Sentence Correction

Please clarify idiom in below two questions

1) Mauritius was a British Colony for almost 200 years, excepting for the domains of administration and teaching, the English language was never really spoken on the island.

(A) excepting for
(B) except in
(C) but except in
(D) but excepting for
(E) with the Exception of


2) Except for a concert performance that the composer himself staged in 1911，Scott Joplin's ragtime opera＂Treemonisha＂was not produced　until 1972，sixty-one years after its completion．
(A) Except for a concert performance that the composer himself staged
(B) Except for a concert performance with the composer himself staging it
(C) Besides a concert performance being staged by the composer himself
(D) Excepting a concert performance that the composer himself staged
(E) With the exception of a concert performance with the staging done by the composer himself.

Would like an expert to answer on this questoin related to idiom. Both questions are from OG..
First one's answer is C and Second one's answer in A.. And both says that perticular idiom is correct. I believe idiom only takes one form. I was with the opinion that Except for is the correct idiom and hence selected D in first option. But it is wrong

I am also struggling with this one to get down the throat!!
Here is my post earlier https://www.beatthegmat.com/except-for-o ... tml#500189
wherein I did not receive any response from experts either.

Correct form I know is - 'except for'
However, the OG answers contradict.

Experts Please help!!

First question tells that.. Maurtius was a british colony for many years, but english was never really spoken.

The Second clause should be cleary indicating a contrast.. Which can be completed using a "but"

So next comes down to C and D.

The correct usage is Expect in the domains of X and Y...

Its more about the meaning here.. "Expect for" is a correct idiom but "Expecting for" is unidiomatic usage. Hence D is eliminated.

So C is the Correct answer.

2)As I have already told you, "Except for" is the correct usage. So the original sentence is correct as is.

Hope it helps.

yes naveenchandra kv,
Agree that the 'except for' is the correct usage rather than the 'excepting for'.
However, in choosing C, 'but except in' is also unidiomatic that is what I am concerned. Even in OG explanation it is mentioned that 'except in' is Idiomatic, whereas other vendors/preps show the correct idiom as 'except for'.

Yup
Excepting for is wrong idiomatic construction .. but that dosn't make "except in" correct... It's like saying if you can't find any except for.. then choose "except in"

Exactly!! But neither of the construction is correct and we have to select the best choice.
However, my concern is why OG explanation mentions 'except in' as correct idiom. So, want to know from experts?

Excerpt from OG explanation:
C Correct. The two independent clauses are separated by but, and except in is an appropriate idiom.