GMAT Sentence Correction (SC) | There is no consensus on what role, if any, is played by

Hi,

I still do not understand a few things with this question, about the meaning.

In my opinion the prompt is saying that acid rains are :

1) SLOWING THE GROWTH OF THE FOREST

OR

2) DAMAGING THE FOREST

(A) slowing the growthof or damagingthe —incorrect because it misses words
(B) the damage or the slowing of the growth of —incorrect because it says that the rain is damaging the growth
(C) the damage to or the slowness of the growth of — incorrect because of slowness (D) damaged
...

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