The addition of Mr. Stevens, who is a rare critic of the company

since AND is parallelism marker...we need parallel thing on both sides.

"Ronaldo kicked the ball and the player."
here parallel thing
"Ronaldo kicked
the ball
and
the player."
here both 2 things ARE NOUN and parallel. (THE BALL....THE PLAYER)

===
option A
who is
a rare critic of the company
and
betting its stock will fall

HERE : a rare critic of the company ==>noun phrase
betting its stock will fall ===>starting with a participle and not a noun.
hence THEY are not parallel.

===
now in correct option:

who
is a rare critic of the company
and
is betting its stock will fall

now both sides of AND is verb phrase ...so it is parallel.

similar case

to (verb1 ...and verb2) ==>this is parallel..because both sides we are making verbs parallel although TO is understood.
to verb 1 and TO verb 2 ==>in this we are making infinitives parallel.

HOPE IT HELPS.

I knew it was between A and D, and I chose A for the reason that "is" will be applied to "(is) betting its stock" too

I mean: who is a rare critic and (is) betting its stock will fall...

Example: we say - "Ronaldo kicked the ball and the player."

"kicked" applies to both and there is no need to repeat it. I applied it in a similar way above.

Request you to please help me on this question.

Makes a lot of sense. Thanks blueseas.

Thats the correct answer

OA is (D), were to trying to refer to some other option ?
_________________

Oh.. thanx .. the correct answer is not visible in app view ! Hence I got confused from the comments I read

Solution: D

Explanation: In this example, the correct answer must provide a logical order of modification that properly conveys a logical meaning.

In (B), the “has been added” is improperly placed and does not link to anything in the sentence. Also, it is not the person who is the adjustment to the yearly convention, but the addition of that person.

The same problem exists in (E) – the “With his addition” is not linked to anything (with his addition to what?) and the person is not the latest adjustment. In (C), “A rare critic of the company” is illogically modifying “the addition” when it should be modifying Mr. Stevens.

(A) is also incorrect but more difficult to eliminate and the only difference between (A) and (D) is the verb “is” before betting. In (A) “who is a rare critic…and betting “ is not a parallel structure – the “is” is required to show “he is a critic and is betting” Answer is (D).

Hi VeritasKarishma ,
I have quoted statement in the question using option D, which is the correct answer choice. I still cannot figure out how its, a possessive pronoun in the modifier, could refer to company's? Its not ambiguous but is it grammatically correct?

I'd appreciate your help.
_________________

Yes, 'its' stands for 'company'. Nothing else makes sense since "its stock" can only mean "company's stock". There is no grammatical issues with the usage. Besides, use of pronouns is very flexible - as long as it is logical, it works.

Hi KarishmaB, would you be able to shed some lights why A is wrong?

I thought it is ellipsis where "is" apply to betting as well. Thanks.

Hello faat99,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

The rule of ellipses typically only applies to comparative statements, statements used to make comparisons. Ellipses can also be applied in cases wherein two verb phrases have the same helping verbs - for example, "The living room has been cleaned, but the dining room has not." - but outside these two cases, the rule of ellipses is not applicable.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________