The famous rivalry of Coke and Pepsi may never have been if Coca-Cola

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT

• Concepts tested
→ Logic and meaning
If Coke had bought Pepsi when Coke had a chance to do so, the rivalry between the two companies might never have existed.

→ verb tenses in and structure of conditional and hypothetical sentences
The options lock us into an IF clause that uses past perfect—IF something HAD happened in the past, then . . .
. . . something else might [not] have happened.
This construction is called a Type III conditional.
-- If past perfect, then . . . perfect conditional.
-- If THIS thing had happened, then THAT thing may/might/would have happened (but neither thing happened).

→ idiom
A rivalry is between X and Y, not of X and Y.

THE OPTIONS

• Idiom: the correct idiom is rivalry between X and Y (not, as in (A), rivalry of)

• Illogical: if Coca-Cola had NOT . . . bought Pepsi, there might have been no rivalry?
→ the word not makes the logic exactly backwards
Coke did not buy Pepsi. Pepsi later became a huge rival of Coke. If Coke HAD bought Pepsi, no rivalry would have begun.
ELIMINATE A


• same idiom error as that in (A); there is a rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, not a rivalry OF Coke and Pepsi.

• same logical error as that in (A); the problems are in the words not and hadn't (had not)
→ If Coke had not seized the opportunity to buy Pepsi and had not bought Pepsi . . . ???? Huh?
→ Coke did not buy Pepsi.
→ If Coke HAD bought Pepsi, no rivalry would have begun.
ELIMINATE B


• same logical error as that in options A and B
→ the word not is illogical
ELIMINATE C


• wrong verb tense— would never be should be would never have been
→ we are dealing with an unreal condition in the past and its probable result in the past
→ in Type III conditionals, both things never happened.
These sentences are true hypotheticals because it is now too late for the condition or its result to exist.

The reality is the opposite of, or contrary to, what the sentence expresses.
→ If THIS thing had happened, then THAT thing would / may / might [never] have happened (but THIS thing did not happen, and THAT thing did not happen)
→ IF past perfect, THEN perfect conditional

Past perfect: HAD + past participle (verbED)

Perfect conditional: WOULD / MAY / MIGHT + HAVE + past participle (verbED)

Tip: on the GMAT, if conditional or hypothetical clauses are inverted, change the sentence to IF _____, THEN ____
Rewrite: If Coca Cola had . . . bought Pepsi, [then] the rivalry between Coke and Pepsi would never be.
→ would never be? No.
The correct phrasing is would never have been.

Would never be sounds like speculation about the future and is not set in the past.
Example: He would never be a surgeon because he gets woozy at the sight of blood.
That verb tense speculates about the future from the point of view of the present.
ELIMINATE D


→ I see no errors
→ reverse the clauses to check:
If Coca-Cola had . . . bought the Pepsi Cola company [unreal condition in the past], the rivalry between Coke and Pepsi may never have been [probable result in the past].
→ But Coke DID NOT buy Pepsi, and there IS a rivalry.
→ When neither thing happened and the time is past for both condition and result, the result clause should stay in the past, as is the case in the phrase may never have been
KEEP

The correct answer is E.

• NOTES

Don't worry too much about the difference between degrees of certainty in modals.

Option E is not correct because may is better than would.

Option E is correct because the verb phrase in the results clause stays in the past, where it belongs.

COMMENTS

These answers are good; explanation in some posts is top-notch.
Kudos to all.