OG11-73请教

73.        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.

答案选E,我同意.但是A为什么不对?给出的解释是:

    Like is used to introduce a phrase, but as must be used to introduce a clause

    Like is used to introduce a phrase, but as must be used to introduce a clause

A   :   Like introduces a phrase, but a clause, introduced by
     as, is required to make the comparison parallel.

"that of earlier generations"不是短语吗？为什么不能用Like引导

因为这个比较是句子与句子的比较，不是goal与goal的比较，版上有一个比较的庖丁解牛精华；

like后的成分在原句中作主语？还是is后的表系成分？不是引起歧义了么？简化结构看：owing a house is a goal like a goal，有 owing a house is a goal as owing a house is a goal哪个更有逻辑性?