GMAT Practice Question (One of Hundreds)
The Israelites would spend forty-nine years living their lives normally, but on the fiftieth year, called the year of jubilee, slaves would be set free, debts would be cancelled, and rented or borrowed property would be returned to its original owners.
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Correct Answer: A
Make sure that the construction of the sentence is parallel and that all verb forms agree.
This sentence is correct as is because the items in the series are in parallel form. The verbs are all passive and are in the conditional, which agrees with the use of the conditional verb form would spend in the beginning of the sentence.
- This sentence is correct as is because the items in the series are in parallel form.
- This structure is not parallel because the first verb would set is not in the passive voice.
- This structure is not parallel because the first verb would be set is in the conditional, and the second two verbs, were cancelled and was returned are not. In order to make the verbs agree with the first half of the sentence, all of the verbs should be in the conditional tense.
- The structure is not parallel because the last verb would return is not in the passive voice.
- Although this structure is parallel, the verbs do not agree in form with the first part of the sentence because they are not in the conditional.