又是一题as ... as/so as to疑惑！

Princeton Review's GMAT Verbal Workout. SC Sample Question 18, page 32

Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depression, was as present as the weather, and as much discussed.

A. as present as the weather, and as much discussed

B. present like the weahter was, and it was also discussed as much

C. as present and was discussed as the weather was

D. so present as to be discussed like the weather

E. present and discussed as often as the weather was

正确答案是：A

不解：A 中 and as much discussed 是什么成分？放在这里好像很别扭。

为什么D、E没有A好呢？

A.  as much discussed (as the weather omitted).  So parallel with first part.

D.  没有 so ...as  的用法

E. So many mistakes in E.  1. need to use as present and discussed as the weather...  2.  don't end the sentence with a verb be(was in this case).  

想了半天觉得想通了。谢谢xuedidage的发言。欢迎讨论。

A.  as much discussed (as the weather omitted).  So parallel with first part.

不觉得present 和 discussed 在这里有平行的关系。感觉应该是和as the weather对等平行。即：as present as the weather, and (as present) as much discussed.

D.  没有 so ...as  的用法

so...as to 为固定词组，表示如此...以致。在这里主要是修饰错误. Here both Weather and Discussed is to modify present. D uses Discused to modify weather.

E. So many mistakes in E.  1. need to use as present and discussed as the weather...  2.  don't end the sentence with a verb be(was in this case).  

same logic confusion as D.