People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary

Question

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People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary  than when they cause the noise themselves .

A) than when they cause the noise themselves

B) than if they cause it themselves

C) than by noise that they themselves cause

D) as by noise caused by themselves

E) as noise they themselves cause

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

Items in a comparison must be parallel.
That is, the compared items must play similar grammatical and logical roles in the sentence.

• Split #1: MORE always requires  than .  
Never use  more . . . as

Options D and E incorrectly couple  more  with  as .
Eliminate D and E

• Split #2: Parallelism

We are looking for this construction:
  People are more irritated by X than by Y.

That sentence uses what we call "ellipsis" or "elliptical construction."
Part of the verb phrase is not repeated after the word "than," but that verb phrase  is  implied.
Meaning:  People are more irritated by X than they are irritated by Y.

When you know you are dealing with parallelism, scrutinize prepositions.
Very often, prepositions are repeated in elided parallel constructions because the preposition tells us where the Y element begins.

Option A: . . . more irritated  by noise that  . . . than  when they . . . 
→  by noise  is not parallel to  when they 
--  by noise that  =  
--  when they cause the noise themselves  = noun (or nominal, or substantive) clause.

Option B:  by noise that they believe to be unnecessary  is not parallel to  if they cause it themselves 
--  by noise that  =  
--  if they cause it themselves  = ungrammatical and nonsensical hypothetical 
→ the use of IF is incorrect. We use IF only for conditional or hypothetical statements.

Eliminate A and B.

The answer is C.  
→ Parallelism holds: the preposition  by  is repeated, and we have two that-clauses

More irritated  by noise   that  they believe to be XYZ . . . than  by noise   that  they ABC

Splitting verbs: where does the adverb "more" belong?

aviddd  wanted to know why the author of the sentence wrote, "People are more irritated by . . ." rather than "People are irritated more by. . . "
The short answer is that the standard verb construction usually wins over absolutely perfect placement of emphasis.

Our standard verb construction consists of two words, ARE (auxiliary) + IRRITATED (main very).
In such cases, an adverb—including more— is placed after the TO BE helping verb as long as the sentence is not confusing.

We are taught that we should place an emphasis word right before the thing being emphasized.
Not always. 
This item is a non-issue, in a way, because the phrasing begins in the underlined portion of the sentence.

• When we have a two-word verb that uses auxiliary IS + MAIN VERB, then the adverb is placed between the two words, i.e., after the helping  to be  verb and before the main verb

→ She  is quickly reviewing  her teaching material.  
→ We  will happily accommodate  your request.

This verb construction is standard.
"Splitting the verb" is not only allowed but also required. 
Moving the word "more"

• this short article about adverb placement,  is pretty easy to understand.

COMMENTS

These answers range from good to outstanding.
Smiley faces if you labeled.
Kudos if you explained.
Nicely done.

renzofig · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary than when they cause the noise themselves.

This SC question is mainly testing parallelism. Notice the 2 parallel elements:

People are more irritated by X than by Y.

-X=   noise      that they believe to be unnecessary   (modifier)
-Y=   noise   caused by themselves

A) than when they cause the noise themselves

WRONG. "By noise" not parallel with "when they cause" (clause)

B) than if they cause it themselves

WRONG. "By noise" not parallel with "if they cause it"

C) than by noise that they themselves cause

CORRECT. Also notice that both elements in the parallelism are "by noise" and both are modified by relative pronoun.

D) as by noise caused by themselves

WRONG. "more" should always be followed by "than". More A than Y is correct. More A as Y is wrong.

E) as noise they themselves cause

Same error as in D

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (C) . It took me 32 seconds.

Firstly, "more irritated” should be followed by "than". Eliminate D and E
Secondly, for parallelism, we want to see "by ... that ...." in underlined part. C provides the best match.

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

A)  than  when they cause   noise themselves

B)  than  if they cause it themselves (noise parallelism missing)

C)  than   by noise  that they themselves cause

D)   as    by noise  caused by themselves

E)   as   noise they themselves cause

Comparison is been drawn between unnecessary noise and noise created by the person themselves.

As shows similarity
Than shows comparison. 
Eliminate D and E.

Irritated by X has to be parallel to something by Y. 
Among A, B and C. 
Only C has By structure, correctly comparing noise with noise.

Answer is C

Posted from my mobile device

Kinshook · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary  than when they cause the noise themselves .

A) than  when they cause  the noise themselves

B) than  if they cause  it themselves

C) than by noise that they themselves cause 
Correct use of  More irritated by X than by Y

D)  as  by noise caused by themselves

E)  as  noise they themselves cause

IMO C

suchita2409 · Answer

A) than when they cause the noise themselves
Incorrect
Parallelism issue.

B) than if they cause it themselves
Incorrect
Same as A

C) than by noise that they themselves cause
Correct .
Parallelism is fine.

D) as by noise caused by themselves
Incorrect
We are comparing and therefore than is necessary.

E) as noise they them
Incorrect
Same as D.

Posted from my mobile device

winterschool · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary than when they cause the noise themselves.

A) than when they cause the noise themselves  Incorrect

B) than if they cause it themselves  Incorrect

C) than by noise that they themselves cause  Correct

D) as by noise caused by themselves  Incorrect

E) as noise they themselves cause  Incorrect

POE-

D & E - out,

...more ....than ..., not ...more ....as ...

B - pronoun error 'It', 'it' refers what?

C is better than A

C - proper parallelism

....more irritated by noise........than by noise

sood1596 · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary than when they cause the noise themselves.

More irritated by X than by Y is the correct idiom

A) than when they cause the noise themselves
When they. Incorrect

B) than if they cause it themselves 
It - antecedent?

C) than by noise that they themselves cause
Correct idiom and parallelism is maintained

D) as by noise caused by themselves
Incorrect idiom

E) as noise they themselves cause
Incorrect idiom

Answer - C

Posted from my mobile device

tyildirim92 · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary  than when they cause the noise themselves .

A) than when they cause the noise themselves  // "when" is compared with "by". The comparison is illogical. "when" is a time indicator, "by" is a preposition.

B) than if they cause it themselves  // "if" is compared with "by". Again, the comparison is illogical.

C) than by noise that they themselves cause  // correct

D) as by noise caused by themselves  // "more than" is correct. "more as" is awkward.

E) as noise they themselves cause  // "more than" is correct. "more as" is awkward.

VERBAL1 · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary than when they cause the noise themselves.

The statement presents a comparison between unnecessary noise and the noise created by individuals themselves. Let's look at the choices

A) than when they cause the noise themselves
(when distorts the meaning. When denotes time.)

B) than if they cause it themselves
(Parallelism flaw. Comparison between unnecessary noise and the noise created by individuals themselves is set of by the word 'by'. The correct choice needs the word by since the non-underlined part has it.)

C) than by noise that they themselves cause
(this choice sets a correct parallelism to compare between the unnecessary noise and the noise created by individuals themselves) Best so far, let's consider this.

D) as by noise caused by themselves
(as is not not used to set a contrast, instead, it serves to to establish similarity.

E) as noise they themselves cause 
('they themselves' is grammatical flawed and redundant. Also, as explained in C, this choice uses C)

OA: D

aviddd · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary than when they cause the noise themselves.

A) than when they cause the noise themselves
"noise" is being compared with "when" - incorrect. We need noun to noun comparison.

B) than if they cause it themselves
Same error. "noise" is being compared with "if".

C) than by noise that they themselves cause
Correct. "noise" is compared to "noise".

D) as by noise caused by themselves
we need "than" since the right idiom is "more ... than"

E) as noise they themselves cause
we need "than" since the right idiom is "more ... than"

aviddd · Answer

Shouldn't the sentence be

"People are irritated more by noise .... than " instead of 
"People are more irritated by noise... than"

agar123 · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary than when they cause the noise themselves.

Meaning: people are more irritated by x than y. so x and y should be parallel to each other. so "by noise that they believe to be unnecessary" prepostional phrase should be parallel to prepostional phrase.

A) than   when they cause the noise themselves   -----> prepositonal phrase is not parallel to the clause "when they cause the noise themselves"

B) than   if they cause it themselves   -----> same issue as in A.

C) than by noise that they themselves cause ----> correct prepostional phrase is parallel to prepositional phrase.

D)   as   by noise caused by themselves ------> more should be followed by than.

E)   as   noise they themselves cause ----> more should be followed by than.

generis · Answer

aviddd  , when we deal with a two-word verb and the first word is an auxiliary verb, the adverb is placed  between  the auxiliary and the main verb unless such placement would create confusion. See my reading recommendation below.

I cannot think of an example of such confusion at the moment.

More importantly, no confusion is created by adverb placement in this question.

You may have heard that we do not split verbs, especially infinitives.

Infinitives 
I do not recall having seen any official question whose correct answer included a split infinitive, but GMAC  does not test  the rule because the rule is controversial.

I avoid splitting infinitives unless I am trying to emphasize a point by using what I think is a jarring construction, this way:
 To say that the leader is an inept megalomaniac is to  radically  understate the case.

Verbs that are not infinitives

Another concern may underlie your question. I'll wait until I post the OE to address your question fully. I have good reason to wait.

Until then, you can find a more comprehensive and understandable answer in this short article about adverb placement,  here.

In the jargon used in that article, we are dealing with the auxiliary verb  to be.

I hope that answer helps.

Posted from my mobile device

aviddd · Answer

This helps a lot! Thank you.

KaramveerBakshi · Answer

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary  than when they cause the noise themselves .

A) than when they cause the noise themselves -  Parallelism error. Incorrect.

B) than if they cause it themselves -  Parallelism error. Incorrect.

C) than by noise that they themselves cause -  Correct.

D) as by noise caused by themselves -  'more....than'. Incorrect.

E) as noise they themselves cause -  'more....than'. Incorrect.

Hence, the answer is Option (C).

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here

Ilhomjon98 · Answer

Hi,  generis  
I have a question regarding non-underlined part of the S.C. quesiton:  noise that they believe to be unnecessary 
I have seen some O.G. questions, in which the correct answer has the part like  noise that they believe  is  unnecessary  
here is the O.G. please check:  https://gmatclub.com/forum/people-are-more-irritated-by-noise-that-they-believe-to-be-unnecessary-332371.html?fl=notifications#p2602912  
or unofficial one:  https://gmatclub.com/forum/exercise-from-kaplan-299569.html

Could you please explain the difference between  noise that they believe to be unnecessary  and  noise that they believe is unnecessary ?

Thank you very much in advance!

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

People are more irritated by noise that they believe to be unnecessary

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards