Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
May 0608:30 AM PDT
-09:30 AM PDT
In Episode 3 of our GMAT Ninja Critical Reasoning series, we tackle Discrepancy, Paradox, and Explain an Oddity questions. You know the feeling: the passage gives you two facts that seem completely contradictory....
May 0701:00 AM EDT
-02:00 AM EDT
Learn how Keshav, a Chartered Accountant, scored an impressive 705 on GMAT in just 30 days with GMATWhiz's expert guidance. In this video, he shares preparation tips and strategies that worked for him, including the mock, time management, and.....
May 0612:30 AM EDT
-01:30 AM EDT
GMAT 615 to 715 in Just 15 Days! Riya’s 100-pt Improvement Strategy- May 08
08:00 AM PDT
-08:30 AM PDT
Join the special YouTube live-stream for selecting the winners of GMAT Club MBA Scholarships sponsored by Juno live. Watch who gets these coveted MBA scholarships offered by GMAT Club and Juno. 
May 0808:00 PM PDT
-09:00 PM PDT
Free- full-length test + 15 concept videos + 150+ short videos + study plan!
24 Nov 2020, 21:20
Kudos
Bookmarks
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
63% (00:43) correct
37%
(00:49)
wrong
based on 377
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
If Texas were a country, it would have had the highest incarceration rate in the world.
A) If Texas were a country, it would have had
B) If Texas had been a country, it would have
C) If Texas were a country, it would have
D) Had Texas been a country, it would have
E) If Texas was a country, it would have
24 Nov 2020, 21:23
Kudos
Bookmarks
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
Zero conditional: IF simple present, THEN simple present
Type 1: IF simple present, THEN simple future
Type 2: IF simple past, THEN present conditional (would + bare infinitive)
Type 3: IF past perfect, then perfect conditional (would + have + past participle verbED)
THE OPTIONS
→ If . . .were requires would verb
Because the verb in the IF clause is in simple past, the result clause must be in present conditional (would + verb)
The result clause in this option sounds like a fait accompli. Finis.
The result clause is not rendered, as Type 2 conditionals require, in the would + base verb.
That result clause mimics what we would see in a Type 3 conditional.
We cannot mix a Type 2 and Type 3 construction.
ELIMINATE A
→ If had been = (if past perfect) = Type 3
→ [then] would have = (then present conditional) = Type 2
Careful. The result clause, would have, looks very similar to what Type 3 requires, namely, would have had (would have verbED).
The two result clause constructions are not the same.
Another complicating factor is that have,the correct verb, is not a helping verb but rather a main verb meaning "possessed."
We cannot mix Type 3 and 2 conditionals.
ELIMINATE B
→ IF simple past, THEN present conditional= Type 2
→ IF X were . . . THEN Y would have [have = main verb]
• This statement is a classic hypothetical
→ Its facts are possible but not very likely
→ Its time is now or any time
→ We are reading about a theoretical possibility (Type 2), not a lost opportunity (Type 3)
KEEP C
→ we can use "had" in Type 3 conditionals as a shortened form of an IF clause without the IF
had X been = IF X had been
Had he been quiet = IF he had been quiet
→ Had Texas been = past perfect = Type 3, BUT
→ would have = present conditional = Type 2
(as in option B, recall that Type 3 must be would have had)
Starting conditionals or hypotheticals with had or were (and should, though I do not recall having seen "should" in official questions) is a sophisticated way to phrase a sentence.
Improperly mixing conditional structures, though, is not sophisticated. Doing so is incorrect.
ELIMINATE D
→ Wrong: If I was you
→ Correct: If I were you
→ In the case of a hypothetical Type 2 conditional (something imagined, supposed, hypothesized), we change a to be verb to were for everything and everyone, singular or plural.
Wrong: If he was honorable, he would not lie.
Correct: If he were honorable, he would not lie.
We signal that we are talking about a hypothetical by using were.
We infuse this type of conditional with a subjunctive mood by always using were rather than was.
The usage of were only sounds strange when we involve the pronouns, I, he, she, and it.
We would never say "you was."
Similarly, in this situation, we must always use were
ELIMINATE E
The answer is C..
COMMENTS
These comments will be nearly identical to those in my other OE for today.
The Thanksgiving holiday just ended in the U.S.
The Lincoln Project created the most memorable Thanksgiving video I have ever seen.
The Lincoln Project Gives Thanks is the epitome of simple eloquence—in under two minutes.
You know, the effect of tryptophan really is a thing.
I wasn't too sure. I'm sure.
These answers are satisfactory.
Assertion is not explanation.
In keeping with a proven POE strategy in which we eliminate the worst four answers: Why are the four incorrect answers incorrect?
After reading a post, will a future aspirant who does not know this fairly difficult material understand why the wrong answers are wrong?
Be safe, everyone.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
THE PROMPT
Quote:
• Issues: conditional statements
Zero conditional: IF simple present, THEN simple present
Type 1: IF simple present, THEN simple future
Type 2: IF simple past, THEN present conditional (would + bare infinitive)
Type 3: IF past perfect, then perfect conditional (would + have + past participle verbED)
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• the condition (if) clause and the main/result (then) clause are not consistent
→ If . . .were requires would verb
Because the verb in the IF clause is in simple past, the result clause must be in present conditional (would + verb)
The result clause in this option sounds like a fait accompli. Finis.
The result clause is not rendered, as Type 2 conditionals require, in the would + base verb.
That result clause mimics what we would see in a Type 3 conditional.
We cannot mix a Type 2 and Type 3 construction.
ELIMINATE A
Quote:
• Improperly mixes Type 3 and Type 2 conditionals
→ If had been = (if past perfect) = Type 3
→ [then] would have = (then present conditional) = Type 2
Careful. The result clause, would have, looks very similar to what Type 3 requires, namely, would have had (would have verbED).
The two result clause constructions are not the same.
Another complicating factor is that have,the correct verb, is not a helping verb but rather a main verb meaning "possessed."
We cannot mix Type 3 and 2 conditionals.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
• Good - we have consistency
→ IF simple past, THEN present conditional= Type 2
→ IF X were . . . THEN Y would have [have = main verb]
• This statement is a classic hypothetical
→ Its facts are possible but not very likely
→ Its time is now or any time
→ We are reading about a theoretical possibility (Type 2), not a lost opportunity (Type 3)
KEEP C
Quote:
• improper mixing of Type 3 and Type 2
→ we can use "had" in Type 3 conditionals as a shortened form of an IF clause without the IF
had X been = IF X had been
Had he been quiet = IF he had been quiet
→ Had Texas been = past perfect = Type 3, BUT
→ would have = present conditional = Type 2
(as in option B, recall that Type 3 must be would have had)
Starting conditionals or hypotheticals with had or were (and should, though I do not recall having seen "should" in official questions) is a sophisticated way to phrase a sentence.
Improperly mixing conditional structures, though, is not sophisticated. Doing so is incorrect.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• WAS should be WERE
→ Wrong: If I was you
→ Correct: If I were you
→ In the case of a hypothetical Type 2 conditional (something imagined, supposed, hypothesized), we change a to be verb to were for everything and everyone, singular or plural.
Wrong: If he was honorable, he would not lie.
Correct: If he were honorable, he would not lie.
We signal that we are talking about a hypothetical by using were.
We infuse this type of conditional with a subjunctive mood by always using were rather than was.
The usage of were only sounds strange when we involve the pronouns, I, he, she, and it.
We would never say "you was."
Similarly, in this situation, we must always use were
ELIMINATE E
The answer is C..
COMMENTS
These comments will be nearly identical to those in my other OE for today.
The Thanksgiving holiday just ended in the U.S.
The Lincoln Project created the most memorable Thanksgiving video I have ever seen.
The Lincoln Project Gives Thanks is the epitome of simple eloquence—in under two minutes.
You know, the effect of tryptophan really is a thing.
I wasn't too sure. I'm sure.
These answers are satisfactory.
Assertion is not explanation.
In keeping with a proven POE strategy in which we eliminate the worst four answers: Why are the four incorrect answers incorrect?
After reading a post, will a future aspirant who does not know this fairly difficult material understand why the wrong answers are wrong?
Be safe, everyone.
General Discussion
24 Nov 2020, 21:30
Kudos
Bookmarks
The 2nd conditional(hypothetical) for IF-THEN case is : If X were...(hypothetical) , Y would...
If Texas were a country, it would have the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Hence, C is correct.
If Texas were a country, it would have the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Hence, C is correct.
