SC: Although the fear last year that the trade zone might

[Gui]

Veritas Practice Test Exam 1 - Problem 22

Sentence Correction

Although the fear last year that the trade zone might break apart had receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation of the kind that has plagued Argentina for the past two decades.

A) had receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation of the kind that has plagued Argentina for the past two decades
B) had receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation as it has plagued Argentina for the past two decades
C) receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, just as it has plagued Argentina for the past two decades
D) has receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, like it has plagued Argentina for the past two decades
E) has receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, like that which has plagued Argentina for the past two decades

OA: E

Doubt: Does the usage of "like" in answer "E" is correct?

Many tks!

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

What do you think is wrong with the usage of 'like' here?

[Gui]

"like that which" seems an odd construction...

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

It sounds odd to me too - it's not the kind of construction I'd use in ordinary conversation. However, it seems a fair comparison: it compares two nouns, replacing the second one with 'that'. I think there is a good question about whether GMAT would use a construction in this way; I don't know of any examples as GMAT sticks to having commas before which modifiers. In this problem all the other answer choices have significant problems anyway.

Your question is taken from Veritas, so I recommend that you search their forums for a discussion or ask a question there.