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01 Dec 2021, 00:35
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B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
78% (00:45) correct
22%
(01:18)
wrong
based on 128
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Unless the conservator can find a way to protect the photographs in the archives from light and air, these precious historical documents have deteriorated and will continue to do so both in color and in fine detail.
A) have deteriorated and will continue to do so
B) will continue to deteriorate
C) have been and will continue to deteriorate
D) will continue to deteriorate, as they already have,
E) will be deteriorating yet more
01 Dec 2021, 00:41
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
SHORT ANSWER
[You might want to read beyond this short answer. There is an ellipsis error I discuss in the longer explanation.]
B is correct.
The sentence begins with "Unless," so the verb in the underlined passage should take the form
→ "unless A happens, then B will happen."
Options A, C, and D make statements declaring that the photographs have deteriorated in the past, but these statements are not warranted by the rest of the sentence.
Options B and E properly suggest that unless conditions are changed, an ongoing process will continue; option E, however, is worded in a very
awkward way.
B is the best choice.
EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
• Issue: verb tense in a conditional
Although we often think of conditionals as if-then statements, the word unless also anchors conditional statements.
Unless means something close to if ... not.
→ Correct: Unless THIS thing happens, THAT thing will happen.
→ Unless X happens, Y will happen
X = the conservator can find a way to protect the photographs
Y = the deterioration of the photographs
Unless statements are almost always Type 1 conditionals, which in turn are often highly probable predictions:
Unless X (simple present), Y (simple future)
→ Unless we eat vitamin C, we will be susceptible to rickets.
→ Unless you obey the law, you will suffer monetary or penal consequences.
In this case, then, we need simple future tense.
THE OPTIONS
→ Each part of the verb must make sense with the unless clause.
Present perfect have deteriorated cannot logically be coupled with unless.
Wrong: Unless the conservator can find a way to protect the photographs from light and air, these precious historical documents have deteriorated.
That sentence above is babble.
The unless clause describes something that must happen in the future; present perfect describes something that already began and continues into the present.
• Redundancy (sort of)
→ If you didn't catch the verb error, you might get lucky and realize that we do not need to say both have deteriorated and will continue to deteriorate.
The second verb phrase, will continue to deteriorate, already implies that the photographs have deteriorated (or have been deteriorating), so, outside the stark grammar error, we have redundancy.
(I wrote "sort of" because this sentence makes so little sense that I am not sure I can accuse it of redundancy.)
Eliminate A
• The simple future will continue to deteriorate is used correctly
• The sentence does not introduce nonsensical and/or redundant other verbs that are connected to the past
KEEP
→ There is no such thing as have been . . . deteriorate.
That verb construction does not exist in English.
In a different context, one without the word unless and in which it made sense to mention the past, we might say have been deteriorating,
but not have been deteriorate.
• redundancy (sort of)
→ As is the case in option A, will continue to deteriorate already expresses the idea that the photographs have been deteriorating.
Of course, we need never reach this logical issue because 1) have been is the wrong verb tense and 2) that verb phrase is not even constructed correctly.
Eliminate C
→ When we uses ellipsis, as is the case here, we omit some words, almost always from the second part of the sentence.
If we use any other verb besides some form of to do, the words we omit must be present and in the correct form.
We do not have the word deteriorated and thus cannot use have as an ellipsis by which we mean they already have deteriorated.
Take the word we do see in the first part, i.e., deteriorate, and "put it back" into the second part:
. . . will continue to deteriorate, as they already have deteriorate. ←← Wrong.
• Redundancy
Once again, will continue to deteriorate tells us that they have already deteriorated.
Eliminate D
• verb tense issue: future progressive tense is not warranted
→ will be deteriorating is a progressive tense.
Progressive tenses connote ongoing action or action over time, but deterioration itself suggests something that happens over time.
• strange wording
→ Okay, I will say it: the phrasing is awkward. (I am not a fan of "awkward" because the word is rarely explained.)
A native speaker, or a nonnative speaker who reads a fair bit, will flinch at this phrasing.
The awkwardness comes down to usage. The way that we express this thought is captured in B, not E.
Style questions should never be cause for elimination on the first pass, but we are on the "second" pass because we have only B and E remaining.
Choose the concision and clarity of the phrasing in option B.
Eliminate E
The answer is B.
COMMENTS
This question is fairly simple.
Now, I want to know whether some of you, especially those who are shooting for a high verbal score, caught the error in option D—the one in which we cannot use "have" because we do not have "deteriorated."
If not, do not worry.
Just put that little factoid in your pocket and let it percolate in your brain.
If you have no idea what I am talking about, bookmark this post, here, about ellipsis, and go back to that question in a little while.
(SPOILER ALERT. Careful. That post explains an official question.)
Be safe and good luck, everyone.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
SHORT ANSWER
[You might want to read beyond this short answer. There is an ellipsis error I discuss in the longer explanation.]
B is correct.
The sentence begins with "Unless," so the verb in the underlined passage should take the form
→ "unless A happens, then B will happen."
Options A, C, and D make statements declaring that the photographs have deteriorated in the past, but these statements are not warranted by the rest of the sentence.
Options B and E properly suggest that unless conditions are changed, an ongoing process will continue; option E, however, is worded in a very
awkward way.
B is the best choice.
EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
Quote:
• Issue: verb tense in a conditional
Although we often think of conditionals as if-then statements, the word unless also anchors conditional statements.
Unless means something close to if ... not.
→ Correct: Unless THIS thing happens, THAT thing will happen.
→ Unless X happens, Y will happen
X = the conservator can find a way to protect the photographs
Y = the deterioration of the photographs
Unless statements are almost always Type 1 conditionals, which in turn are often highly probable predictions:
Unless X (simple present), Y (simple future)
→ Unless we eat vitamin C, we will be susceptible to rickets.
→ Unless you obey the law, you will suffer monetary or penal consequences.
In this case, then, we need simple future tense.
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• Verb tense error
→ Each part of the verb must make sense with the unless clause.
Present perfect have deteriorated cannot logically be coupled with unless.
Wrong: Unless the conservator can find a way to protect the photographs from light and air, these precious historical documents have deteriorated.
That sentence above is babble.
The unless clause describes something that must happen in the future; present perfect describes something that already began and continues into the present.
• Redundancy (sort of)
→ If you didn't catch the verb error, you might get lucky and realize that we do not need to say both have deteriorated and will continue to deteriorate.
The second verb phrase, will continue to deteriorate, already implies that the photographs have deteriorated (or have been deteriorating), so, outside the stark grammar error, we have redundancy.
(I wrote "sort of" because this sentence makes so little sense that I am not sure I can accuse it of redundancy.)
Eliminate A
Quote:
• I do not see any errors
• The simple future will continue to deteriorate is used correctly
• The sentence does not introduce nonsensical and/or redundant other verbs that are connected to the past
KEEP
Quote:
• verb composition error
→ There is no such thing as have been . . . deteriorate.
That verb construction does not exist in English.
In a different context, one without the word unless and in which it made sense to mention the past, we might say have been deteriorating,
but not have been deteriorate.
• redundancy (sort of)
→ As is the case in option A, will continue to deteriorate already expresses the idea that the photographs have been deteriorating.
Of course, we need never reach this logical issue because 1) have been is the wrong verb tense and 2) that verb phrase is not even constructed correctly.
Eliminate C
Quote:
• Verb error: we cannot say "have deteriorate," but we do not have the words to imply the correct "have deteriorated"
→ When we uses ellipsis, as is the case here, we omit some words, almost always from the second part of the sentence.
If we use any other verb besides some form of to do, the words we omit must be present and in the correct form.
We do not have the word deteriorated and thus cannot use have as an ellipsis by which we mean they already have deteriorated.
Take the word we do see in the first part, i.e., deteriorate, and "put it back" into the second part:
. . . will continue to deteriorate, as they already have deteriorate. ←← Wrong.
• Redundancy
Once again, will continue to deteriorate tells us that they have already deteriorated.
Eliminate D
Quote:
• Not as concise or crisp as option B
• verb tense issue: future progressive tense is not warranted
→ will be deteriorating is a progressive tense.
Progressive tenses connote ongoing action or action over time, but deterioration itself suggests something that happens over time.
• strange wording
→ Okay, I will say it: the phrasing is awkward. (I am not a fan of "awkward" because the word is rarely explained.)
A native speaker, or a nonnative speaker who reads a fair bit, will flinch at this phrasing.
The awkwardness comes down to usage. The way that we express this thought is captured in B, not E.
Style questions should never be cause for elimination on the first pass, but we are on the "second" pass because we have only B and E remaining.
Choose the concision and clarity of the phrasing in option B.
Eliminate E
The answer is B.
COMMENTS
This question is fairly simple.
Now, I want to know whether some of you, especially those who are shooting for a high verbal score, caught the error in option D—the one in which we cannot use "have" because we do not have "deteriorated."
If not, do not worry.
Just put that little factoid in your pocket and let it percolate in your brain.
If you have no idea what I am talking about, bookmark this post, here, about ellipsis, and go back to that question in a little while.
(SPOILER ALERT. Careful. That post explains an official question.)
Be safe and good luck, everyone.
01 Dec 2021, 01:24
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My answer is (B). It took me 31 seconds.
(A) In type 1 conditional, If/unless clause (condition) uses simple present tense while main clause simple future tense.
Eliminate (A), and then (C)
(B) is clear and concise.
(D) "continue" already means that such deterioration is an ongoing process. It is redundant to add "as they already have".
(E) The progressive tense is uncalled for.
(A) In type 1 conditional, If/unless clause (condition) uses simple present tense while main clause simple future tense.
Eliminate (A), and then (C)
(B) is clear and concise.
(D) "continue" already means that such deterioration is an ongoing process. It is redundant to add "as they already have".
(E) The progressive tense is uncalled for.
