Weighing in on the controversial subject, the President announced that

Question

Weighing in on the controversial subject, the President announced that the potential construction of a new pipeline depends on  if it will exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and have  a net effect that serves the national interest.

A) if it will exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and have
B) whether it will exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and have
C) whether or not it is likely to exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and will have
D) its likelihood for exacerbating the problem of carbon pollution and having
E) the likelihood for it to exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and have

PP777 · Answer

Correct Answer- B

A) if it will exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and have -   If is used for conditional sentences. 
B) whether it will exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and have   Correct Answer 
C) whether or not it is likely to exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and will have  Whether or not is redundant 
D)  its likelihood  for exacerbating the problem of carbon pollution and  having 
E)  the likelihood  for it to exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution and have

push12345 · Answer

When we talk about of making choices then "whether" makes more sense than "if"."If" is generally used for conditional sentences so A is out

C-whether or not is redundant so C is out

D- wrong as we don't have anything possessive here for which "its" is used

E- construction here "likelihood" for it is not good and is also wordy as compared to B

So B is correct choice

Give kudos if it helps

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Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Creating a filter: In this question, the sentence needs "whether," not "if." Here exact English differs from common English. If it's a yes or no question expressed by a clause, the proper word is always "whether." The word "if" has a different function, which is to identify a condition for something. A simple test is to use "or not" -- if "or not" fits in the sentence, then the right word is "whether." I.e., "the construction of a new pipeline depends on whether or not it will exacerbate the problem..." makes sense, so the word must be "whether."

Applying the filter: the filter leaves us with (B) and (C). Choice (C) has multiple errors. The phrase "it is likely" is unnecessary and "will have" is not parallel or consistent with "likely to exacerbate." (D) and (E) are wordy and imprecise. "How likely" would be a viable option here, but it doesn't appear.

The correct answer is (B).

Weighing in on the controversial subject, the President announced that

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