grammar help?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<ol>
<li>It is A(the characteristic of) the Metropolitan Opera, as it is of B(every major international companies), that the casting is C(based more on) the availability of singers than it is on the tastes of the music director and D(the public).</li>
</ol>

<p>I thought D was grammatically incorrect because it should be "it is on the tastes of the music director and the tastes of the public" but the answer key says that B is wrong. I'm not really sure why?</p>

<ol>
<li>Although the boom appeared A(to still be) B(in full swing), in the latter years of the decade, C(most of economic indicators) pointed to learner times D(ahead). </li>
</ol>

<p>I thought it should be A because it should be "appeared to be" not "appeared to still be".
The answer, however, says that it's C.</p>

2

<p>1) “Every major international companies” should be changed to “every major international company.” </p>

<p>2) Split infinitives are acceptable on the SAT. “Most of economic indicators” is incorrect because “economic indicators” is in a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases are not subjects. Remove the “of” to make the subject “most economic indicators.” </p>

<p>Currently, the sentence reads “most (of economic indicators) pointed to leaner times ahead.” If you excise the prepositional phrase “of economic indicators,” the sentence becomes ambiguous; what does “most” refer to?</p>