Yup OA is C guys............

aspirant2011 wrote:Framed by traitorous colleagues, Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before there was exoneration and his freedom.

(A) there was exoneration and his freedom
(B) he was to be exonerated with freedom
(C) being exonerated and freed
(D) exoneration and his freedom
(E) being freed, having been exonerated

[spoiler]Wat's wrong with B.[/spoiler]

Framed by traitorous colleagues is adjectivial modifier of noun Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before(here we have a conjunction "marker")

(A) there was exoneration and his freedom
this subclause does not make sense in respect to the noun Alfred Dreyfus

(B) he was to be exonerated with freedom
Here "exonerated with freedom" is incorrect (it could be "before he was exonerated and freed").

(C) being exonerated and freed
Correct Answer -- "being exonerated and freed" - past participle correctly followed by adjectives exonerated and freed - creating a participle phrase which works as adjective and modifies the noun Alfred Drefus. Note one can write (though a bit complicated form) -- Framed by traitorous colleagues, before being exonerated and freed, Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years.

(D) exoneration and his freedom
The subclause is clumsy "before exoneration and his freedom". We have no idea about subject or what does subclause "describes".

(E) being freed, having been exonerated
The meaning of sentence is not clear. Also ", having been exonerated" refers to what? (and grammatically wrong construction).

Jim@Grockit wrote:They aren't parallel because of his. Parallelism would demand his exoneration and his freedom or the ellipsis his exoneration and freedom. The beginning of the phrase is what determines parallelism.

Hi Jim, i have noticed different implications of parallelism that contrast each other .
I have found To elaborate and simplify to be correct .
Some Guides say To elaborate and to simplify is how it should be written