OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
Quote:
Some consumers who wish to support sustainable agriculture will only buy produce if it is certified and labeled as 100% organic, while others believe that formal regulation can be bypassed by building trust between producers and consumers.
• Issue? Conditional statements.
The first part of the sentence contains a conditional.
To make understanding easier, I'll reverse the order of the clauses:
Only if produce is certified and labeled as 100% organic will certain consumers buy it.IF produce is certified and labeled as 100% organic, certain customers will buy it.We are dealing with a Type 1 conditional.
→ The main (result) clause is in the nonunderlined portion and is in simple future tense("consumers . . . will")
→ Out of the five types of conditionals,
only Type 1 uses the simple future tense in the result clause.
In the conditional or IF clause, a Type 1 conditional uses the simple present tense, and in the result clause, simple future, this way:
IF simple present, THEN simple futureSee the footnote** for a very condensed review of the five types of conditionals.
In short, the simple future tense "will buy" in the result clause can only be a Type 1 conditional, which requires the IF clause to be in simple present tense
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) only buy produce if it is certified and labeled as 100% organic
• This simple present tense is exactly what we need and I see no errors
KEEP
Quote:
B) buy produce only if it was certified and labeled as 100% organic
• we need "If (simple present)," not "If (simple past)
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
C) buy produce only if it would be labeled as 100% organic and certified
• we need "If (simple present)," not "If (future past)"
ELIMINATE C
Quote:
D) buy only produce if it were labeled as 100% organic and certified
• we need "If (simple present)," not "If (simple past)"
• The placement of the word
only is incorrect and creates a silly sentence
→ In the other options,
only modifies the verb
buy, while in this option
only modifies the noun
produce.
→ The intended meaning is that some consumers will only buy one type of produce: the certified organic kind. But this sentence states that consumers will buy nothing except produce. Wrong.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
E) buy produce if it would only be labeled as 100% organically certified
• we need "If (simple present)," not "If (future past)"
• "organically" makes the sentence illogical
→ the adjective
organic has been changed into the adverb
organicallyOrganic can logically describe the noun
produce, but the action
certified cannot sensibly be described as being performed
organically.(To do something organically is to do that thing in a natural way or to do it without pesticides and such. A person might
farm organically—not certify organically.)
Eliminate E
The best answer is A.COMMENTSI will keep this part short because I accidentally deleted an entire draft of this post.
I am happy to see critical thinking deployed in these answers.
Nice work. Kudos of some kind to all.
**VERY condensed summary of conditionals
Zero conditional: If THIS thing happens, THAT thing happens.
-- general truths
-- IF simple present, THEN simple present
-- situation is real and possible. True now and always.
Type 1: If THIS thing happens, THAT thing will happen
-- statements in the present made about the future and about real things
-- IF simple present, THEN simple future
-- condition is real, outcome ("truth") is very probable
Type 2: If THIS thing happened, then THAT thing would happen
-- If you left the house earlier, then you would be on time for the bus.
(But you did not leave the house earlier.)
Type 2: If THIS thing happened, then THAT thing would be happening
-- If I understood the joke, I would be laughing. (But I don't understand the joke, so I am not laughing.)
Type 2: If THIS thing were to happen, then THAT thing would happen
-- If antitrust laws were enforced properly, then oligopolies would not control entire sectors of the economy.
-- hypothetical (theoretical) statements NOT based on what is actual. Counterfactual, unreal, imaginary (hypothetical)
-- IF simple past, THEN present conditional (or present continuous conditional)
-- condition is not real. Time is always
Type 3: If THIS thing had happened, then THAT thing would have happened. (But neither thing happened.)
-- IF past perfect, THEN perfect conditional (would + have + verbED)
-- If they had cooperated better, then they would have finished their project on time. (But they didn't cooperate, and they didn't finish on time.)
-- statements about the unreal past and probable result (often statements of regret or missed opportunity)
-- unreal past condition, probable result in the past that is also unreal (the result did not happen)
Mixed conditional: If THIS thing had happened, then THAT thing would happen
-- IF is in the past, THEN is in the present (present result of a past action)
-- If past perfect, THEN present conditional (just as in Type 2)
-- time is an event in the past, result is ongoing [affects the present]
-- If I had taken the Series 7, I would be a stockbroker. (But I didn't take the tests and I am not a stockbroker.)
(Mixed conditionals have many variations. I've just listed what seems to be the most common type.)
close
20 Nov 2020, 00:42
45%
(medium)
44%
(01:35)
wrong 
)
Unfair -> slight shift in meaning. But the bigger issue is the use of past tense in "if Clause" -> why would we want to talk about the "if" clause in past tense for the certain condition (fact/truth) happening in future. If we use past tense in IF clause we need to use Past tense in then clause to present past certain conditions/fact -> Eliminate.
