Although most large public relations firms can afford

[madhukara77]

Could you please let me know, if my understanding is correct here ??

Although most large public relations firms can afford to run information technology centers in-house, some niche firms are discovering that the cost associated with maintaining an information technology staff and from continuously improving hardware and software are larger than they initially estimated.

A) cost associated with
B) costs associated from
C) costs associated with
D) cost arising from
E) costs arising from

My Reasoning -

Costs associated with X and Y - (X and Y are somethings not actions) Correct.
{- (we can't use cost associated from here)}

Costs associated from X and Y (where x.y somethings not actions) - doesn't sound idiomatic.
Costs arising from X and Y (X, Y are actions) - This is better.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Please read the forum guidelines before posting. I can't answer your question until you post the source of this problem. If it's a GMATPrep problem, then it needs to be in the appropriate folder.

[madhukara77]

This question is from GMAT guide. But the forum for GMAT guide is blocked.Please let me know, where can i ask this doubt.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

My investigations suggest that this question is taken from Platinum GMAT. This is one of our banned sources, because of the poor quality of some of their problems. However, your reasoning sounds good.