According to Alistair Maclean’s novel, the invincible mountainous terr

Question

According to Alistair Maclean’s novel, the invincible mountainous terrain of Navarone in the sea of Aegean was of utmost military importance to the German through out the Second World war , because they realised that,  if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril.

(A) if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril

(B) if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British could be liable to be in peril

(C) If they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British would be always in peril

(D) if the were not to exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril

(E) their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril, should they fail to exploit its strategic location

rrsnathan · Answer

Answer : C
Here i have explanation on my side

The Underline portion 
"if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril." --> Conditional clause

So rule is:
 If Simple past, then Simple past (Fact/Habit) / would verb (unlikely event)  
From the meaning of the sentence we could know that if they did not do something then they are unlikely to get that it. So Unlikely event. Here the rule applies with Would verb.

So answer C is correct.

Regards,
Rrsnathan.

devesh991 · Answer

In option C, I think it not clear what "its" in 'exploit its strategic location' is referring to. Isn't E a better choice, in which it is clear that 'its' is used for naval might of the British?

devikeerthan · Answer

Straight C. The usage of 'would' is appropriate

ravigupta2912 · Answer

(A) if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril —“was” is incorrect verb tense. Eliminate.

(B) if they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British could be liable to be in peril — “could” is incorrect usage here. Eliminate.

(C) If they did not exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British would be always in peril — I’d have preferred would “always be” in peril. But the can tense is fixed here. Keep.

(D) if the were not to exploit its strategic location, their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril — incorrect verb tense. “was”.

(E) their survival against the indomitable naval might of the British was always in peril, should they fail to exploit its strategic location — “was” is the incorrect verb tense here. It reduces the conditionality of the outcome ie survival against naval night of the British.

Posted from my mobile device

abhik1502 · Answer

daagh

will you pls suggest , how "didn't" is compatible in first part of option C.
We are talking about an assumption out here, so shouldn't it be in subjunctive form ? 
Something like "were" in place of "didnt". THough option D fixes the same but in option D 2nd half is wrong.

So my point is doesn't option C need a correction ?

S1905 · Answer

egmat  Can you please help me understand how to choose between A and C

If  simple past , then  simple past  OR  would verb  - This is the if..then rule we follow for simple past and to choose between simple past and would we would need to understand the context.

As I understand, "would" will be used in case of any uncertainty and simple past should be used for a habit/certain condition.

Here, the use of "realised" is throwing me off - doesn't it mean a belief/certainty? If so, it should use simple past.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Swati1905 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, what this sentence conveys is that the Germans realized something about a conditional situation; since conditional situations imply hypothetical action, the use of "would" is correct here.

Further, "would" is also used to refer to a past action from a point in time further in the past; in this case, the Germans in the past are considering a possible action in their future, so "would" is correct.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

According to Alistair Maclean’s novel, the invincible mountainous terr

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

According to Alistair Maclean’s novel, the invincible mountainous terr

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia