jamesk486 wrote:According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing
(C) its merits as a proposal, taxing
(D) the proposal’s merits, to tax
(E) the proposal’s merits are, taxing

Is it A?

It is the proposal (if enacted) that would have a disastrous
effect. So you need "the proposal to tax ... would ... have" is needed.

Only A fits the bill.

jamesk486 wrote: The record of the past is always incomplete, and the historian who writes about it inevitably reflects the preoccupations of their own time.

(A) the historian who writes about it inevitably reflects
(B) the historian writing about it will inevitably reflect
(C) a historian writing about it inevitably reflects
(D) writing about it, it is inevitable for historians to reflect
(E) historians in writing about it inevitably reflect

could someone help me out please? (I have the OA)

Since the latter part of the sentence refers to "their", you need
plural historians.

Between D and E, I'll choose E.

D is a bit awkwardly constructed and has an incorrect pronoun reference.

According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing
(C) its merits as a proposal, taxing
(D) the proposal’s merits, to tax
(E) the proposal’s merits are, taxing

I think I would go with E....A,B and C are out....the word "its" has no referent....Amongst D&E I'll go with E

The record of the past is always incomplete, and the historian who writes about it inevitably reflects the preoccupations of their own time.

(A) the historian who writes about it inevitably reflects
(B) the historian writing about it will inevitably reflect
(C) a historian writing about it inevitably reflects
(D) writing about it, it is inevitable for historians to reflect
(E) historians in writing about it inevitably reflect

Since the non-underlined part uses the word "their"....we can't use the singular noun historian...

Hence A,B & C are out....E is the better one

whats the OA?

My appologies for opening the old threat/post.

IMO, answer for both the questions is A.

What's the OA ?

jamesk486 wrote:According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment.

(A) its merits, the proposal to tax
(B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing
(C) its merits as a proposal, taxing
(D) the proposal�s merits, to tax .. proposal to tax is the correct usage.
(E) the proposal�s merits are, taxing

Also in A,B,C its is a possessive pronoun that has no referent

The record of the past is always incomplete, and the historian who writes about it inevitably reflects the preoccupations of their own time.

(A) the historian who writes about it inevitably reflects
(B) the historian writing about it will inevitably reflect
(C) a historian writing about it inevitably reflects
(D) writing about it, it is inevitable for historians to reflect
(E) historians in writing about it inevitably reflect

could someone help me out please? (I have the OA)

The non underlined possessive pronoun their indicates that the subject should be plural.
Choice D repeats the singular pronoun twice

A and E

1. the proposal if enacted will have disastrous effect not taxing or to tax. So clearly A. B is wrong as the proposal of taxing is awkward.

IMO A.

2. preoccupations of their own time - historians - should be plural here. So A B C can be eliminated
D is wordy. E makes more sense and concise.

IMO E