In the following sentence, identify which part contains a grammatical error: When the business is ran smoothly (1) directors are more than happy to pick an experienced insider, (2) who will continue along the present path. (3) No error (4).

Introduction / Context:
This question examines your control over passive voice forms and irregular verb patterns in English. Many verbs, including "run", have different past forms and past participle forms, which must be used correctly in passive constructions. Here, you need to spot the error in one of the numbered segments or decide that the sentence is fully correct. Errors with irregular verbs are a common target in competitive exams because they reveal whether candidates really know verb tables or only rely on rough intuition.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The sentence is divided into four labelled parts.
• Part (1): When the business is ran smoothly.
• Part (2): directors are more than happy to pick an experienced insider,
• Part (3): who will continue along the present path.
• Part (4): No error, signalling a fully correct sentence.
• The verb "run" is irregular: base "run", past "ran", past participle "run".

Concept / Approach:
In passive voice, English uses the verb "be" plus the past participle of the main verb. For example, "is done", "was broken", "is run". With irregular verbs, it is important to know the correct past participle. For "run", the simple past is "ran", but the past participle is "run". Therefore, in a passive structure like "is run smoothly", the form "ran" is not correct. The remaining parts of the sentence describe directors choosing an insider to maintain the status quo and are grammatically integrated with the opening clause.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Focus on part (1): "When the business is ran smoothly". Step 2: Recognise that "is" signals a passive structure and should be followed by a past participle. Step 3: Recall the verb forms of "run": run, ran, run. The past participle is "run", not "ran". Step 4: Conclude that the correct phrase must be "is run smoothly", not "is ran smoothly". Step 5: Examine part (2): "directors are more than happy to pick an experienced insider," which is a correct independent clause. Step 6: Examine part (3): "who will continue along the present path." The relative clause is grammatically sound and follows the rules for future will plus base verb. Step 7: This analysis shows that only part (1) contains an error.

Verification / Alternative check:
Rewrite the corrected sentence: "When the business is run smoothly, directors are more than happy to pick an experienced insider, who will continue along the present path." This is fully acceptable and clearly expresses the intended meaning. If we change "is ran" to "ran", the clause becomes "When the business ran smoothly", which is a valid simple past active clause, but that would remove "is" and alter the tense and voice. Since the sentence as given intends a present time general condition in passive, "is run" is the accurate correction, showing that part (1) is faulty.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Part (2) is correct; it uses "directors are more than happy to pick" in a clear and natural way. Part (3) uses "who will continue along the present path" correctly to describe a future action expected of the insider. Part (4) cannot be chosen because we have already identified an error in the sentence. Therefore, none of these parts are incorrect, and only part (1) deserves to be marked.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes overlook irregular verb patterns and accept "is ran" simply because "ran" sounds familiar as the past form. Others might misinterpret the clause as active, forgetting that "is" plus a past form is usually a sign of passive voice. To avoid such traps, always recall the base form, simple past, and past participle of common irregular verbs, and remember that in passive voice, "be" must be followed by the past participle, not the simple past.

Final Answer:
The incorrect segment is Part (1), where "is ran" should be corrected to "is run".