OG11-12求指教！！！

明月心

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

我选对了，是D。但是不懂为什么E不对？？
答案就写Phrase must be introduced by a preposition (after), not a participle (following)。太抽象了啊。。。
求哪位高人帮帮忙吧~~~

明月心

来个人理我一下吧。。。

bitieming

E如果是following a gradual declension就正确了
此处的错误在于，如果用following结构，则后面需要加following宾语（名词结构），即使把declining勉强看成名词性结构，修饰它的guradually却依然是副词（应该为形容词）。

明月心

灰常感谢啊！！！
我先前在这儿纠结了半天呢