Bunuel wrote:
Recently discovered gravitational lensing around certain proximate stars strongly suggests that the nine planets of our solar system are a common phenomenon in the universe rather than developing incidentally from a unique galactic phenomenon several billion years ago.
(A) rather than developing incidentally from
(B) rather than a type that developed incidentally from
(C) rather than a type whose development was incidental of
(D) instead of developing incidentally from
(E) instead of a development that was incidental of
MANHATTAN REVIEW OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:
The first thing you should consider here is whether to use rather or instead. Instead does not have an element of choice in it, merely an element of replacement. You would say, for example: I went instead of Jack. You would also say: He is a weak man rather than a timid man. Because this is not a case of replacement, you need the word ‘rather’. That leaves us with choices A, B and C as possible answers. A correct comparison is required. The planets are a ‘phenomenon... rather then a type’. You are correctly comparing two nouns so A can be eliminated. ‘Incidental of’ is an incorrect structure. ‘Incidental to’ is correct. Therefore only B is eliminates all these errors and is the correct answer.