Medical ethicists have argued about if the right to die

The answer should be C

Argue about is preferred in common language

OA pls

that what i thought..

OA is B

Check OE below..

Answer is B

Reason:
A. No. “Argued about if” is not idiomatic. The correct answer is B.
B. Yes. “Argued over whether” is idiomatic. The end of the sentence is written in the subjunctive mood, as it should be in hypothetical situations. The correct answer is B.
C. No. “Argued about” is not idiomatic. Since the second phrase is hypothetical, it should be in the subjunctive mood. The correct answer is B.
D. No. “If…or not” is not idiomatic. The correct answer is B.
E. No. “Argue about” is not idiomatic. Being is an unnecessary conjunction. “Or not” is redundant in the sentence, since the word whether already makes that clear. The correct answer is B.

OA B is wrong: "whether" has to include the "or" complement. As for the rest:
argue about = argue over.
A. ok
B. "whether" lacks "or"
C. "whether" lacks "or", "was" -> "were" (Hypothetical Subjunctive)
D. "if"+ "or"
E. as being is verbose.

Picked A, but open to dispute.

Could you elaborate please? It's interesting.

Both are correct respective of its use.
I guess "Argue about" is related to something abstract..like :
They argued about the meaning of life.

My pick A

As I did not find any flaw in A,
In B : I believe correct usage of whether is with or ...which is missing
In C : Were need to be used with IF , irrespective of subject in Supposition
In D : or Not in end does not make any sense to me ( redundancy )
In E : Redundancy

But OA is B ??

What is the source of this question ?

I followed a rather simplistic approach on this.

If vs Whether -> Whether wins (mostly)
Subjunctive form is required, only B satisfies both of these. Hence B is correct

Medical ethicists have argued about if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.
A) about if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.
B) over whether the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.
C) about whether the right to die should be viewed as if it was only a matter of conscience.
D) over if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience or not.
E) about whether the right to die should be viewed as being only a matter of conscience or not.

I am utterly confused with this question. Please explain the correct answer.

Good questions deserve quodos!

to show yes-no possibility, whether , not if, is used. a and d are gone
view somthing as something, not as being. this idiom is easy to remember. e is out
as if show a subjective clause following "as if" . this idiom is easy to remember, c is out
b is left
we do not need to know the idiom with "argue".

Medical ethicists have argued about if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.

A) about if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.

B) over whether the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.

C) about whether the right to die should be viewed as if it was only a matter of conscience.

D) over if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience or not.

E) about whether the right to die should be viewed as being only a matter of conscience or not.

I am confused in whether vs if
Isn't "whether" used to indicate conditions or scenarios and "if" used to indicate hypotheticals?

In option 'b', why we are using were in 'if it were'...?
why not 'if it was'

If it were = Represents Hypothetical situation ( The subjunctive mood )

Hence, (B) is acceptable here...

Already explained by Abhishek - a bit more on this:

A hypothetical situation (unlikely event in future) within an IF clause is represented by simple past:

IF I became the minister, I would eradicate poverty.
IF he came, we would play.

However a special case is that the verb "was", though simple past, is never used in such situation. As a rule, the verb "was" is replaced by "were" irrespective of the subject.

IF I was WERE the king, I would eradicate poverty.

In SC, vertical scanning of answer choices is more important.

A) about if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.

B) over whether the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience.

C) about whether the right to die should be viewed as if it was only a matter of conscience.

D) over if the right to die should be viewed as if it were only a matter of conscience or not.

E) about whether the right to die should be viewed as being only a matter of conscience or not.


If vs whether: whether should be used when we have options:yes or no. eliminate A,D
if it were vs if it was: if it were needs to be used when you are talking about 'would have been' scenarios eliminate C
'viewed as if' is correct.

Since there is a "if" in the later part of the sentence, "whether" seems to be a better option.
IMO, you argue "over" something.