The artist Renoir’s last word was “flowers,” spoken as

The artist Renoir’s last word was “flowers,” spoken as they arranged a bouquet of roses just
picked from his garden in a vase on his bedroom windowsill.
A. as they arranged a bouquet of roses just picked from his garden -- whom they is referring to ?
B. as a bouquet of roses had been just picked from his garden and was being arranged -- obvious order
C. as a bouquet of roses just picked from his garden was being arranged
D. during the arrangement of a bouquet of roses just picked from his garden -- meaning changed
E. while they arranged a bouquet of roses that had just been picked from his garden-- same as A

IMO C

Correct me where I went wrong

A and E - 'they' has no antecedent.
B - No need of perfect tense here.
D - 'during' and 'of' - Awkward construction

IMO C !

my query here

is HAD wrong because of just ?

i opted for B , which is wrong answer , and C is correct

but i did not understand reason for not using HAD ? the plucking event past and arranging event was in process

varun289 wrote:my query here

is HAD wrong because of just ?

i opted for B , which is wrong answer , and C is correct

but i did not understand reason for not using HAD ? the plucking event past and arranging event was in process

AND should connect parallel structures -> B fails in that

Actual sentence- > spoken as a bouquet of roses was being arranged

"just picked from his garden" just modifies roses. There is no need of tenses here.