Explanation
Creating a filter: the original sentence is problematic.
It's not automatically wrong to have the subject of a sentence begin with the
word "that." For example, something like the following would be fine: "That
they predicted sales would be strong is no surprise." We can look for a simpler
construction in the answer choices, maybe one like our example.
Applying the filter: none of the answer choices quite
match our expectation. Choice (B), like (A), tries to fuse two sentences
together ungrammatically. Choice (C) separates the modifying clause "who
predicted..." from the noun it's supposed to modify, enthusiasts. Furthermore,
(C) clouds the meaning of the sentence by leaving unclear what the enthusiasts
were wrong about, since the "who" clause identifies who the scientists are, not
how they were incorrect. So choices (A) through (C) are out. Choice (D) is inferior
to our prediction, because it uses the somewhat colloquial pronoun "it." But
choice (E) is worse in expressing the redundancy that a "fact...is no surprise."
So we must eliminate choice (E), and we are left with (D). The correct answer
is (D).
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