The increase in unemployment rates, coupled with significantly increas

Let me make a point here that may help clarify a number of SC problems for you:

There is no original.

If A were the indicator of how the sentence should be written, then the answer would always be A. There's nothing wrong with deviating from how the sentence was written in A, since A is wrong 4/5 of the time and has no more claim than any of the others to being the "original."

Now, on to this question. There are a few ways to think about the difference between C and D. The first is to look at what's doing the forcing:
In C, it's the increase in unemployment rates and increases in prices and costs.
In D, it's the increase in unemployment rates and increased prices as well as costs.

C, unlike D (and A) is parallel. All of the causes are increases. In D, we're looking at an increase in one part and increased prices in another.

It's also not great the way D tags on "as well as costs." It's not clear that the costs are increased; if that's what we want to convey, we should use "and," not "as well as."
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The problem in the original is that D is trying to apply a modifier to two things, and "as well as" doesn't do what "and" does in that situation:

He was greeted by men in green shirts and hats. (The shirts and hats were both green.)
He was greeted by men in green shirts as well as hats. (This doesn't really work well at all. It probably means that the hats were not green. Or if we stretch a bit, it could mean he was greeted by men and by hats. Basically, we just don't want to say this.)

We don't have the same problem in your constructions, but I still think "and" works a little better. "As well as" implies a sort of adding on that isn't needed here:

John Travolta is a pilot as well as an actor. (This is telling us that JT isn't just an actor--this is the part that the author figures we know--but that he's also a pilot. The author figures this is new information.)

The new security measures led to a steep decline in theft, as well as a drop in employee satisfaction. (The measures led to one thing, and also to something else that's very different. "As well as" emphasizes that difference better than "and" does.)

So what's the bottom line on "as well as"? It's not quite the same as "and," but the difference in meaning can be subtle. As with "also," don't be too quick to accept it as a substitute. "And" has special powers that no other word or phrase can be guaranteed to match!
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Official Explanation:

First, the subject of the main clause is "the increase in unemployment rates," which is singular. Yet, the verb in the main clause is "are forcing," which is plural. Second, "significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs" is both awkward and unclear. The logical inference is that the energy costs have increased as well, but this is not clear from the grammar that "significantly increased" modifies "energy costs" in addition to "retail prices." This phrase could also be more elegantly expressed.

(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) The subject of the main clause here is "the increase in rates of unemployment," which is singular, but the verb is "have been forcing," which is plural. However, the replacement of "as well as" with "and" is an improvement over the original sentence because it more clearly links "significant increases" and "energy costs."

(C) CORRECT. The subject of the main clause is "the increase in unemployment rates" and the corresponding verb is "is forcing," which are both singular. The phrase "coupled with significant increases in both retail prices and energy costs" is elegant and clearly links "significant increases" to "energy costs" through the use of "both."

(D) The subject of the main clause is "the increase in unemployment rates" and the corresponding verb is "is forcing," which are both singular. However, the phrase "coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs" is still awkward and unclear.

(E) The subject of the main clause is "the increase in unemployment rates" and the corresponding verb is "had been forcing," which are both singular. However, "had
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the increase singular so here is . both ---. and , it is better . so correct answer is C .

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I was between C and D, I selected D because it is following original construction and further I dont see any error in this choice.

Kindly explain why C > D ?

Thanks for the reply

I understand your point. C is more elegant, parallel and idiomatic compared to D.

What if I say :
unemployment rates, coupled with retail prices as well as energy costs, is ... (is it grammatically correct or we need and instead of as well as. what change in meaning you see, if I replace as well as with and)
unemployment rates, coupled with retail prices and energy costs, is ...

Is there any idiomatic requirement behind C to follow such pattern : Coupled with X and Y ?

A rapid-fire solution

are and have been are plural verbs. Remove them Remove E for using both as well as; both ... and is only correct.

Significantly increased implies that the prices were significantly increased by someone, which is contrary to the original intention

Therefore, C
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The increase in unemployment rates, coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs, are forcing many homeowners to look into alternative sources of fuel in order to save money on winter heating.


A. unemployment rates, coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs, are

B. rates of unemployment, coupled with significant increases in retail prices and energy costs, have been

C. unemployment rates, coupled with significant increases in both retail prices and energy costs, is

D. unemployment rates, coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs, is

E. rates of unemployment, coupled with significant increases in both retail as well as energy costs, had been

I am not sure how C is correct, everything sounds good except for the 'is' at the end. Shouldn't it be 'are' ?

No, because the subject is "increase":

The increase (coupled with blah blah blah) IS forcing homeowners . . .
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