First grammar. This is question of idiom and modification
Idiom: ‘Attribute to’ is the right idiom, ‘attribute as’ is wrong. So choices C and E are gone.
Modification; The underlined part ‘but in attributing smoking to tobacco companies’ is supposed to be done by the attorneys who are suing the tobacco companies. But instead of attorneys, you find only ‘smokers’ which turns the clause into one of misplaced modification. So choices A and B that have ‘but in arrtibuting to’ are worng This leaves us with choice D only, which uses a passive voice to match the passve voice in the latter part to render the clause without modificiation error and make it more //.
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D it is...

reason -- > "in attributing smoking to tobacco companies, the smokers"

this implies that the smokers are attributing smoking to ........... while actually it is the attorneys who want to blame the smoking companies by "attributing smoking to tobacco companies"

therefore a, b, c are out

between D and E, D is more concise and "active"- voice.

Hope this helps. Also FYI.. there is a similar question about criminals, foods and attributing... you can look that up for better clarity if you need further help on this SC.

The smokers are not attributing the smoking to tobacco companies - the lawyers are. Therefore A, B, and C are out.

Between D and E, D wins on account of being clear and direct as compared to E.

D it is.
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ya - D

but 'if' is conditional - is it the same here? i chose D bcs it sounds correct.

ABC lose becos of mis-modification; E loses because of using wrong idiom, ‘attributed as’ rather than ‘attributed to’.
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attributed as - Incorrect so C and E are Out
B is wordy-Incorrect
A -but in attributing .. does present the condition that author wants to present
D- More logical and concise- Attributed to is correct idiom

The tricky part of this question is to notice that (A) - (C), all mistakenly modify 'the smokers.' In this case, 'the smokers' are not doing any of the attributing. The 'told that they' shows that some other agent is responsible for the attributing.

By using the conditional 'if' we fix the problem of modification.

Finally, to choose between (D) and (E), we rely on the proper idiom: attribute to.

Therefore (D) wins out.

Hope that helps .
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Despite the warnings that tobacco companies are now required to issue, some attorneys still attempt to file lawsuits against tobacco companies on behalf of smokers; but in attributing smoking to tobacco companies, the smokers are in effect told that they are not responsible for their own decisions
A. in attributing smoking to tobacco companies :- In attributing says that smokers are attributing it
B. in attributing the act of smoking to tobacco companies :- same as above
C. in attributing tobacco companies as the cause of smoking :- same
D. if smoking is attributed to tobacco companies :- passive to passive parallel and it clearly says that attorneys are attributing the smoking to companies and plus it has a semi colon, it needs to stand as an independedn clause, i believe this is the only option with a verb "is" referring to attribution
E. if tobacco companies are attributed as the cause of smoking :- reversed meaning

The sentence as written contains a modification error. The modifying phrase "in attributing smoking to tobacco companies" is intended to modify "attorneys." It is the attorneys who are attributing smoking to tobacco companies. But the placement of the phrase makes it modify what comes after it—"the smokers." Eliminate (A).

A quick scan of the choices reveals a 3-2 split, with (A), (B), and (C) using the same "in attributing ...," which incorrectly modifies "the smokers," while (D) and (E) change the phrase to "if ... attributed."

(A), (B), and (C) can be eliminated right away, since they contain the modification error noted above. Compare (D) and (E).

Between (D) and (E), (D) is more concise and direct. If X is attributed to Y is sufficient, there is no need to use the wordier and more roundabout Y is attributed as the cause of X. Therefore, (D) is correct.

TAKEAWAY: A modifying phrase at the beginning of a sentence or independent clause modifies the noun that comes right after the comma. Make sure that this noun is really what the sentence intends to modify.
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I was stuck beacause did not get the meaning of the sentence.

What should

Despite the warnings that tobacco companies are now required to issue, some attorneys still attempt to file lawsuits against tobacco companies on behalf of smokers; but if smoking is attributed to tobacco companies, the smokers are in effect told that they are not responsible for their own decisions

logically mean?

that they ARE responsible for their own decisions maybe would make more sense. As the tobacco companies issue warnings, the only responsible would be the smokers themselves.

What am I missing?

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