Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
bmwhype2 wrote:
One of Ronald Reagan’s first acts as President was to rescind President Carter’s directive that any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States be prohibited from sale to other countries.
(A) that any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States be prohibited from sale to other countries
(B) that any chemical be prohibited from sale to other countries that was banned on medical grounds in the United States
(C) prohibiting the sale to other countries of any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States
(D) prohibiting that any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States is sold to other countries
(E) that any chemical banned in the United States on medical grounds is prohibited from being sold to other countries
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that President Carter’s directive prohibited the sale of chemicals banned on medical grounds in the United States to any other nation.
Concepts tested here: Subjunctive Mood + Redundancy/Awkwardness• The verb “prohibit” can only be used to refer to an action or a person; inanimate objects cannot be “prohibited”.
• “bossy verb (“prohibiting”) + that + something be done” is a correct, subjunctive usage.
A: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the verb phrase “be prohibited from sale” to refer to the inanimate noun phrase “any chemical"; please remember, the verb “prohibit” can only be used to refer to an action or a person.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the verb phrase “be prohibited from sale” to refer to the inanimate noun phrase “any chemical”; please remember, the verb “prohibit” can only be used to refer to an action or a person. Further, Option B incorrectly uses “that” to refer to “countries”; remember, “that” refers to the noun immediately before it; hence, this usage incorrectly suggests that certain countries were banned on medical grounds in the United States; the intended meaning is that certain chemicals were banned on medical grounds in the United States.
C: Correct. This answer choice appropriately utilizes the verb modifier “prohibiting” rather than the verb "prohibit" to modify the noun “directive”, correctly conveying that the directive prohibited the sale. Further, Option C correctly modifies "chemical" with "banned on medical grounds in the United States", conveying the intended meaning - that certain chemicals were banned on medical grounds in the United States. Additionally, Option C correctly utilizes the noun phrase “to other countries” rather than the verb phrase “sold to any other nation”, avoiding the issue of subjunctive mood use seen in Option D. Besides, Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
D: This answer choice fails to maintain a correct subjunctive mood usage, as it uses the phrase “is sold to other countries”; please remember, “bossy verb (“prohibiting”) + that + something be done” is a correct subjunctive mood construction.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the verb phrase “is prohibited from being sold” to refer to the inanimate noun phrase “any chemical”; please remember, the verb “prohibit” can only be used to refer to an action or a person. Besides, this answer choice is in passive voice and is thus needlessly indirect and wordy.
Hence, C is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "3 Key Subjunctive Mood Constructions" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team