Explanation
Creating a filter: We read the question and pause at the
phrase "the placing of it," which sounds ridiculous. We try to finish the
phrase with our own coherent English, forgetting the sentence for a moment. What
is the best way to store an eggplant? It's "to place it in a bowl"... or maybe
it's "placing it in a bowl." When the
original sentence includes awkward phrasing, predict a grammatically correct,
natural alternative and use that as your filter. This reduces the chances
of getting trapped between answer choices which sound roughly equal. Looking
for the infinitive, "to place," we go to the answer choices.
Applying the filter, we find that (B) and (D) are
contenders. But choice (B) has a lack of parallelism between "placing it" and
"to keep it" at the end. Choice (D) is parallel and therefore probably right.
We can confirm by looking for objective defects in (C) and
(E). Choice (C) says "it was laid," so there are instances of "it" that refer
variously and hence incorrectly to the eggplant and the bowl. Choice (E) uses
the past tense, when we are speaking about the present tense of general advice.
General truths or maxims are best
expressed in the present tense. The correct answer is (D).
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