Select the correct structure to express a formal hypothetical present/future condition:

________ to withdraw its financial subsidy, the urban transit authority would be forced to terminate weekend services.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. Were the federal government

Answer: Were the federal government. Why not the others: 'If the federal government were' is grammatically possible only with 'to withdraw' following, but inverted syntax is specifically requested and 'Were the federal government' directly satisfies the inversion; 'Should the federal government had' ungrammatically pairs modal 'Should' with past 'had'; 'Was the federal government' uses informal singular indicative 'was' in an inverted subjunctive context.
  1. Step 1: Analyze the main clause consequence: 'would be forced' is a second conditional predicate describing a hypothetical present/future consequence.
  2. Step 2: In formal register, the hypothetical condition can be inverted by fronting 'Were', omitting 'if', followed by the subject and the to-infinitive: 'Were the federal government to withdraw'.

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