The cardinals remained in the Sistine Chapel for far longer than the Vatican reporters expected,
which indicates that the deliberation over the new pope was both spirited and contemplative.A.
which indicates that the deliberation over the new pope was both spirited and contemplative - this clause modifies 'expected; this modification does not make sense. Hence,
eliminate (A)B.
which indicates that the deliberation over the new pope both was spirited and contemplative - Same error as in (A). Hence,
eliminate (B)C.
a situation indicating the deliberation over the new pope was both spirited and it was contemplative - there are two errors here -
Error #1: 'that' is missing here to accurately indicate the subordinate clause that's used here.
Error #2: Parallelism error - an adjective (spirited) is being placed parallel to a pronoun (it). Here, we have a parallelism error.
Hence,
eliminate (C)D.
indicating that the deliberation over the new pope was both spirited and contemplative - here, we have an -ing modifier clause that modifies the verb 'remain'. Hence,
(D) is the right answer choice. E.
indicates that the deliberation over the new pope was both spirited and contemplative - a very subtle difference with (D). Here, 'indicates' is in the present tense while the intended meaning was to convey that the act of indication took place in the past (since we have '' was '' in this underlined portion). Hence,
eliminate (E).