In India, fuel for household purposes, such as cooking and heating, is

Question

In India, fuel for household purposes, such as cooking and heating, is  one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people will  reap the financial benefits.

A. one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people will

B. one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

C. a most expensive commodity that a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

D. the most expensive commodity a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

E. one of the most expensive commodities, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

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Blair15 · Accepted Answer

Answer should B. In conditional statements we use "would" with "were". Moreover we need to keep "a family needs to buy" as part of the answer to retain the intended meaning of the sentence. Hence B is the answer imho.

Can,Will · Answer

I think it should be E.
'fuel for household purposes' and 'a family needs to buy' not necessarily have to use together.
in A, same as reason mentioned and use of 'will' instead of would
in B,same as stated above
in C, a most is wrong 
in D, stated as above

A'chiknigam · Answer

A. one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people will -  'family needs to buy' looks redundant here and "will" would be incorrect

B. one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would-  again 'family needs to buy' looks redundant

C. a most expensive commodity that a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would -  "a most" is incorrect

D. the most expensive commodity a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would-  "the most expensive..." looks wonky to me because how do we know its "the" most expensive?
 
E. one of the most expensive commodities, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would -  looks just about perfect

So, my choice would be E.
Waiting for a more suitable explanation.

Can,Will · Answer

The intended meaning is to have fuel for domestic purposes. For what else a family would need a fuel other than domestic purposes ? Had "for household purposes" a non essential part of the sentence then we would need to mention "a family needs to buy " .

mendax · Answer

Eliminating Answers.
- Since past tense is used in the statement, using  would  may be the right option=> Eliminates A
- After the second comma singular verb  is  is used , thus if only fuel is acting as subject then then should have been  are  but since  is  is used, then only options where one of the most expensive commodities need to remain=> Eliminate C and D
- In B& E, there is only difference of  a family needs to buy . Since B is full statement, IMO B should be the answer

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

In India, fuel for household purposes, such as cooking and heating, is  one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people will  reap the financial benefits.

A. one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people will

Incorrect.

This sentence describes a hypothetical situation. It is unsure whether the cost of fuel will be lowered. This means that the sentence should be a Conditional 2 sentence. The result part of a Conditional 2 sentence must be in the Future-Past tense (would + V1  ). This answer choice uses the Future Simple (will).

B. one of the most expensive commodities a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

This answer choice correctly uses the Future-Past tense (would) in the result part of a Conditional 2 sentence.

But why is the Conditional 2 used? It's not unrealistic to think that the cost of fuel might be lowered.

Let's clarify what is meant when we say that the Conditional 2 is used for unrealistic situations.

The point is not the Conditional 2 describes a situation that could not ever be realistic under any circumstances, but that Conditional 2 is used TO EXPRESS the idea that the situation described is unlikely to happen.

This is precisely what this sentence does. By using Conditional 2, the author of the sentence is indicating that he or she does not consider the lowering of fuel prices to be a feasible possibility.

C. a most expensive commodity that a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

Incorrect.

Although this answer choice corrects the original Conditional error by using the Future-Past tense (would), it misuses the Superlative form indicated here by the use of the word  most .  Most  must be preceded by the word  the . In this sentence,  most expensive  is preceded by  a .

D. the most expensive commodity a family needs to buy, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

Incorrect.

Although this answer choice corrects the original Conditional error by using the Future-Past tense (would), it changes the meaning of the original sentence by removing the phrase  one of . According to the original sentence, fuel is expensive, but there are other commodities that are similarly expensive.

E. one of the most expensive commodities, and if the cost of such fuel were lowered, millions of people would

Incorrect.

Although this answer choice corrects the original Conditional error by using the Future-Past tense (would), it misuses the Superlative form indicated here by the use of the word  most . The Superlative form requires that the group under comparison be defined. However, this answer choice does not provide information about the group of which the commodity is  the most expensive .

In order for this Superlative to be complete, this group must be defined.

In India, fuel for household purposes, such as cooking and heating, is

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In India, fuel for household purposes, such as cooking and heating, is

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