Hi guhancr7! I'd be glad to give an explanation for this question! To begin, here is the original with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a 'soft landing', followed by a gradual increase in the business activity.

(A) that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come
(B) in the economy to avoid the recession, what many feared earlier in the year, rather to come
(C) in the economy's ability to avoid the recession, something earlier in the year many had feared , and instead to come
(D) in the economy to avoid the recession many were fearing earlier in the year, and rather to come
(E) that the economy will avoid the recession that was feared earlier this year by many, with it instead coming

After a quick glance over the options, we see a few areas we can focus our attention on:

1. will avoid vs. to avoid (Verb Tense & Meaning)
2. feared / had feared / fearing (Verb Tense)
3. and instead come / rather to come / and instead to come / and rather to come / with it instead to come (Parallelism)

The quickest way to answer this question is to actually focus on #3 on our list: parallelism. There are two actions the economy will take in this sentence, and they must be parallel. Let's take a look at the original sentence for clues:

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a 'soft landing', followed by a gradual increase in the business activity.

We need to make sure that the options all use parallel wording with "avoid." Let's see how they stack up:

(A) that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come = PARALLEL
(B) in the economy to avoid the recession, what many feared earlier in the year, rather to come = NOT PARALLEL
(C) in the economy's ability to avoid the recession, something earlier in the year many had feared , and instead to come = NOT PARALLEL
(D) in the economy to avoid the recession many were fearing earlier in the year, and rather to come = NOT PARALLEL
(E) that the economy will avoid the recession that was feared earlier this year by many, with it instead coming = NOT PARALLEL

There you have it - option A is the correct choice! It's the only option that uses parallel structure throughout the sentence.

So why didn't I start with #1 or #2 on my list?

#1 on my list (to avoid vs. will avoid) is incredibly confusing to try to explain. It has more to do with how to handle modifiers and intended meaning, which will take you more time to work out while taking the GMAT. Parallelism typically is a quicker thing to check for, so it makes more sense to start there.

#2 on my list (how each option ends) relies on your understanding of idioms that use words like "rather" and "instead." As I understand it, the word "rather" deals with degrees of something (it's rather cold outside) and "instead" is used to offer up an alternative (let's go to the mall instead). However, trying to focus on this option will also take a lot more time than necessary.

I hope this helps! By focusing on the grammar concepts that are easier to handle, you might find that they help you answer the question much faster than just picking the first thing you notice! :thumbup:


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