer to it. I believe I posted an answer to this question earlier. Or maybe I had too much "good stuff" in the week bygone.

sayantanc2k · Answer

As for the déjà vu, the question was first posted in its simpler form yesterday, but later it was updated. I saw yesterday that you answered the simpler version correctly, and hence I invited you to try this one. The simpler version has been replaced by this one.

As for your answer, I have sent you a PM - I do not want to post the OA or the explanation here, till Bunuel does so on 30th April.

Bunuel · Answer

GMAT Club Tests' Official Explanation

The correct form of an IF…THEN… construction for a situation that never happened (in the past) is  IF past perfect, THEN conditional perfect .

Hence the construction “if …had been announced…, then…. would not have (missed)…” is correct.

A. The construction  IF simple past, THEN conditional  is wrong here - it is not used to depict a situation that did not occur (in the past). Moreover the omitted verb “miss” (after “would not”) is missing in the sentence (though “missed” is available).

B. The construction  IF hypothetical subjunctive, THEN conditional  is used for a situation that is unlikely to happen in future. However the situation already occurred - the passengers already missed the train. Moreover the omitted verb “miss” (after “would not”) is missing in the sentence (though “missed” is available).

C. The construction  IF conditional perfect, THEN conditional perfect  is wrong and is not used in any situation.

D. Correct.    IF past perfect, THEN conditional perfect  is used for a situation that never happened in the past - the announcement was not made.

E. The construction  IF hypothetical subjunctive, THEN conditiona l perfect is wrong and is not used in any situation.

varshas044 · Answer

Here is what I see:

A. was announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not ------ “then they would not” it should be past tense given that they already missed the train ------ INCORRECT

B. were announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not ----------------“then they would not” it should be past tense given that they already missed the train ------ INCORRECT

C. would have been announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not have ---------- it should be past perfect tense since we have 2 chronological events, one happening after the other. -----------INCORRECT

D. had been announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not have --------- this is perfect, so the announcement should have happened before missing or not missing the train. ---------CORRECT

E. were announced on the station’s public address system, then they would not have --------- were is plural where arrival is singular ------- INCORRECT

Many passengers missed the train: if its arrival was announced on the

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Many passengers missed the train: if its arrival was announced on the

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