catgmat wrote:
(D) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, are
wrong meaning, the farmers don't use the declining values as an collateral to get through the winter, therefore wrong!
(E) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are
'Declining values...and land, the collateral...' clearly modiefied, 'are' used as verb. Best answer!
I do not see any issues with "Which" Vs "The". The usage of either an appositive or adjective clause doesn't make any difference. Both the ways convey a nonrestrictive description of "farm equipment and land".
But consider below:
Omit the excessive portion.
Declining values for farm equipment and land, which farmers use as collateral to borrow against
to get through the harvest season, are going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.
Problems:
Clause ends with preposition : "against"
If we add the extra portion ... to borrow against.. to get through... This double infinitive kind of lengthens the sentence. In GMAT short is sweet.
Though above issues are not major, still in presence of a better choice E - these issues are accountable.
Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow
to get through the harvest season, are going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.
This looks good.