Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-te

Hello Everyone!

While this may look like an easy question to answer, short underlined sections can often be tricky! Let’s break down what’s different about each option so we can narrow it down to the right one! Here is the original question with any major differences highlighted in orange:

Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears of insufficient supplies capable of meeting the demand this winter.

A. of insufficient supplies capable of meeting
B. of supplies that would be insufficient for meeting
C. of insufficient supplies that are unable to meet
D. that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting
E. that supplies would be insufficient to meet

After a quick scan through each option, here are the major differences I noticed:

1. Their endings: of meeting / to meet / for meeting
2. Their beginnings: of / that

Let's start with #2 on our list: beginning the phrase with “of” versus “that.” This is a quick way to eliminate 2-3 options right away, so let’s start there. There is a subtle difference between being “afraid of X” and “afraid that Y”:

Afraid of X = you are afraid of a noun (person, place, thing, or idea) OR event that starts with an gerund (an –ing verb)
I am afraid of spiders.
The students are afraid of failing their history exam.

Afraid that Y = you are afraid of an event might happen; the phrase after "that" MUST be an independent clause
I am afraid that Simon will make fun of me.
The settlers were afraid that their house might burn down.

Since we are talking about people being afraid that an event might happen (not having enough oil/gas to stay warm in the winter), we know it doesn’t work to say that people are afraid OF supplies. They’re not afraid of gas or oil – they’re afraid that they will be cold without enough supplies. This means we can eliminate answers A, B, and C right away!

Now we’re left with D and E, so let’s focus on the differences between the two:

D. that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting

This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, it’s overly wordy. Why would you say “that there would be supplies insufficient” when you can just say “that supplies would be insufficient?” Another red flag is the gerund phrase “for meeting the demand this winter.” The GMAT doesn’t like gerund phrases unless they are absolutely necessary. In this case, it’s not.

E. that supplies would be insufficient to meet

This is CORRECT because it’s clear and concise for readers. There is no mistaking what the people are afraid of here!

There you have it - option E is the correct answer!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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E makes sense:

My POE would be as follows:

Option A:

1.Fear is not of insufficient supplies but rather that the supplies will be insufficient.
2.capable of meeting seems to modify supplies which implies the following meaning
there can be some other kind of supplies which have the attribute of meeting the demand.
which is nonsensical..rather the intended meaning is Fear that supplies would be insufficient.
3.Usage of word Forecasts: we can expect the would word in correct option as its hypothetical.

Option B

I would prefer a more direct for for expression
insufficient for meeting --insufficient to meet(preferred)

Option C:

Wrong tense
that are unable to meet-Its set in present whereas we are talking about forecast.

Option D,Option E

that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting

More direct ,concise and clear s option
that supplies would be insufficient to meet

So Option E clearly wins.


For people who are confused regarding usage of IDIOM fear and entered the wrong split because of that refer the below points.
X fears for Y.
Conveyed meaning:
X believes that Y is in danger.
Mary fears for John.
Conveyed meaning:
Mary believes that John is in danger.

X has a fear of Y.
Conveyed meaning:
Y scares X.
Mary has a fear of flying.
Conveyed meaning:
The act of flying scares Mary.

X fears that Y.
Conveyed meaning:
X is worried that the event described in the that-clause has happened, is happening, or will happen.
Mary fears that John will be late.
Conveyed meaning:
Mary is worried that John will be late.


Please Give Kudos if it helps !!

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

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 long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears regarding supplies being insufficient to meet the demand this winter.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Tenses + Verb Forms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• For referring to the purpose/intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb”) is preferred over the present participle (“verb+ing”).
• The simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will take place in the future.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

A: The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrase “fear of insufficient supplies”, incorrectly conveying that the long-term forecasts raised fears regarding the supplies, themselves, that would be insufficient for meeting the demand this winter; the intended meaning is that the long-term forecasts raised fears regarding supplies being insufficient to meet the demand this winter.

B: The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrase “fear of supplies that would be insufficient”, incorrectly conveying that the long-term forecasts raised fears regarding the supplies, themselves that are both inadequate and incapable of meeting te demand this winter; the intended meaning is that the long-term forecasts raised fears regarding supplies being insufficient to meet the demand this winter. Further, Option B uses the present participle (“verb+ing” – “meeting”) phrase “for meeting” to refer to the intent behind the action “be insufficient”; remember, for referring to the purpose/intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb”) is preferred over the present participle (“verb+ing”).


C: The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrase “fear of insufficient supplies that are unable", incorrectly conveying that the long-term forecasts raised fears regarding supplies, themselves that are both inadequate and incapable of meeting demand this winter; the intended meaning is that the long-term forecasts raised fears regarding supplies being insufficient to meet the demand this winter. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb “are” to refer to an action that will take place in the future; remember, the simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will take place in the future, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

D: This answer choice uses the present participle (“verb+ing” – “meeting”) phrase “for meeting” to refer to the intent behind the action “be insufficient”; remember, for referring to the purpose/intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb”) is preferred over the present participle (“verb+ing”). Further, Option D uses the passive and needlessly indirect construction “there would be supplies insufficient”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: Correct. The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrase “fears that supplies would be insufficient to meet”, conveying the intended meaning – that the long-term forecasts raised fears regarding supplies being insufficient to meet the demand this winter. Further, Option E correctly uses the simple future tense verb “would be” to refer to an action that will take place in the future. Additionally, Option E uses the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb” – “to + meet” in this sentence) to refer to the intent behind the action “would be insufficient”. Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Infinitives" versus "Present Participle" on GMAT you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Fear is not of insufficient supplies but that the supplies would be insufficient to ....

Another example..
Prevailing law and order situation raised fear of safety of...
However prevailing law and order situation raised fear that the upcoming elections would be ...

E
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Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears of insufficient supplies capable of meeting the demand this winter.


A. of insufficient supplies capable of meeting

B. of supplies that would be insufficient for meeting

C. of insufficient supplies that are unable to meet

D. that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting

E. that supplies would be insufficient to meet

Only E expresses the correct intended meaning of the sentence.



Thanks,
GyM
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Very good Question:

Before we start POE :-

Let's understand the use of - fear of/fear that

Let's take simple word - afraid of / afraid that

Afraid of X = you are afraid of a noun (person, place, thing, or idea) OR event that starts with an gerund (an –ing verb).

Afraid that Y = you are afraid of an event might happen; the phrase after "that" MUST be an independent clause

1) I am afraid of taking exam.

2) I am afraid that I may not perform well in the exam.

Now let's go for POE.

Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears of insufficient supplies capable of meeting the demand this winter.


A. of insufficient supplies capable of meeting

B. of supplies that would be insufficient for meeting

C. of insufficient supplies that are unable to meet

D. that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting

E. that supplies would be insufficient to meet

I hope you could understand that - fear that - should be used over here.

If not read the full sentence - with that clause.

Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears that supplies would be insufficient to meet the demand this winter.

Also, The above sentence is more convincing than the original sentence. Eliminate A,B & C.

D & E -coveys same meaning. But D is just wordy enough to be eliminated. Also at the end of sentence there is a split in both D & E.
to meet is preferred over for meeting.
So eliminate D.
E is the correct sentence.

Alternate method:-
If you notice carefully, In non-underlined part simple past is used.
Hence use of "would" is correct. Eliminate A & C.

to meet is preferred over for meeting. We use - I have come to meet you not for meeting you.
So eliminate D & B
E is the correct sentence.

Any feedback will be appreciated!!

fears of supplies is like
He has a fear of dog.
Fear of something .. is like this something is modifying fear and representing what type of fear it is.

E has clear meaning. E shows what is their Fear that + clause ( what they fear about in future).

Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears of insufficient supplies capable of meeting the demand this winter.


A. of insufficient supplies capable of meeting

B. of supplies that would be insufficient for meeting

C. of insufficient supplies that are unable to meet

D. that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting

E. that supplies would be insufficient to meet

A simple two-step hop-step and jump here.
In ninety percent of the cases, an infinitive is a preferred choice over a gerund in GMAT; In the given context, the supplies have a purpose to meet the demand. Therefore, 'of meeting' in A, 'for meeting' in B and D are out.

Between C and E, C is wrong for using present tense for a future happening. E it is.
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Dear EMPOWERgmatVerbal

Thanks for your effort to provide sufficient explanation.

In my highlighted part above, I think that 'insufficient for' is unidiomatic. I searched in many dictionaries like Cambridge and found it must be ''insufficient to'. So we can eliminate D.

Do you have any thoughts?

Hello Mo2men!

Thank you for your question! You are absolutely correct - you could also eliminate option D for using the incorrect "insufficient for" instead of "insufficient to." We attacked the question from different angles, which is totally okay! Sometimes, different problems jump out to different students - and that's what happened here.

I appreciate you adding in your method of answering the question in case other students focused on that as well!
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[quote="Bunuel"]Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears of insufficient supplies capable of meeting the demand this winter.


(A) of insufficient supplies capable of meeting

(B) of supplies that would be insufficient for meeting

(C) of insufficient supplies that are unable to meet

(D) that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting

(E) that supplies would be insufficient to meet

look at choice D and E
if you see a split between "there is" and " verb", normally 'there is " is incorrect because meaning of 'there is" focuses on quantity of something while the meaning of "verb..." forcuses the action

i know that 7 persons are injured
I know that there are 7 person who are injured.

the second sentence focuses on the quantity, number of of persons who are injure. the first sentence focus on action of "injured". so, the second sentence seems to say that there are TOTOALly 7 person. the first sentence says that I know 7 persons and many other persons I dont know.

choice D mean there are some supplies which are insufficient and there are other supplies which are possibly sufficient. this is not the intended meaning. choice D is gone

The sentence above is quite tricky, you must get the meaning of the original sentence
Instead follow these steps, the steps a normal person should take in order to get to the top

1. Find the differences between options
WELL I see an of v that difference (It is quite clear that you need "that") but let's say on GMAT you get a different structure in which you donot know this difference
We do know there is a for meeting v to meet, we know that infinitive is preferred over -ing phrase in general ( exceptions are there)

2. Let's believe infinitive is fine and try to find error in both options C,E (if we find errors in both then we'll see other options, just in case you do not know exceptions)
Intended meaning is that "something raised fears of something that will happen in future" v "something raised fears that something will happen in future"
Option C is not conveying that the events will happen in the future
Also now follow C by meaning you'd get something like this
Long term forecasts raised fears "of insufficient supplies" that are unable to meet the demand

whereas E means

Long term forecasts raised fears that supplies will be insufficient to meet the demand

E is clear and concise

E becomes the winner!!!!!!!!!
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Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply yesterday, as long-term forecasts for much colder temperatures in key heating regions raised fears of insufficient supplies capable of meeting the demand this winter.

As discuss Earlier :

POE: Fear of and Fear that

Fear of, after that we should always hunt for a Noun or Verb+ing

Fear of dog, cat or fear of lying, crying

Now lets discuss the question:

key heating regions(means the public) raised fear that " something will happen"

And in opt A,B,C fear of insufficient supplies : Not a noun or verb+ing

Secondly we can see meeting and to meet: in GMAT if there is a comparison in TO MEET(infinitive) and MEETING(gerund)
most of the cases we should prefer infinitive (TO MEET)

Now we will discuss about : Fear that:

So we use fear that (a event might happen, or a phrase with independent clause)

So in only D and E left.

If we will talk about D:

Mistake: 1: "for meeting the demand this winter" gerund Phrase ( Not acceptable in GMAT)
2: infinitive and gerund (so we will not go with gerund)
3: Insufficient to ( correct ) Insufficient for (Wrong)

So only left with E: IS the Correct answer

(A) of insufficient supplies capable of meeting(Wrong)

(B) of supplies that would be insufficient for meeting(Wrong)

(C) of insufficient supplies that are unable to meet(Wrong)

(D) that there would be supplies insufficient for meeting(Wrong)

(E) that supplies would be insufficient to meet(Correct)

If it helps you please press Kudos!

Thanks,
Bijay

The wording of the underlined portion of this
sentence is incoherent because it suggests that
supplies that are "insufficient" are "capable
of meeting the demand."The phrase fears of
insufficient supplies is awkward and unclear: it
suggests that the object of the fears already exists,
i.e., that supplies are already insufficient. How
can the intended meaning-regarding a fear that
something might occur-be best expressed in the
context of the sentence as a whole?
A This produces an incoherent sentence that
forces us to guess at what might have been
intended.
B This is wordy and unnecessarily awkward.
The phrase insufficient to meet would be more
idiomatic than insufficient for meeting.
C The present tense are fails to express
the future-oriented nature of the fears:
that future supplies might turn out to be
insufficient relative to demand.
D The awkward expression here is misleading.
What the fears were about was not that
there would be supplies but that the supplies
would be insufficient.
E Correct. What was feared was the
following: future supplies will be insufficient
to meet the demand. Because we are told
that the fears were raised in the past, the
futurity of the feared occurrence must be
expressed by would be (rather than by will
be) in the context of the that-clause, which
clearly conveys what was feared ( the object
of the "fears").
The correct answer is E.

Dear EMPOWERgmatVerbal

I eliminate A and C due to the reasoning that "capable of" cannot modify "supplies" and "are unable" cannot be the verb of "that"(supplies) because "capable of" and "are unable" must be carried out by human. Is my reasoning valid?

Thank you
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Hi Tracy95!

Yes, you could absolutely eliminate options A & C that way! They both create an odd meaning that suggests that supplies cannot take actions on their own.

There are several ways you can attack this question, and as long as you're getting to the correct choices in the end, your method works!
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Hi @EMPOWERGMAT

In option C, is the use of simple present tense "are" correct? Aren't we are talking about future supplies in the sentence?

Hello EatMyDosa,

I am not sure whether you still have this doubt. But yes, you are correct in your understanding that the usage of the present tense verb "are" is not correct in Choice C. Since the sentence is talking about an action that will take place in the future, Choice C must use the "would" verb to express the uncertain nature of the event.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Thank you, Payal (@egmat)!