basing a system

[bond_am]

Among the reasons for the decline of New England agriculture in the last three decades were the high cost of land, the pressure of housing and commercial development, and basing a marketing and distribution system on importing produce from Florida and California.

(A) basing a marketing and distribution system on importing produce from Florida and California
(B) basing a marketing and distribution system on the imported produce of Florida and California
(C) basing a system of marketing and distribution on the import of produce from Florida and California
(D) a marketing and distribution system based on importing produce from Florida and California
(E) a marketing and distribution system importing produce from Florida and California as its base

Why Answer is D not B ?

[dkpbus]

Originally posted by bond_am


Among the reasons for the decline of New England agriculture in the last three decades were the high cost of land, the pressure of housing and commercial development, and basing a marketing and distribution system on importing produce from Florida and California.

(A) basing a marketing and distribution system on importing produce from Florida and California
(B) basing a marketing and distribution system on the imported produce of Florida and California
(C) basing a system of marketing and distribution on the import of produce from Florida and California
(D) a marketing and distribution system based on importing produce from Florida and California
(E) a marketing and distribution system importing produce from Florida and California as its base

Why Answer is D not B ?

This is a parallel construction

other sentence starts with

were + (adjective) noun

but underlined portion starts with

were + present participle

moreover

the reason for ... were (is) .... basing a marketing...

seems awkward to me

the reason for ... were (is) .... a marketing and distribution system..

sounds better...

DKP