I'm sorry that I posted the last thread with a wrong subject. After reading the guideline, I post a new thread. Please delet the former one.

Thirteen states from all regions of the country announced a plan to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines in that they will jointly adopt eission limits that would be far stricter than the federal rules.
A to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines in that they will jointly adopt
B to impose new controls on truck and bus engines' pollution by the joint adoption of
C to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines, and jointly adopting
D for imposing new ontrols on pollusion from truck and bus engines, and jointly adopting
E for imposing new controls on truck and bus engine pollution in the joint adoption of

I eliminated BDE quickly, but really got confused while facing the choice between A and C.
I thought they have differnt meanings so I went for A. Do "in that they will jointly adopt" in A and "by jointly adopting" in C have the same meaning?
The "they" in A might be obscure, but I got a sentence, which I thought was where this question come from, from the New York Times:

Thirteen states from all regions of the country will try to impose new national controls on pollution from truck and bus engines on Monday, when they announce a plan to jointly adopt emission limits that would be far stricter than the federal rules.

There was a "they" there. Was it a bad usage that lead to obscure indication?


Thanx

C - to impose ... and adopting is not ||

I am stuck between A and D.

In D, two things impose and adoption are not independent, instead restrictions are imposed by adopting.
Also I am not sure about idiom " plans for imposing"?
So my choice is A.

Pathik

Thank you Pathik, your reasoning is really helpful.

I'm sorry, but there are typos in choice C. I recheck the options, and highlight the changed part of C.
(A) to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines in that they will jointly adopt
(B) to impose new controls on truck and bus engines' pollution by the joint adoption of
(C) to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines by jointly adopting
(D) for imposing new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines, and jointly adopting
(E) for imposing new controls on truck and bus engine pollution in the joint adoption of

With the right version of C, what's your opinion?
I got a delima between A and C. A has a "they" that might be obscured. But I thought C changed the meaning a little bit. Are "by jointly adopting" and "in that they will jointly adopt" mean the same thing here?

c is better.

the easiest reason to grab onto: 'they' is ambiguous in choice a (it could potentially refer to the engines, although that is of course logically absurd)

'by' vs. 'in that':
'by' is used when you describe the method used to accomplish something - exactly what is done in this sentence.
'in that' is used to limit a general statement.
for instance: my brother and i are similar in that we both like to read.
the function of 'in that' here is to say, 'hey reader, this is the only way in which i'm asserting that we are similar.'
that's not the purpose of the sentence in this problem.

as far as your question about meaning: context makes it clear that 'in that' is incorrect - the sentence is explaining how the states are going to accomplish the stated goal, not making a limiting statement - so it's ok to pick a different construction that encapsulates the idea better.

Thank you, Ron! Great explaination! You just dispelled my puzzle.