Select the correct subjunctive form:
The medical ethics board demanded that the clinical trial _____ immediately until unbiased safety data could be compiled.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. be suspended
- Step 1: Identify the mandative subjunctive trigger: verbs expressing necessity, demand, or formal resolution (e.g., demand, insist, recommend, require) followed by a that-clause govern the present mandative subjunctive mood.
- Step 2: Select the base form of the verb: the subjunctive mood in English uses the bare infinitive / base form of the verb ("be") regardless of the subject's person or number. In the passive voice, this yields "be suspended".
Answer
be suspended.
Why not the others: "was suspended" uses indicative past tense, violating the mandative subjunctive rule in formal academic English; "is suspended" uses indicative present tense; "would be suspended" introduces an unnecessary conditional modal auxiliary.
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