In the future, any justification for our governments military interve

Bunuel

It seems to me D is the correct choice. "the costs of intervening"(what???) is wrong. A, C and E are out. Also in B. 'Intervening costs' is also wrong. In 'Rising costs', rising(adjective) describes that costs are rising, where verbing is fine. But, intervening is not describing the costs, and hence B is wrong. D stands out and correct.

So the best answer choice is D.

Hi,

D changes meaning.. Read it once from In the future, justification [..] [option D] - you will notice the change in meaning as opposed to Option A

It is not always true that original sentence is right in the meaning. Refer this example:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/although-she ... 08881.html

Moreover, the choice A is in passive voice:

Sam must be selected in the soccer team.
Here Sam is the receiver and it is better to describe in active voice:
The soccer team(or someone) must select Sam.

Any justification must be weighed against the costs(by someone).
Any justification must include the costs. (active)

Only reasons/ideas/decisions we can weigh against the costs/factors etc. Justification is already well reasoned by considering pros and cons(weighed against). In this example it did not include the costs(in the past and needed in the future), which is what the real meaning of the sentence.

Moreover, by degree, 'must be' is a certainty while 'must' is a necessity.
There is a subtitle difference with their usage:
He must be trained. (For sure he requires training)
He must train. (necessary to qualify)

Finally, government procedures are obligatory and not certainty.

D is definitely better choice than A.

Thanks for this

Agree with what you say, however, I believe it was fairly simple
A - justification must be weighed against the cost of intervening (any future intervening ie.,)
D - justification must also include the cost of such intervention. (how would one do this?)

Basis of this, I felt D is out

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The correct answer is (A).

The original version is the best one. The use of the passive voice by way of the phrase be weighed against is idiomatic, and the sentence contains no grammatical errors. Choices (B) and (E) are incorrect because their grammatical construction suggests illogically that weighing is to be done by a justification rather than by government. Choice (C) illogically shifts the sentence’s tense from the future to the present. Choice (D) ineffectively expresses the sentence’s intended meaning; choice (A) is much clearer.