Sentence Correction

In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimaginable place that was considered the end of the world.

(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes
(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes
(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia
(D) Australia was what was the antipodes
(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes

[spoiler]OA A. But IT after the phrase BEFORE AUSTRALIA WAS AUSTRALIA, Doesn't it point out the antecedent ENGLAND? Please let me know.[/spoiler]

umaa wrote:In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimaginable place that was considered the end of the world.

(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes
(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes
(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia
(D) Australia was what was the antipodes
(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes

[spoiler]OA A. But IT after the phrase BEFORE AUSTRALIA WAS AUSTRALIA, Doesn't it point out the antecedent ENGLAND? Please let me know.[/spoiler]

This is indeed a tricky and twisted sentence. Anyways, IMO it points to the immediate antecedent, hence it refers to Australia.

I am not clear that why pronoun IT is acceptable in A but not in B.

I believe that in A, IT is the subject of the verb and also Australia is the subject of the verb. But same thing does not exist in B. So, this is fine. I am not sure.

OE: In B, it has no logical referent, because the previous clause describes a time when there was no Australia. But I believe that same thing is for A.

umaa wrote:In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimaginable place that was considered the end of the world.

(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes
(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes
(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia
(D) Australia was what was the antipodes
(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes

[spoiler]OA A. But IT after the phrase BEFORE AUSTRALIA WAS AUSTRALIA, Doesn't it point out the antecedent ENGLAND? Please let me know.[/spoiler]

Umaa,
England is not at all a subject and hence 'IT' can't point to England. We have 2 subjects in 2 clauses.
'minds of people', which is plural and Australia, Hence IT correctly points to Australia in A.

in B, The main error is meaning, B means before even Australia Exist, while Author is trying to indicate when Australia was known as Australia..

Hope that helps.

(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes-> (Correct Use of "It"; Here"it" refers to nearest antecedent Aust.
(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes-> meaning is changed in this option
(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia-> here it refers to England. Wrong construction
(D) Australia was what was the antipodes -> Wrong construction
(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes-> Wrong tense + Bad sentence structure
Go with A..