Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
jerrywu wrote:
Section 301 of the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act enables the United States Trade Representative to single out a country as an unfair trader, begin trade negotiations with that country, and, if the negotiations do not conclude by the United States government's being satisfied, to impose sanctions.
(A) by the United States government's being satisfied, to impose
(B) by the United States government's satisfaction, impose
(C) with the United States government's being satisfied, imposing
(D) to the United States government's satisfaction, impose
(E) to the United States government's satisfaction, imposing
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 if negotiations with an unfair trader do not end to the United States government's satisfaction, the United States Trade Representative is enabled to impose sanctions on the unfair trader.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Verb Forms + Parallelism + Awkwardness/Redundancy• All elements in a list must be parallel.
• "to + base form of verb" is the correct infinitive verb form construction.
A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "conclude by the United States government's being satisfied"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that if negotiations with an unfair trader do not end to the United States government's satisfaction, the United States Trade Representative is enabled to impose sanctions on the unfair trader. Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism among "single out a country as an unfair trader", "begin trade negotiations with that country", and "to impose sanctions"; please remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.
B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "conclude by the United States government's satisfaction"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that if negotiations with an unfair trader do not end to the United States government's satisfaction, the United States Trade Representative is enabled to impose sanctions on the unfair trader.
C: This answer choice fails to maintain the correct infinitive verb form construction, as it uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "imposing" in this sentence) rather than the base form of the verb; please remember, "to + base form of verb" is the correct infinitive verb form construction. Further, Option C uses the passive voice construction "the United States government's being satisfied", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
D: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "conclude to the United States government's satisfaction", conveying the intended meaning - that if negotiations with an unfair trader do not end to the United States government's satisfaction, the United States Trade Representative is enabled to impose sanctions on the unfair trader. Further, Option D correctly uses the base form of the word - "impose", maintaining the correct infinitive verb form construction ("to + base form of verb' - "to + impose" in this sentence). Additionally, Option D maintains parallelism among "single out a country as an unfair trader", "begin trade negotiations with that country", and "impose sanctions". Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
E: This answer choice fails to maintain the correct infinitive verb form construction, as it uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "imposing" in this sentence) rather than the base form of the verb; please remember, "to + base form of verb" is the correct infinitive verb form construction.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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