[讨论]OG11th－12

12. After gradual declension down to about 39 hours in 1970, the workweek in the United States has steadily increased to the point that the average worker now puts in an estimated 164 extra hours of paid labor a year.

(A) After gradual declension down
(B) Following a gradual declension down
(C) After gradual declining down
(D) After gradually declining
(E) Following gradually declining

OG的解释是：
One of the meanings ofdeclension is a decline, butdeclension is rarely, if ever, used in this sense inthe modern era. Replacing declension with decline would be acceptable, but it is preferable to use the participle declining with the adverb gradually: after gradually declining. Declining shows movement in only one direction, so the redundant adverb down must be omitted.

红色字母部分看不懂，达人们指教～谢谢

但是分词declining 和副词 gradually 搭配会更好一些

貌似这么解释。

此外，declining已经表示了下降的意思了，所以down应该省略

现代语法中好像已经没有动名词这样的说法了吧。

回去查下书，呵呵

顺便问一下，这句话是不是有down没down都可以呢？还是down本来就是多余累赘的。