The phrase, pretending to be asleep underlined in the sentence is a participial phrase. Thus, option E is correct.
<h3>What are participial phrases?</h3>
Participial includes a word that modifies and a participle in their phrases. It also includes the nouns and the pronouns that are used as a complement for the subject action.
The underlined is a present participle since it ends in -ing, which is a participial phrase feature. A past participle is also used at the start of the participial phrase.
Therefore, the sentence is an option E. participial phrase.
Learn more about the participial phrase here:
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