40. The average weekly wage nearly doubled in the 1970’s, rising from $114 to $220, yet the average worker ended the decade with a decrease in what their pay may buy.

(A) with a decrease in what their pay may buy

(B) with what was a decrease in what they were able to buy

(C) having decreased that which they could buy

(D) decreasing in purchasing power（E）

(E) with a decrease in purchasing power

Choices A, B, and C incorrectly use a plural pronoun, their or they to refer to a singular noun, worker. Moreover, A and B are wordy and awkwardly constructed, and C wrongly asserts that the average worker decreased the amount or value of what could be bought. D misrepresents the intended meaning by saying that at the end of the decade, the average worker—not the money—was decreasing in purchasing power. E is correct answer for this easy question.

不明白黄色部分，请nn解释

D. the average worker ended the decade decreasing in purchasing power

去掉限定介词短语 ended the decade 后，变成

the average worker decreasing in purchasing power

于是， decreasing in purchasing power 修饰 worker. 明白了吧。

在正确的完整句子中，“..., yet the average worker ended the decade with a decrease in purchasing power.”该如何理解？特别是 ended the decade 部分。

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-11-11 15:29:26编辑过]