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generis
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My answer is (D). It took me 39 seconds.

When we see "like X" or "Unlike X" to begin the sentence, we need to ensure that the subject of the independent clause should be compatible / parallel with X.
Here, X is "the decline of a college graduate's wage"
(A) The subject is not "decline" but "wages"
(B) The subject is not "decline" but "wage"
(C) The subject is "that = decline", but <1> "high school graduates wages" is not parallel with "a college graduate's wage". <2> Subject "that = decline" should be followed by "puts" as opposed to "put".
(E) The subject is "that = decline", but "a high school graduates" is incorrect. Either "a high school graduate" or "high school graduates".
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Like the decline of a college graduate's wage, high school graduates' wages put pressure on social welfare systems and other public programs.

A) high school graduates' wages put pressure on Incorrect

comparison error - the decline compare with wages

B) a high school graduate wage puts pressure on Incorrect

comparison error - the decline compare with wages

C) that of high school graduates wages put pressure on Incorrect

SV error - the decline singular, put plural

D) that of a high school graduate's wage puts pressure on Correct


E) that of a high school graduates' wages is putting pressure on the Incorrect

tense error - present continuous tense uses wrong
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A) high school graduates' wages put pressure on— like X, Y. Here X and Y should be structurally and logically parallel. X is “decline of a college graduate’s wage. Here Y is “wages of bla bla”. Wages are compared with decline of sth. Incorrect comparison. Eliminate.

B) a high school graduate wage puts pressure on — same as A.

C) that of high school graduates wages put pressure on — comparison is corrected. But here, cut the fluff out and the sentence reads as “Like the decline of bla bla, decline of bla bla put” see the SV error? Decline needs a “puts”. One subtle error is lack of article “a” wages of “a” college graduate is compared with a group of high school graduates

D) that of a high school graduate's wage puts pressure on — mistake in C is corrected.

E) that of a high school graduates' wages is putting pressure on — “a” high school graduates (plural). I am not able to pin point the grammatical error but this is just plain wrong.

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Like the decline of a college graduate's wage, high school graduates' wages put pressure on social welfare systems and other public programs.

A) high school graduates' wages put pressure on -> Like is used for comparison. we need "that of" to compare decline. Incorrect.

B) a high school graduate wage puts pressure on -> Same as A.

C) that of high school graduates wages put pressure on -> "graduates wages" is incorrect. because, we are comparing with "college graduate's wage".

D) that of a high school graduate's wage puts pressure on -> It is better. Let's keep it.

E) that of a high school graduates' wages is putting pressure on the -> Decline and putting is not parallel. Incorrect.

So, I think D. :)
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I think the answer of this question has to be D, as it is the only answer where comparison happens properly (decline of a college graduate's wage is compared to the decline high school graduate's wage) because of the use of the phrase "that of" and this options does not have any subject verb agreement issues that are found in all the other options.
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Like the decline of a college graduate's wage, high school graduates' wages put pressure on social welfare systems and other public programs.

A) high school graduates' wages put pressure on
Wrong comparison of decline and wages. Out.

B) a high school graduate wage puts pressure on
Same reasoning as A.

C) that of high school graduates wages put pressure on
SV agreement error. That refers to a noun phrase (prior). Hence, this is singular. This does not match 'put'


D) that of a high school graduate's wage puts pressure on
Correct.

E) that of a high school graduates' wages is putting pressure on the
Wrong verb tense. We don't need a present participle to describe a 'done' action.
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IMO D

Like the decline of a college graduate's wage, high school graduates' wages put pressure on social welfare systems and other public programs.

1.We need to compare X's wage with Y's wage
2. Like X's wage, <need a connector to compare>
3. We need to understand that the decline of the wages put pressure on the social welfare systems. Wages per se do not put pressure.

A) high school graduates' wages put pressure on (as explained in #3)

B) a high school graduate wage puts pressure on(as explained in #1)

C) that of high school graduates wages put pressure on (incorrect comparison)

D) that of a high school graduate's wage puts pressure on
Correct.

E) that of a high school graduates' wages is putting pressure on the (incorrect comparison)
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Test for comparison with S-V error.

Like the decline of a college graduate's wage, (the decline of a) high school graduates' wages put(s) pressure on social welfare systems and other public programs.

A) high school graduates' wages put pressure on: Eliminate

B) a high school graduate wage puts pressure on: Eliminate

C) that of high school graduates wages put pressure on: Eliminate

D) that of a (the decline of a) high school graduate's wage puts pressure on: Perfect

E) that of a high school graduates' wages is putting pressure on the: Eliminate
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