If the depletion of the ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmo

Question

If the depletion of the ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere were to continue at its present rate, by the year 2000 the hole in the ozone layer would be at least one thousand miles wide or wider.

(A) If the depletion of the ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere were to continue at its present rate, by the year 2000 the hole in the ozone layer would be at least one thousand miles wide or wider.

(B) Were the depletion of ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere to continue at its present rate, by the year 2000 the hole in the ozone layer would be at least one thousand miles wide.

(C) Was the depletion of ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere to continue at its present rate, by the year 2000 the hole in the ozone layer would be at least one thousand miles wide or wider.

(D) If the depletion of ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere were continuing at its present rate, by the year 2000 the hole in the ozone layer would be at least one thousand miles wide.

(E) Should the depletion of ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere continue at its present rate, by the year 2000 the hole in the ozone layer would be at least one thousand miles wide or wider.

siddharthkapoor · Accepted Answer

Error Analysis:

Usage of "at least one thousand miles wide or wider" is awkward. The correct usage is "at least one thousand miles wide".

Process of Elimination:

A. Wrong. Explanation given in Error Analysis.
B.  Correct 
C. Wrong. Same error as in A.
D. Wrong. "were continuing" is wrong verb usage.
E. Wrong. Same error as in A.

Leonaann · Answer

I had chosen option a as my answer.
if (hypothetical statement, x would ..... )
in terms of sentence structure , option a is better compared to option b right.

why is it wrong to say 'would be at least one thousand miles wide or wider in option a?

rodri102 · Answer

When you say 'would be at least one thousand miles wide', the "or wider" is assumed. Including "or wider" would be redundant.

lacktutor · Answer

The first thing we could notice easily is “if” Clause/Conditional. In an Unreal conditional sentence, if the verb in the “if” clause is ‘to be’, we use ‘were’, even if the subject of the clause is a third person singular subject(he,she,it). Eliminate C and E.
‘At least one thousand miles wide’ is the correct form. Eliminate A. 
In D, past continuous form is used in ‘if’ clause(were continuing...). Wrong.
B is correct.

Posted from my mobile device

AjiteshArun · Answer

As  rodri102  mentioned, the  or wider  is redundant. For example:

You asked for at least two cookies.

The  at least  itself makes it clear that you asked for 2 or more cookies, so you don't have to put an  or more  in the sentence.

Arro44 · Answer

3 of our answer choices have unnecessary redundancy in the form of "at least" & "wide or wider".

This leaves us with B and D.
D has a glaring mistake: "if... were continuing"

Hence B is the winner by method of elimination.

ArpitJain1997ew · Answer

Hi,

Why is were used here, subject is depletion which is singular.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

The sentence is about a hypothetical situation. So, it's correct to use the subjunctive "were" rather than the indicative "was."

arya251294 · Answer

Something about conditionals.

TYPE 0 CONDITIONALS  
If(or when) + present tense | present tense
If(or when) + past tense | past tense

If and when can be interchangeably used only when we are talking about situations that are definitely going to happen.
If a situation is dependent on something, then we use "if".

If it rains, I won't go out.  correct 
When it rains, I won't go out.  Wrong

If you heat water it evaporates.  correct 
When you heat water it evaporates.  correct

Remember, Type 0 is the only conditional type in which you can use "if" and "when" interchangeably.

TYPE 1 CONDITIONAL   (Things are likely to happen here)
The type 1 conditional expresses a future scenario that might occur. Assuming that the condition is fulfilled, the outcome is likely to happen.

If + present tense | will (may/might/can/could/should) + verb

If I get paid, I will go shopping.
If I see that man, I may say something.

TYPE 2 CONDITIONAL   (Things are unlikely to happen here)
This can either refer to future hypotheticals that are unlikely to be true or present situations that are untrue or impossible.

If + simple past | would

If I were president, I would rule.
If I were rich, I would travel the world.
If I were invisible, I would rob the bank.

TYPE 3 CONDITIONALS   
The unreal situation in the past, with reference to the hypothetical outcome that would result also in the past.

If + past perfect | conditional perfect

If I had known you were going to react, I would have not done that.

If you had seen the movie, I would have/could have taken you out to watch its sequel.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello ArpitJain1997ew,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, since the verb "were" refers to a hypothetical action, the use of the subjunctive mood is preferred; “wishful trigger (if) + plural form of verb” is a correct, subjunctive usage; example: "If I were an athlete, I would be super fit.".

In an imaginative context, subjunctive mood is a preferred usage for conveying the intended meaning effectively.

To understand the concept of "Subjunctive Mood" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~20 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK19l5JfrBQ

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Redwhite387 · Answer

Option B does not even have a 'if' in the sentence. But the structure is similar to a if..then caluse. Is it correct to start a sentence with 'were' in the manner option does

winved1992 · Answer

As " depletion of ozone layer " should be considered as singular , using " were" must be wrong , hence i eliminated all the sentence that used "were".
kindly comment

Akhilshah · Answer

GMATNinja   AjiteshArun   KarishmaB

Is omitting 'if' in unreal condition is fine sometimes? as 'if' is omitted in answer choice 'B'?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi Akhilshah,

There are structures in which we don't see an  if .

1.   Were  with inversion

Were he the author, I would have asked for an autograph.  ← No  if , and  were  is before the subject. This is like saying "If he were the author...".

2.   Were  +  to  with inversion

Were he to sign a copy of the book...  ← No  if , and  were  is before the subject, followed by an infinitive ( to sign ). This is like saying "If he were to sign a copy of the book...".

We can also use the verbs  had  and  should .

3.   Had he answered the last question...  ← This is like saying "If he had answered the last question...".

4.   Should you change your mind...  ← This is like saying "If you change your mind...".

Akhilshah · Answer

AjiteshArun  Thank you! That's helpful!

If the depletion of the ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmo

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If the depletion of the ozone in the upper portion of the Earth's atmo

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

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Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards