Most scientists surveyed view artificial sweeteners as unsafe at prese

Question

Most scientists surveyed view artificial sweeteners as unsafe at present but  they will be or could , be made adequately safe in the future.

A. they will be or could

B. that they will, or could,

C. that they would, or could,

D. believe the sweeteners would or could

E. believe that they will be or could

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mikemcgarry · Answer

Hi, there. I'm happy to help with this.

Most scientists surveyed view artificial sweeteners as unsafe at present but they will be or could be made adequately safe in the future. A) they will be or could B) that they will, or could, C) that they would, or could, D) believe the sweeteners would or could E) believe that they will be or could So, of course, the problem with (A)-(C) is that "scientists" are the subject of the first verb "view", and so when the second half of the sentence has a "they" + a verb, parallelism implies it's the same subject. Of course, that does not work here. It's not the scientists who will be adequately safe in the future. In (D) & (E), a second verb, "believe", is put in parallel with the first verb "view". Scientists are clearly the subject of both verbs. Artificial sweeteners are the object of the first verb, so by parallelism, it implies that they would be the object of the second verb. That's why the "they" is sufficient & correct in (E) but not in (A)-(C). This is not to say (D) is wrong. (D) is perfectly grammatically correct . It's just that (E) is also correct, and shorter. I would say, this is a relatively sophisticated distinction, whereby (E) is correct here. I believe only the most challenging SC on the GMAT would be demanding this level of subtle analysis. For free, here's another practice SC question involving pronouns. https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1088 The question at that link, when answered, should be followed by a complete video explanation. Does all this make sense? Please let me know if you have any further questions. Mike

Chembeti · Answer

Hey Mike,
Thanks for the explanation.
I understand E is shorter, but I believe it compromises on the word 'will'. I think either it should be 'will be or can be' or 'would be or could be'. Am I missing anything? 
(BTW, I correctly answered the question in the above link taking more time (2:40), but there was no video explanation!)

mikemcgarry · Answer

First of all, when you answered the question and hit the button "submit your answer", did you scroll down to the video on the next page that came up? You have to hit the button that says "submit your answer" and move the following page to get to the video. Here's the reason that "will or could" is correct. Suppose we ask the scientists: Will artificial sweeteners be made adequately safe in the future ? Some will say: Yes, definitely! Artificial sweeteners will be made adequately safe in the future. These scientists are sure of themselves, and make a confident prediction in the ordinary future tense. Others will say: Gee, I'm not sure. Artificial sweeteners could be made adequately safe in the future. These scientists are not sure, so they are speaking of the future tentatively, hypothetically. The implied contrast is between scientists who are confident and who make a bold certain predictions, vs. scientists who are more tentative and put forth a hypothetical possibility. To say: Artificial sweeteners can be made adequately safe in the future. ---- that's a strange sentence. There you are saying: I know for sure it will be technologically possible to make the artificial sweeteners adequately safe, but I don't know whether anyone actually will go to the trouble to do so. Thus, "will or can" would be a strange dichotomy: both scientist would agree as to the fundamental science, whether artificial sweeteners could be made safe, but they would disagree on market pressures --- even if it can be done, will market pressures support doing it? That's not really the type of thing about which we are going to ask scientists, if you see what I mean. To say: Artificial sweeteners would be made adequately safe in the future. ---- that's a very unusual use of the subjunctive, as if to say --- yes, this would happen, if such-and-such also took place. Some other condition would have to be specified to make use of the word "would" justified. I did say above that "D" is perfectly correct, but, upon further reflection, I retract that now -- the "would" is really a mistake in that answer choice. Don't get stuck thinking like the grammar-equivalent of a fundamentalist, thinking that "would and could" must both appear together because they're both subjunctive, or "will and can" must both appear together because they're both indicative. You must consider the meaning . Meaning determines grammar . It's not the other way around. When you are considering two verbs joined by the word "or" or the word "and", use each one by itself in the sentence and see if that is the meaning you want. Finally, here's another practice SC, in case you can't get a video at the first link. https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1172 Does all this make sense? Please let me know if anyone reading this has any questions. Mike

PrakharGMAT · Answer

Hi mikemsgarry,

Thanks for your explanation. But I still want to discuss 1 thing. I opted for D because I thought scientists believe that sweeteners WOULD be made safe.

D. believe the sweeteners would or could

E. believe that they will be or could

As per my knowledge we can use WOULD in 2 cases-
1. If we want to show future of any past event.
2. If we are in present and want to show uncertainty.....please correct me if I am wrong

An I thought scientists are believing so there is no certainty and we should use WOULD. Therefor I opted for D.

Please assist.
Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Prakhar, I'm happy to respond. :-)

BTW, I think you have the incorrect spelling of my name. It's perfectly true that we use " would " in the two cases you describe. Obviously, the verb " believe " is present tense, so the first usage is not relevant here. Thus, " would " is being using to indicate uncertainty. But " could " also indicates uncertainty---in the current version of (D) we have uncertainty or uncertainty: that's not a logical dichotomy. A logical dichotomy would be condition of certainty vs. a condition of uncertainty. (Also, notice we need the word " that " for the verb " believe .") present tense : " believe that the sweeteners will or could " past tense : " believed that the sweeteners would or could " Either of those would be a proper logical comparison. (D) makes the mistakes of taking the verbs that would be correct for the past tense and using them in the present tense. I really don't have a high opinion of this question. I think it is a very poorly written question. I am not terribly enthusiastic about any of the five answer choices. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

PrakharGMAT · Answer

Hi mikemcgarry , Thanks a lot for your awesome explanation :D nd this time I correctly spelled your name

After posting this query, I read that if we are in present and we are predicting. So to show things in future there will be uncertainty ..therefore to show that uncertainty we use "MAY" So, when I came across this thing...then I thought the usage of WOULD should be incorrect if we want to show UNCERTAINTY in FUTURE. But, you are saying that I mentioned the usage of WOULD in 2 scenarios correctly... :roll:

I am quiet confused, => If we are in PAST and want to show uncertainty in FUTURE, then we use "WOULD"... BUT => If we are in PRESENT and want to show uncertainty in FUTURE, then we should use "WOULD" or "MAY"..Or both are correct..?? Can you please share your opinion on this issue. Also, if both can be used to show uncertainty in future...Can they be used interchangeably . If, they (would and may) can't be used interchangeably...can you please provide an example...?? Please assist. Thanks and Regards, Prakhar

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Prakhar, I'm happy to respond. :-)

First of all, there are a few verbs that indicate possibility, such as " would ," " may ," " might ", and " could ." Also, if the verb by itself is not sufficient to indicate the desired degree of uncertainty, it is not unusual to employ an adverb or adverbial phrase (e.g. " possibly "). Past tense, factual 1) Yesterday, Steve said that he would make the appointment next Friday . This is a simple factual description. It carries no particular connotation of uncertainty beyond the general uncertainty of the future. If someone were to tell us this, and if Steve were a truthful person, we would believe that next Friday he will make this appointment. Present tense, factual 2) Right now, Steve says that he will make the appointment next Friday . This is the present tense equivalent of #1, a factual statement about the future. Present tense, hypothetical 3) Right now, Steve says that he would make the appointment next Friday if he gets paid tomorrow . This indicates not so much uncertainty but a condition. If I say that I " would " do X, this implies that I won't do X unless some condition is met. This is different from general uncertainty. Present tense, uncertain 4) Right now, Steve says that he may make the appointment next Friday . This conveys pure uncertainty. We don't know whether Steve will make the appointment, and we don't know what factors might be in play---whether there are extenuating circumstances or Steve simply doesn't feel like making the appointment. We don't know. Past tense, uncertain 5) Yesterday, Steve said that he might make the appointment next Friday . This is the past equivalent of #4. It's uncertain, and we have no idea what factors are in play. Present tense, possibility 6a) Right now, Steve says that he can make the appointment next Friday . 6b) Right now, Steve says that he is able to make the appointment next Friday . This is a factual statement about Steve's ability. The two sentences have the same meaning. Present tense, ambiguous 7) Right now, Steve says that he could make the appointment next Friday . This is ambiguous. It is as if Steve is saying he has the ability to make the appointment, but that he has no intention of doing so. If someone said this in real life, it would spark a conversation. Is there a condition or a situation under which he would consider making the appointment? This implies that he is able but not willing. Past tense, possibility 8a) Yesterday, Steve said that he could make the appointment next Friday . 8b) Yesterday, Steve said that he was able to make the appointment next Friday . This is tricky. The second sentence here, #8b, is an unambiguous statement of ability in the past. #8a lends itself to a few different readings: it might be the equivalent of #8b, a factual statement of ability in the past, or it might be the equivalent of #7, the "able but not willing" case. I would tend to use 8a for clarity. In any of these, we can emphasize either the certainty or uncertainty with adverbs or another construction. 2b) Right now, Steve says that he definitely will make the appointment next Friday . 5b) Yesterday, Steve said that there's an off chance that he might make the appointment next Friday . Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

PrakharGMAT · Answer

Hi @Mikemcgary,

Thank you soo much for such a detailed explanation.

Present tense, hypothetical
3) Right now, Steve says that he  would  make the appointment next Friday if he gets paid tomorrow.

So basically, if we are in present and we use "would" then there must be a condition or you can say hypothetical situation..
othewise it will be wrong.

Rite..?

Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Prakhar , I'm happy to respond, even though you spelled my name incorrectly again. :-)

My friend, I think the problem here is that you are trying to understand GMAT SC by learning some complete list of rules. There's no complete list of rules. That's not how grammar works: it's not mathematics. There are some general patterns, but beyond that, you need to read to develop a deeper understanding of how the language works. See: How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score Also, I will say: be mindful of details. I don't mind about the misspelling of my name, but your short response here has misspelling of " otherwise " and a cutsie phonetic misspelling of " right ." This is a public forum, and you don't know whether other people reading here may some day be your colleagues, your boss, your partners, your suppliers, your customers, etc. etc. You don't know what judgments other people might make and how long they might retain those judgments. It's always worth putting your best effort forward. This is one of the habits of excellence. If you want excellence on the GMAT, then you need to practice excellence in every aspect of your life. I don't know whether you are familiar with the advice, "How you do anything is how you do everything." If you want to achieve excellence on the GMAT, that means practicing excellence in every aspect of your life. Every time you post on GC, your post should reflect this commitment to excellence. Make it habitual to bring your best self forward on every occasion. If you can live a live of bringing the best of yourself to each situation, you will minimize your opportunities for regret in life. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

JackH · Answer

Hi mikemcgarry !! I am a great fan of your blogs and your writing. :-D

I have mostly improved by VA from what I was initially because of your contribution to this GMAT world, and don't judge this by my verbal score in my last GMAT (that one I screwed because of time management & other stress). :cry:

As regard to with this thread, I would like to say a BIG thank you for clarifying the different aspect of possibility and ability with past and present case. But I would also like to know how to write a case of hypothetical past or of future, if they are there. Also when I say "I would like to say a BIG thank you" - what does this "would" reflects in general practice? :idea:

Thanks in advance and also request you to point out any error in the above sentences of mine so that I can be careful in future as I find that you strictly follow the rules in all your writings and usually post your "standard warning statement" if someone casually writes or reply.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear JackH , Thank you for your kinds words. I am happy to respond. :-)

First of all, the sentence " I would like to say a BIG thank you " is 100% correct. This is a polite colloquial formulation, so while it is entirely correct, it's a region of the language not covered by the GMAT. I will say the structure " as regard to with this thread " is flawed. Having two prepositions in a row is usually a mistake. We could say " with regard to this thread " or " as regards this thread ." There's a curious asymmetry about the hypothetical with respect to the past and future. Nothing in the past is truly uncertain, because it's all fixed and done; the only "uncertainties" are gaps in our knowledge." By contrast, everything in the future is up for grabs: there is not a single event in the future that we know will happen with complete 100% certainty. In the past, the most we can do is talk about contrary-to-fact alternative scenarios, 1) " If Mozart had lived until old age, he would have done X " Or, a slightly more sophisticated structure with the same meaning: 2) " Had Mozart lived until old age, he would have done X. " I discuss these in the Magoosh video lesson on Conditionals. For the future, it's all up for grabs, but there are a few ways to highlight the uncertainty. 3) Tomorrow, I will do X . = ordinary future, uncertainty not above the usual level 4) Tomorrow, I probably will do X. 5) Tomorrow, I may do X . Both #4 and #5 indicate uncertainty above the usual level. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

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