Born in Portsmouth, England, Charles Dickens, often regarded as the gr

Stuck between A & C.. but C is using two ANDs. So A.

OA is A. Looks like everyone got it.

On another note, the OA might contain a few mistakes, but it seems to be the best answer. Can anyone clarify whether that is true?

Yeah, the below highlighted part doesn't seem right..
Born in Portsmouth, England, Charles Dickens, often regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period, worked in a blacking factory at the age of 12, became a journalist as a young adult, and in 1842 published a travelogue about the United States after he had visited that country for the first time.

12, became a journalist as a young adult, and in 1842 published a travelogue about the United States after he had visited that country for the first time

I also think "visiting" and "the" would be better suited in the two highlighted spots

I have read in one of the expert's posts that usage of had and after/before is redundant. When "after" is used, use of "had" is not required. Therefore, I rejected choice A
Please help !

Your concept is absolutely correct. There should not have been past perfect "had visited", because there is already "after" depicting the sequence. The correct sentence would be:
" ......after he visited..." (simple past).

undoubtedly A is the correct answer.
we need to maintain the parallelism. Only A does so.

i have a small doubt here.

is not 'in 1842' in option A spoiling the parallel structure.

although initially i opted for A, later i selected option B only because of 'in 1842'.

and also i would like to know what would be the correct version of option B.

Hi brs1cob,

A)worked..... 12, became a journalist as a young adult, and in 1842 published a travelogue about the United States after he had visited

'in 1842' is an additional information, even if you remove this meaning/parallelism will not change.

Why the correct answer is A
We need past perfect ( action in the past before other action ) ??
Had visited ?

since there is a sequence indicator 'after', we can use either past perfect or simple past, both will be correct.

yes i remember now . Thanks appreciate your effort

Official Explanation

Creating a filter: When we read the prompt, we're seeing a list of verbs. Dickens "worked," he "became", and he "published." It looks good, so we will review the other answer choices in order to eliminate them.

Finding objective defects: in (B), the "while" does not fit with the intended meaning. He didn't publish the travelogue simultaneously with any of the other actions in the sentence, accorded to the intended meaning. Choice (C) has similar logical problems and also creates a run-on sentence because it eliminates the list structure and doesn't introduce a new subject for "published." Choice (D) has a disembodied phrase, "journalist as a young adult," which is neither a properly formed list item nor a properly formed modifier of anything. (E) indicates that he worked as a journalist and published the travelogue in 1842 prior to being 12.

The correct answer is (A).