Select the correct word order to complete the regulatory directive:

Under no circumstances ________ permission to enter the sterile biocontainment laboratory without certified respiratory equipment.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. should unauthorized personnel be granted

Answer: should unauthorized personnel be granted. Why not the others: 'unauthorized personnel should be granted' lacks the mandatory inversion after a fronted negative phrase; 'should be granted unauthorized personnel' places the entire verb complex before the subject; 'must unauthorized personnel being granted' incorrectly pairs modal 'must' with participle 'being'.
  1. Step 1: Recognize the fronted negative prepositional phrase: 'Under no circumstances' introduces a categorical prohibition requiring obligatory auxiliary-subject inversion.
  2. Step 2: Invert the modal auxiliary 'should' before the subject noun phrase 'unauthorized personnel', retaining the passive infinitive 'be granted' after the subject.

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