jma123 wrote:
Somber in tone and menacing in content, the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages sent a message leaving little hope that they would be released by the end of the week.
A) leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages sent a message leaving little hope that they would be
B) leader of the terrorists holding the hostages sent a message that left little hope for their being
C) leader of the terrorists holding the hostages sent a message leaving little hope of the hostages being
D) message sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope that the hostages would be
E) message that was sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope for the hostages to be
Clearly for this question we are stuck between D and E.
Now lets compare both options side by side after adding the non-underlined part to them.
D) message sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope that the hostages would be released by the end of the week.
E) message that was sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope for the hostages to be released by the end of the week.
Now observe the non-stricken off part. Observe their meaning.
D)
message sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope that the hostages would be released by the end of the week.E)
message that was sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope for the hostages to be released by the end of the week.D says that 'little hope that', meaning it is describing the hope, what kind of a hope is there.
Hope -> Hostages would be released by the end of the week.
Seems good. Everyone is hoping for this only.
Whereas E says 'little hope for the hostages to be released by the end of the week.'
Here it sort of conveys the meaning that there is little hope for the hostages, in general
And "to be" is describing 'hostages'. What kind of hostages are we talking about ... Hostages who are to be released by end of the week...
Definitely this is definetely not what is intended by the author.
Hence, I marked the answer as D.
Hope this is was helpful to some extent