It is as difficult to prevent crimes against property as those that

Comparing "to prevent" in one situation to "to prevent" in another situation.

hence answer should be E

agree with Hso
those without it is in B awkwardly refers to the difficult.
E solves the problem.

IMO answer is E.

A and B are wrong due to unclear comparison. C modifies the meaning. D is not parallel.

First thing to note here is that the comparison is not between crimes but between the prevention of crimes against a property and the prevention of crimes against a person. Just try and replace the pronouns in each choice with their antecedents and differences will be clear.

(A) Those that are against a—- those - refers to crimes difficult to prevent crimes is being compared with crimes

(B) Those against a -- same as A

(C) It is against a -- It can stand only for property - meaning it is difficult to prevent crimes against property as property is against a person – absurd

(D) Preventing those against a – to prevent is not parallel to preventing.

E. Though wordy, E puts it thread - bare. Here- [highlight]it[/highlight] -holds a place value and hence needs no reference.

Hence E

I dont follow your explanation of C being wrong.

For me "It" in C, is exactly the same as in E. It has no reference, it is impersonal.

Please, could you explain why you say that "It" in C refers to property?
Thanks.

If the second it is impersonal as in E, then it should take along with all its components of the first. The - to prevent -phrase has been left out, making it nonparallel. Because it is not symmetrically carrying the intended meaning on either sides, we have to take that the second it refers to the property that lies closest to it.

Must be E.
I must say the question is really interesting.

The structure is:
It is as difficult to do X as it is to do Y.

Other answers are not parallel.

Hope it's clear a little bit.

"
If we write option B as "as to those against", will that make a correct sentence?

It is as difficult to............ do X as it is to do Y.

We need to first note use of ‘as’ as a comparison marker.
‘As’ needs clauses to be compared. B & D are out as they compare a clause with a noun phrase.
Option A is wrong because it compares a prevention of crime with a crime.
In option C ‘it’ is used as a pronoun and has no logical antecedent.
Hence, option E is the best choice.

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