A new study finds that the more hostility

[vik]

A new study finds that the more hostility people show in their behavior and attitudes, then calcium deposits are more likely to be in the arteries of their hearts.
A. then calcium deposits are more likely to be
B. then the more likely calcium deposits are
C. the more there are likely to be calcium deposits
D. the more likely they are to have calcium deposits
E. the more likely there are to be calcium deposits

This is a GMAT Prep question

This is a simple question I know D is correct . still I want to clarify one thing

When we say "The more X, the more Y " do we need connector in between or it is idiom and the two parts {"The more X, <no connector> the more Y "} are connected with out connector

[martelena]

I also met this problem.But I have some other questions.
1. Why "They" is not ambigues in D.
2. The more hostility people show, the more likely there are to be deposits. Is it right that we should use they because we have people in the first part of the sentence, and whether it is possible to use there is/are in such cases at all.

[ugenderr]

I also met this problem.But I have some other questions.
1. Why "They" is not ambigues in D.
2. The more hostility people show, the more likely there are to be deposits. Is it right that we should use they because we have people in the first part of the sentence, and whether it is possible to use there is/are in such cases at all.

I think 'they' is not ambiguous here. 'they' and 'their' refer to same antecedent, which is 'people'. if you refer an antecedent with 'their' , you can't use 'they' to refer to some other plural noun. both will automatically refer to same antecedent in the sentence.

[ugenderr]

When we say "The more X, the more Y " do we need connector in between or it is idiom and the two parts {"The more X, <no connector> the more Y "}

no you should not use connector.

[tim]

ugenderr is right. If you want to claim that there is an ambiguity, you need to be ready to demonstrate two potential antecedents, which is pretty tough to do here..

Yes martelena, you need a "they" in the second half because it should be parallel to the subject "people" in the first half..

[chedan-ing]

hi, instructors, in my view, chioice D, add some information.... the original sentence says " calcium deposits are more likely to be..." while in choice D. it's" they are to have calcium deposits.." i think we add the word " they" here, which doesn't show in the original sentence...so it distorts the meaing... please correct me...
thanks~

[RonPurewal]

hi, instructors, in my view, chioice D, add some information.... the original sentence says " calcium deposits are more likely to be..." while in choice D. it's" they are to have calcium deposits.." i think we add the word " they" here, which doesn't show in the original sentence...so it distorts the meaing... please correct me...
thanks~

first --
OFFICIALLY CORRECT ANSWERS ARE CORRECT!
do not question officially correct answers!
far too many students on this forum make the mistake of questioning the correct answers; please note that doing so is a complete waste of your time and effort. i.e., exactly 0% of the time that you spend posting "isn't this official answer wrong?" is productive, and exactly 100% of that time is wasted.

"is this correct?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always no.

instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"why is this correct?"
"how does this work?"
"what understanding am i lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

this is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking -- you will suddenly find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you dispose of the idea that they might be wrong.


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no, there's no distortion of the meaning of the sentence.

the sentence ends with "... in the arteries of their hearts", so "they" doesn't add any more information than is already present.

[kiranck007]

Hi,

Please correct me if I am wrong
"The more" is functioning as an adverb here, yet the construction seems to suggest that it is functioning as an adjective to "people". Isn't it? How are we supposed to understand this sentence in its intended meaning?

Thanks,
Kiran

[thanghnvn]

according to "advanced grammar grammar" book, we have the folowing pattern:
--------------------------------------------------------

there + be + bound/certain/expected/
likely/sure/supposed + to be

If the government goes ahead there's sure to be
an outcry from the miners.
Hang on, there was supposed to be a television
in the room.

-------------------------------------------------------
I understand that only a few adjective can be used in "there is/are +adjective+ to be"

"likely" is not the adjective which can be used in the pattern above.

is my thinking correct?

[thanghnvn]

according the above grammar book, E is grammatical. The pattern in E dose exist though it is rarely explained in grammar books

But E is wrong because E is not parallel.
the pattern in D maintain the paralelism between 2 clauses.

is my thinking correct?

[jlucero]

Hi,

Please correct me if I am wrong
"The more" is functioning as an adverb here, yet the construction seems to suggest that it is functioning as an adjective to "people". Isn't it? How are we supposed to understand this sentence in its intended meaning?

Thanks,
Kiran

How are we supposed to understand this sentence in its intended meaning?

Sometimes, by memorizing them: "The more you study, the better your GMAT score will be." This idiomatic expression is common in the English language, but learning the parts of speech will do far less for you than simply memorizing this idiomatic expression.

[jlucero]

according to "advanced grammar grammar" book, we have the folowing pattern:
--------------------------------------------------------

there + be + bound/certain/expected/
likely/sure/supposed + to be

If the government goes ahead there's sure to be
an outcry from the miners.
Hang on, there was supposed to be a television
in the room.

-------------------------------------------------------
I understand that only a few adjective can be used in "there is/are +adjective+ to be"

"likely" is not the adjective which can be used in the pattern above.

is my thinking correct?

Are you asking if the book is wrong? Not in this case (or very often- google manhattan errata if you ever think you do find a mistake):

This is likely to be a riot.

[jlucero]

according the above grammar book, E is grammatical. The pattern in E dose exist though it is rarely explained in grammar books

But E is wrong because E is not parallel.
the pattern in D maintain the paralelism between 2 clauses.

is my thinking correct?

Correct.

[750plus]

Dear Team,

Are there any other issues in options C and E apart from the glaring parallelism error.
How do I treat 'to be' in options C and E ?

Any help is appreciated.

Warm Regards

[RonPurewal]

to see why choice E is wrong, compare it to similar-looking structures that are correct.
e.g.,
The longer a person is exposed to the poison, the more likely he or she is to die.
The fewer carbohydrates people eat, the less likely they are to be overweight.
SUBJECT
WHAT THE SUBJECT DOES OR IS

'there' is not a subject, so you can't put 'there' where the blue thing is.

this choice is presumably written as a (bad) derivation of 'there are xxxxx' (roughly the same as 'xxxxx exist').