It's tougher to say why C is correct than it is to say why the others are wrong.

(A) claims that the conception was the substitute for the phone-- a ridiculous claim.

(B) because of poor construction, makes it seems as if the telephone is the tool of mass communication

Both (D) and (E) incorrectly use the phrase "to be" as a preposition

You don't have to love (C) as long as you dismiss the others.

relic wrote:It's tougher to say why C is correct than it is to say why the others are wrong.

(A) claims that the conception was the substitute for the phone-- a ridiculous claim.

(B) because of poor construction, makes it seems as if the telephone is the tool of mass communication

Both (D) and (E) incorrectly use the phrase "to be" as a preposition

You don't have to love (C) as long as you dismiss the others.

Thanks again for your feedback. I had trouble accepting (C) as the answer choice because "instead it has become" seems to reference the telephone rather than the radio. (D) implies that the telephone was used to communicate with a large, public audience. (E) awkward usuage of "other than what it is". I agree with you about (A) and (B). Just seems that all answer choices are incorrect but I guess (C) is the best choice of them all.

It can seem frustrating when the pronoun rules appear to be applied randomly. In this case the sentence is clearly about the radio, making it the definite antecedent for the pronoun.