guerrero25 wrote:
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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
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.