<p dir="ltr"><span><span>The blank should be filled with a verb to complete the whole sentence, so (D)</span><span> "examining"</span><span> is eliminated since a Ving alone, no matter if it’s a gerund or a present participle, can’t serve as a verb in a sentence. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>(B) "</span><span>was examined"</span><span> should be eliminated too, because based on the meaning of the context, the committee actively examine(s) or examined something instead of being examined. What’s more, the context suggests that the action of examining something is a single incident that took place in the past instead of happening regularly all the time. Thus, the verb “examine” should be in the simple past tense, not the simple present. The correct answer is (C)</span><span> "examined"</span><span>, not (A) "</span><span>examine"</span><span>. </span></span></p>