Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods; rather, they are caused by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Idioms + Parallelism

• “not A but B” is a correct idiomatic usage; A and B must be parallel and comparable.

A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A ("caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods") and B ("a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach") in the idiomatic construction "not A but B"; remember, “not A but B” is a correct idiomatic usage; A and B must be parallel and comparable.

B: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A ("caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods") and B ("are by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach") in the idiomatic construction "not A but B"; remember, “not A but B” is a correct idiomatic usage; A and B must be parallel and comparable.

C: Correct. This answer choice correctly maintains parallelism between A ("by stress, alcohol, or rich foods") and B ("by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach") in the idiomatic construction "not A but B". Further, Option C uses the phrase "stress, alcohol, or rich foods", conveying the intended meaning - that stomach ulcers are not caused by any of the following elements - stress, alcohol, and rich foods.

D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A ("by stress, alcohol, and rich foods") and B ("a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach") in the idiomatic construction "not A but B"; remember, “not A but B” is a correct idiomatic usage; A and B must be parallel and comparable. Further, Option D alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "stress, alcohol, and rich foods"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that stomach ulcers are not caused by a combination of stress, alcohol, and rich foods; the intended meaning is that stomach ulcers are not caused by any of the following elements - stress, alcohol, and rich foods.

E: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between A ("by stress, alcohol, and rich foods") and B ("are by a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach") in the idiomatic construction "not A but B"; remember, “not A but B” is a correct idiomatic usage; A and B must be parallel and comparable. Further, Option E alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "stress, alcohol, and rich foods"; the use of "and" incorrectly implies that stomach ulcers are not caused by a combination of stress, alcohol, and rich foods; the intended meaning is that stomach ulcers are not caused by any of the following elements - stress, alcohol, and rich foods.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

C it is.

Between B and C. C has the correct construction of "not by X, but by Y"

Is the OA C ?

Idiom, Parallel construction

Not by X, But by Y

caused not by (stress, alcohol, or rich foods), but by (a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.)

yes C - parallelism "not by x but by Y"

Hey

Answer C is correct.

According to option C the sentence structure is that
Recent physicians have .... are caused NOT X BUT Y.
Here " are caused " is parallel to both X and Y. Hence we need not repeat it at Y.
This structure can also be rephrased as:
Recent physicians have... are NOT X BUT Y.
But in this case "cause" has to be included in both the parts X and Y.

Hope it clarifies.

ksp, thanks for your reply. Just before you wrote, I thought about it and came to the same conclusion:



Thanks again.

Minor clarification - actually the sentence structure is

"caused not by X...., but by Y.."

The word "by" should be on both sides of the comma.

So this is an X&Y Consistency Question (Framework #6).

This question tests parallelism issue. Not ... but idiom.

Straight away C. maintains parallelism.

A. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but (but should by followed by "by") Wrong
B. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but are by ("are" is extra here) Wrong
C. caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by (not by....but by) Correct
D. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but (need "by" after "but") Wrong
E. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but are by ("are" is extra) Wrong

I have one question. In option B, is "are" in "but are" used as a verb? If yes, then "not caused (verb)" would be parallel to "but are(verb)" and would be correct.

Please share your thoughts.

Almost anything in a sentence can be made parallel to a similar Parallel Element.

we know by spotting Parallel Markers(here NOT X BUT Y)—words that link or contrast items and that force those items to be parallel

In answer Choice B,

"NOT Caused by.......BUT are by........" is not paralleled

"NOT Caused by......BUT caused by......" is paralleled

"caused NOT by......BUT by......" is paralled

So, Correct Answer is C

The question is totally Parallelism issue. Here the correct answer is C. But, my question is: WHY not B. B makes parallelism to me!
B. NOT (tag)+CAUSED (verb)+by+something....................BUT (tag)+ARE (verb)+by+Something
Indicate parallelism to each other.
Thanks...

Concept Tested : Parallelism - Not x but y
A. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but --> Required Not by X but by Y
B. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but are by --> "caused by" is not parallel to "are by" ==> Caused is not a verb
C. caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by --> Correct Parallelism
D. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but --> Required Not by X but by Y
E. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but are by --> Required Not verb/by but verb/by

Is option D wrong because of "and rich foods"? "by" after "but" in option D should be implicit and not necessarily required.

It doesn't matter much whether the disease is caused by the factors individually or severally or by a combination just two. The more important thing is that except C, all others are instant dropouts due to improper correlative parallelism.

Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.

A. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but
B. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but are by
C. caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by
D. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but
E. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but are by

Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.
A. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but - Parallelism issue - ‘caused by stress…” and “a bacterium” are not parallel
B. not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but are by - “caused by stress” and “are by a bacterium” are not parallel
C. caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by - Correct
D. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but - “by stress” and “a bacterium” are not parallel. The first is a prepositional phrase; the second is a noun.
E. caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but are by - “by stress” and “are by a bacterium” are not parallel. The first is a prepositional phrase; the second one starts with a verb


Answer C