请教OG的一个比较结构的题目

 原题如下：

 According to a recent poll, owning and living in a freestanding house on its own land is still a goal of a majority of young adults, like that of earlier generations.

(A)  like that of earlier generations

(B)   as that for earlier generations

(C)  just as earlier generations did

(D)  as have earlier generations

(E)   as it was of earlier generations

答案是E，但我认为A也不错，答案的解释是A没有谓语动词，我查询了一下相关的语法解释：be动词可以省略，也可以不省略。因此不太理解，高手能给点解释吗？？？ 先谢拉。

like correctly compares two equal nouns,while as is a conjunction that introducs clauses, not phrases or nouns.

So, I think "as" is better than "like" in that sentence.

"it" in E refers to "owning and living in a freestanding house on its own land",so I think E is correct.