Sentence Correction

Child prodigies are marked not so much by their skills but instead by the fact that these skills are fully developed at a very early age.

(A) but instead
(B) rather than
(C) than
(D) as
(E) so much as

IMO:C

IMO B

GmatKiss wrote:Child prodigies are marked not so much by their skills but instead by the fact that these skills are fully developed at a very early age.

(A) but instead
(B) rather than
(C) than
(D) as
(E) so much as

IMO:C

The idiom here is not so much by X as by Y.

The correct answer is D.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

GmatKiss wrote:Child prodigies are marked not so much by their skills but instead by the fact that these skills are fully developed at a very early age.

(A) but instead
(B) rather than
(C) than
(D) as
(E) so much as

IMO:C

The idiom here is not so much by X as by Y.

The correct answer is D.

Hi Mitch -- I am afraid but I did not know this idiom. What if I don't remember a particular idiom. I hope you will agree with me that it is not possible to learn every idiom. there are 1000's of them.

I tried to solve this using the intended meaning and the logic of the sentence.

I was able to eliminate the options B and C because they are incorrectly comparing 'skills' with 'the facts ...'

So much as seems awkward and wordy.

I chose option A which happens to be the incorrect choice.

Would the option A be correct if I remove 'instead' ?

For example --

"This situation is not so much the fault of women but of the way in which French society percieves them."

please help