This question is primarily testing PRONOUNS and LOGICAL MEANING.

The interior minister explained that one of the village planning proposal's best characteristics was their not detracting from the project's overall benefit by being a burden on the development budget.

A.one of the village planning proposal's best characteristics was their not detracting

- The pronoun "their" has no antecedent here; there is no plural noun present for "their" to replace. This is a common mistake - there is an implied "they" represented ("planning committee members" or some such), but no noun present in the sentence to actually represent "they," so we can't use a plural pronoun.


B.one of the village's planning proposal's best characteristics were its not taking

The expression "one of ____" must always be singular. The plural pronoun "were" is incorrect.


C.one of the best characteristics of the village's planning proposal was that it did not detract

Correct! The pronoun is logical, and the subject and verb are in agreement.


D. a best characteristic of the village planning proposal was, it did not take

- "a best _____" is not idiomatically correct. "Best" is a superlative, so it must be used with "THE best."
- if a dependent clause is being used at the object of a verb, it must be preceded with "THAT": "one characteristic... was THAT it did not...."


E. among the village planning proposal's best characteristics, one was, it did not detract

- same issue as in D: "THAT" is missing.


The correct answer is C.