Explanation
Creating a filter: In our universal test of subject and
verb, we have "pharmaceuticals" and "ranks," which are respectively the subject
and verb of the sentence. "Ranks" is grammatically singular. Is
"pharmaceuticals" grammatically singular or plural? The imaginary author of
this sentence is talking about an industry, which is "pharmaceuticals." So it's
grammatically singular, contrary to its sound. That means the sentence doesn't
have any obvious error as written.
Finding objective defects: We go to the answer choices
with the mission of knocking out (B) through (E), in turn. Choices (B) and (D)
both use grammatically plural verbs, so they are out. Choices (C) and (E) use
verbs that are grammatically singular, but introduce unnecessary wordiness. When we look for defects in the answer
choices, we can start with the same universal tests we apply to the original
sentence, starting with subject and verb of the main clause. The correct
answer is (A).
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