GMAT Club Experimental SC 2-3

B should be it. We need to use the infinitive form of the verb.

My answer is B.

Has a nice cause and effect feel that requires a participle modifier.

3.5/5

B.
I don't think, however, that it is sufficient to choose between A and B based on this concept (i.e. press to or press) alone.

Thank you very muchfor your feedback.
Here are the OA and Explanation - would be fantastic if you could post your feel for the difficulty of this question - let's just put on a level between 600 and 800 - that will of course vary by each test-taker but still:

Below 600
600-650
650-700
700-750
750+


OA: B

A - is missing “to” before ‘cut”. B fixes the error in A and is the best answer.
B - Correct answer
C and D - change the meaning saying that “the credit crunch has done two things simultaneously: first, it has exacerbated the impact of falling demand and second it has pressed the cash-strapped firms to cut cost. That’s not correct. The intended meaning is that “the credit crunch has exacerbated the impact of falling demand” and this exacerbation-impact pressed the cash-strapped firms to cut costs.
D - is un-necessarily in past tense too.
E - is in past participle, which does not apply to a single event.

Agree with B and the need for infinitive.

Agree with the OE on the change of meaning in C & D and unnecessary past participle/past perfect tense in E.

Level 650