Though lively and emotional, the debate over whether certain psycholog

Option A I deduce.

A. Properly placed modifier, Verb agreement & Whether / or syntax
B. Incorrectly placed "if" - should be in cause/effect framework
C. "the subject of lively debate" - Wrong placed
D. "the subject of lively and emotional debate" - Awkward
E. Not concise

Hope it helped.

Cheers
Qoofi

Though lively and emotional, the debate over whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood is ultimately irrelevant to the treatment of those problems.

Though lively and emotional modifies the debate.
The debate over X is irrelevant to the treatment. verb is correctly refers to Subject Debate.
I don't find major errors so keep it a side

B)The debate if certain psychological problems are determined by genetics, as opposed to cemented in early childhood, is ultimately irrelevant in treating those problems.
The debate if..........construction is awkward.
as opposed to cemented in early childhood seems to refer genetics.
those problems refer to psychological problems or genetics.

C)Regardless of whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood -- the subject of lively debate -- they are ultimately irrelevant to psychological treatment.
The subject of debate improperly modifies and misplaced as well.
antecedent of they is anonymous.

D)Certain psychological problems may be determined genetically or cemented in early childhood -- the subject of lively and emotional debate -- but are ultimately irrelevant to their psychological treatment.
their improperly refers to psychological problems and also psychological treatment of problems is illogical.

E)Even though lively and emotional debate exists whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood, it is ultimately irrelevant to psychological treatment.[/quote]
connection between exists and whether is missing(debate exists where or on what?) and
lively and emotional debate sounds in general regarding debate.
error regarding treatment in D repeats here.

In E can lively refer to debate? adverb modifying subject?

Though lively and emotional, the debate over whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood is ultimately irrelevant to the treatment of those problems.

MGMAT pronoun section talks of use of "those" to generate new copy of antecedent.

In this question how "those problem" is a new copy of "psychological problems" ?

I think "those problem" is from the same pot "psychological problems".

pls help.

'those' - plural
'psychological problems' - plural, infact the only plural noun in the sentence.
=> 'those' can only refer back to psychological problems.

If we want to refer to a singular noun, we use 'that'.

Hope this helps.

Though lively and emotional, the debate over whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood is ultimately irrelevant to the treatment of those problems.



A)Though lively and emotional, the debate over whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood is ultimately irrelevant to the treatment of those problems.

--> "debate over" is the right idiom . use of whether X or Y is correct

B)The debate if certain psychological problems are determined by genetics, as opposed to cemented in early childhood, is ultimately irrelevant in treating those problems.



C)Regardless of whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood -- the subject of lively debate -- they are ultimately irrelevant to psychological treatment.

..> No antecedent of "they"

D)Certain psychological problems may be determined genetically or cemented in early childhood -- the subject of lively and emotional debate -- but are ultimately irrelevant to their psychological treatment.

--> No antecedent of "their"

E)Even though lively and emotional debate exists whether certain psychological problems are genetically determined or cemented in early childhood, it is ultimately irrelevant to psychological treatment.

whats wrong in E ?

Can someone help

This question can be solved in less than 20 sec. It just test our Idiom knowledge. Debate will always follow over. And that exist only in option A.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Arpit

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The sentence describes a certain debate in the field of psychology, and then goes on to say that this debate, while lively, is ultimately irrelevant to the actual concern of treating the problems in question. The sentence needs to be constructed so that the nature of the debate is clear and unambiguous; it also must convey the idea that the debate itself, not the psychological problems, is irrelevant.

(A) CORRECT. The opening modifier (“Though lively and emotional”) properly modifies the following subject (“the debate”). The following wording (“over whether…”) correctly describes the nature of the debate.

(B) The word "if" (in the construction “the debate if x, as opposed to y”) illogically suggests that the debate exists only "if certain psychological problems are determined by genetics." Rather, the debate is over which of two things is the cause; in this case, we need to use the word "whether." Additionally, the construction “as opposed to cemented…” is grammatically incorrect; the preposition “to” must have a noun, not a modifier, as its object.

(C) The only possible antecedent of the plural pronoun “they” is “certain psychological problems,” creating the illogical meaning that the psychological problems themselves are irrelevant to the treatment of those problems. Moreover, the phrase “psychological treatment” at the end of this sentence is unacceptably vague, suggesting that the sentence is discussing psychological treatment in general rather than the particular treatment of the problems mentioned.

(D) The subject of “are” is “certain psychological problems”; the resulting meaning – that the psychological problems themselves are irrelevant to the treatment of those problems – is illogical.

(E) The opening clause (“lively and emotional debate exists whether X or Y”) is written so that “whether…” is a modifier of the preceding clause. The resulting meaning is that “lively and emotional debate," in general, exists in the world at large, regardless of whether X or Y causes psychological problems. This obscures the intended meaning: debate exists as to whether X or Y causes these problems. Moreover, the phrase “psychological treatment” at the end of this sentence is unacceptably vague, suggesting that the sentence is discussing psychological treatment in general rather than the particular treatment of the problems mentioned.

preposition+noun object is something easily overlooked. Great inclusion!

Can someone please clarify a doubt of mine -

Doesn't 'Though' and 'Although' require a clause, or can they be used as a modifier like in this question ?

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