PREP模考中两道语法题，百思不得其解，恳请NN解答

拿铁咖啡

1. Since February, the Federal Reserves has raised its short-term interest rate target five times , and because of the economys continued strength,analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.
答案就是A，不明白这里为什么可以用现在完成进行时？
2. As the former chair of the planning board for 18 consecutive years and a board member for 28 years , Joan Phikill attended more than ..........
答案是As the
我选的是原文用法，不明白为什么要去掉former ,不是保持原意更好吗？
上述两题恳请NN解答，不胜感激

拿铁咖啡

怎么没人解答呀，是我的问题太白痴了，还是大家也不会，支个声呀

jackiehuang

前面，从二月份已经，政府已经做了。。。。，而由于经济的持续上升，经济学家一直在预测，表示二月份到现在这段时间持续进行的事，所以可以用现在完成时
BTW，楼主最好能把其他选项一起发上来，因为其他选项里往往有明显错误，做语法题就是排除