gmatprep sc-2

[abhasjha]

According to one expert, the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not so much that dogs are being bred for looks or to meet other narrow criteria as that the breeds have relatively few founding members.

(A) the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not so much that dogs are being bred for looks or to meet other narrow criteria
(B) the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not as much their being bred for looks or meeting other narrow criteria as much
(C) it is not so much the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog that they are being bred for looks or meeting other narrow criteria as much
(D) it is not so much that the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is their being bred for looks or meeting other narrow criteria so much
(E) it is not so much the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog to be bred for looks or to meet other narrow criteria

[AnjaliOberoi]

"not so much A as B" is the idiom.
According to one expert, the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not so much that dogs are being bred for looks or to meet other narrow criteria as that the breeds have relatively few founding members.

The only option which have this is A.

What is the OA?

[maruthisandeep]

The modifier ' According to one expert is modifying the cause of genetic irregularities. So options C,D,E can be eliminated straight away.

Now between A and B, option B uses not so X as much as, which is completely incorrect.

'The right Idiom usage is 'Not so much A as B'

So A is the answer. Let me know if you have any other ideas and the official answer?

[abhasjha]

a is correct because it's the only choice combining proper parallelism with correct grammar. the cause is not so much that x as that y.

b- bad parallelism. the cause is not so much their x as that y.

c- incorrect because they is ambiguous as it should refer to dog rather than breeds. the beginning portion skews the meaning such that it now says that genetic irregularities are are not the cause.

d- d. incorrect because 'their' is ambiguous. 'is their being bred' is awkward and unidiomatic

e- e. the beginning portion skews the meaning such that it now says that genetic irregularities are are not the cause