求助！！有关-ing和which的一道题！

wellmichelle

For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in
California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from
nearly three-quarters only a decade ago.

A. which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from
nearly three-quarters only a decade ago
B. which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a
decade ago, when it was nearly three-quarters
C. and that amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a
decade ago, when they were nearly three-quarters
D. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly
three-quarters a decade ago
E. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what it
was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters

答案是D，我选A
首先：1.我个人看过多道定从题，自己总结:which只要不隔太远，指代核心词也好，介宾中的宾语也好，都是有可能的。
         2.我看过一条语法：-ing表示状语（只能用于主谓宾句子，主系表不用）有两种——结果，伴随；表示形容词修饰——就近修饰核心词

所以我非常困惑，这道题在prep08上的解释说。
请问 amounting 到底做什么解释呢？
A除了which ，only为什么说有错呢？？

kiwifoodtown

很显然，从句意来看，amounting to作状语对前面整句修饰。而不能用定语从句对California修饰。至于only看不出有什么必要。

flonacui

你觉得which指代的是哪个？