Satyavathi wrote:
Can I know why the answer is not E but A. In what cases do we use which and in what cases do we use in which? There's a comma after cascade effect. Therfore I assumed that the statement which comes after comma will give extra information about the noun preceding the comma. please correct me if I'm wrong
Hi Satyavathi
"which" is a relative pronoun which is used to refer to any "things". It usually refers to the noun or noun equivalent which immediately precedes the "which". For example:
John returned the book, which had some pages missing, to the store.The "which" here refers to the immediately preceding noun, "the book", which makes sense.
"In which" is used in two distinct scenarios:
i) to point to a physical location/inside something, for example:
On the shelf there is a blue box, in which the sugar is kept."in which" here refers to the blue box
inside which the sugar is kept.
ii) to describe metaphorical place such as situations or circumstances, for example:
My friend and I had an argument in which she nearly lost her temper."in which" here refers to a circumstance, the "argument".
In the sentence above, the underlined portion explains the "cascade effect", which is a metaphorical, a situation. Hence, we should use "in which" and not "which", due to which option (E) is incorrect.
Hope this clarifies.