In 1958 several residents living near the NASSA Propulsion Laboratory

Hello, Aman_Gupta. It is true that the original sentence and option (C) convey similar ideas, but (A) does so using an unidiomatic mistook... as. The correct phrasing should be mistook... for—one thing was mistaken for another. Each answer choice except for (C) fails for one reason or another:


Answer choices (A) and (E) can be eliminated on the same grounds, while (B) and (D) incorrectly compare a rocket itself to an earthquake. (You can interpret (B) as a rocket that was being launched, but it is still the rocket that lies at the heart of the comparison, which seems visual in nature.) Only (C) properly compares one process or event to another, and we understand that these residents thought that element A—the launch—felt like element B, an earthquake.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew