og 65

65.   Critics of the trend toward privately operated prisons consider corrections facilities to be an integral part of the criminal justice system and question if profits should be made from incarceration.

(A) to be an integral part of the criminal justice system and question if

(B) as an integral part of the criminal justice system and they question if

(C) as being an integral part of the criminal justice system and question whether

(D) an integral part of the criminal justice system and question whether（D）

(E) are an integral part of the criminal justice system, and they question whether

When consider means “regard as,” as it does in this sentence, its object should be followed immediately by the phrase that identifies or describes that object. Thus, to be in A, as in B, and as being in C produce unidiomatic constructions in the context of the sentence. Also, although if and whether can be used interchangeably after some verbs, question if, which appears in A and B, is unidiomatic, and they in B is unnecessary. E also contains the unnecessary they, and it uses the ungrammatical construction consider... facilities are. Grammatically and idiomatically, sound D is the best choice.