Looking at search engine trends, evidence has been gathered by reporte

Question

Looking at search engine trends,  evidence has been gathered by reporters indicating that, despite recent actions making the practice illegal, American interest in unlocking cell phones is much higher than they had  previously thought.

A. evidence has been gathered by reporters indicating that, despite recent actions making the practice illegal, American interest in unlocking cell phones is much higher than they had

B. evidence has been gathered by reporters indicating, despite recent actions making the practice illegal, a much higher American interest in unlocking cell phones than had been

C. reporters have gathered evidence indicating that, despite recent actions making the practice illegal, American interest in unlocking cell phones is much higher than

D. reporters have gathered evidence that indicates, despite recent actions making the practice illegal, a much higher American interest in unlocking cell phones than that which was

E. reporters have gathered evidence which indicates, despite recent actions making the practice illegal, a much higher American interest in unlocking cell phones than that

Source:  GMAT Free

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Creating a filter: the initial phrase "looking at search engine trends" grammatically modifies "evidence," but that's not the intended meaning; the evidence is not doing the looking. We cut to the answer choices for options that begin with a noun that can perform the act of looking.

Applying the filter: our filter leaves us with choices (C) through (E). The reporters found something. That finding is expressed in a statement, so we're going to look for the word "that" to introduce that indirect statement. (C) has it, and (D) and (E) do not. Moreover, choices (D) and (E) have other problems; one of them is that the "despite recent actions" modifier is now ambiguous and could actually refer to the manner in which the evidence does its indicating.

The correct answer is (C).

shivamlohiya007 · Answer

Hi,
In option C, what is the comparison, and how it has been done?

Doer01 · Answer

Hi  shivamlohiya007 
 American interest in unlocking smartphones is compared between "previously thought" and "evidence from actual data collected".
Since the sentence begins with a modifier - Looking at search engine trends -, the following clause must start with something or someone who could do the actual looking. Now evidence cannot look but reporters can. This takes care of A & B.
Among C,D & E, D & E make the mistake of misplaced modifier. Modifier  despite recent actions making the practice illegal  in D & E means that despite making it (gathered evidence) illegal, evidence indicates .... which is clearly not the author's intent as expressed in C. Hence C is best among five. 
Hope that helps.

Looking at search engine trends, evidence has been gathered by reporte

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Looking at search engine trends, evidence has been gathered by reporte

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