FINAL SOLUTION AT ONE PLACE:


Defying efforts by policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic at restraining it, the United States dollar, continuing its rise, reaching its highest level in six years against the German mark.
(A) at restraining it, the United States dollar, continuing its rise, reaching
(B) at restraining it, the rise of the United States dollar continued, to reach
(C) at restraining it, the United States dollar continued rising, and it reached
(D) to restrain it, the United States dollar continued its rise, reaching
(E) to restrain it, the United States dollar is continuing its rise, and to reach

Explanation:

Choices A, B, and C use the wrong idiom 'effort at restraining'; the correct idiom is 'effort to restrain'.

Also, choice A has no verb at all in the overall sentence.

B is wrong because "to reach" should be "reaching" to represent the result of the action in the preceding clause (cause-effect). B is also wrong because the "it" in the first phrase refers to "rise" in the following clause (misplaced modifier).

C is wrong because it uses 'and it reached' even when the two actions are not independent; in this case, the second action can't happen without the first. In such a case, 'and it reached' construction is wrong. This is a clear cause-and-effect sequence. Here, the second (dependent) action has to be written in 'verb-ing' form.

E is wrong because "and to reach" is trying to be parallel with "to restrain", which can't be the case, as the subjects are different in the two cases - 'the restraining' is done by "the policymakers", whereas the word 'reach' refers to the dollar. As a result, the parallel construction distorts the meaning. Also, "is continuing" doesn't make sense either because the action is completed. Furthermore, continuous tenses describe an action at a particular moment, not a period.

D. Correct ... it uses the cause and effect logic correctly by using 'verb-ing' for the effect.