A historian attempting to predict in the 1870's which nation would take over world leadership from the British probably would have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and been quite wrong.

(A) have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and been
(B) have guessed that it would have been Bismarck's Prussia and he would be
(C) have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and would be
(D) guess Bismarck's Prussia and be
(E) guess that it would be Bismarck's Prussia and would have been





ans D

WILL ANYBODY EXPLAIN WHY D

B, C & E are not parallel (...and...) only A & D left. A ia meaningful with the expresssion whereas D is in simple past. I will go for A.

I think 'attempting to predict' needs a simple past because the action is not ongoing now but is completed and its a subjunctive mood i guess........similarly 'been' should be 'be'............don't know whether i am fully correct.........

Hi gaurav85, (http://www.scorechase.com/gmat/member-gaurav85.html)

I don't understand some of your points:

- The action is completed
- The verb is in subjunctive mood



I just counted on the expression like:

A historian attempting to predict something in the past would have guessed/would guess Bismarck's Prussia.


would have guessed sounds great. I prefer A