The economic growth of developing countries, which often have high population density and low per capita income, are being hindered, economists say, not only by external causes like political exclusion, economic dependence, and weak international connections, but also by internal corruption, outdated practices, and unbalanced economic reforms.

The economic growth of developing countries, which often have high population density and low per capita income, are being hindered, economists say, not only by external causes like political exclusion, economic dependence, and weak international connections, but also by internal corruption, outdated practices, and unbalanced economic reforms.

A – are being hindered, economists believe, not only by external causes like

B – are being hindered, economists believe, by not only external causes such as

C – is not only being hindered, economists believe, by external causes such as

D – is not only being hindered, economists believe, by external causes like

E – is being hindered, economists believe, not only by external causes such as

Right Answer: E

Error Identification: 

Identifier	Fix
Underlined comparison word “like” used to give examples	Idioms
Underlined words “political exclusion”, “economic dependence” and “weak international connections” as examples of “external causes”	Idioms and Parallelism
Underlined plural verb “are” used for singular subject “growth”	Subject Verb Agreement

Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation:

In the sentence, ‘political exclusion’, ‘economic dependence’ and ‘weak international connections’ are examples of ‘external causes’. The word ‘like’ is incorrectly used to give examples. ‘Such as’ would be the correct alternative here. Also, the singular subject ‘growth’ is accompanied by a plural verb ‘are’, while it would need the singular verb ‘is’ to be grammatically correct.

A – ‘Like’ is used incorrectly to give examples. Singular subject ‘growth’ needs singular verb ‘is’ and not plural ‘are’. Hence, eliminated.

B – Singular subject ‘growth’ needs singular verb ‘is’ and not plural ‘are’. Hence, eliminated.

C – ‘Not only’ is followed by ‘being hindered’, while but also is followed by ‘by internal factors’, which is not a balanced comparison. Hence, eliminated.

D –’Not only’ is followed by ‘being hindered’, while but also is followed by ‘by internal factors’, which is not a balanced comparison. ‘Like’ is used incorrectly to give examples. Hence, eliminated. 

E – Correctly uses ‘such as’ to give examples. Subject ‘growth’ and verb ‘is’ are in agreement. This is the correct answer.