677. A long-term study of some 1,000 physicians indicates that the more coffee …

A long-term study of some 1,000 physicians indicates that the more coffee these doctors drank, the more they had a likelihood of coronary disease.

(A) more they had a likelihood of coronary disease
(B) more was their likelihood of having coronary disease
(C) more they would have a likelihood to have coronary disease
(D) greater was their likelihood of having coronary disease
(E) greater was coronary disease likely

OA: D (bôi đen để thấy đáp án)

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Nghĩa:

A long-term study of some 1,000 physicians indicates that

• the more coffee these doctors drank,
• the more they had a likelihood of coronary disease.

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MORE VS GREATER

the following rule will work in the vast majority of cases:

• if you are dealing with a word that literally describes a numerical quantity (number, rate, height, length, volume, population, proportion etc.), then you should use “greater”.
  The population of Colombia is greater than that of Argentina –> correct
  The population of Colombia is more than that of Argentina –> incorrect
• if you are dealing with a word that describes some abstract characteristic of something (power, influence, effect, etc.), then you can use “a/an + greater” or “more” (the latter WITHOUT ‘a/an’).
  John’s father has had a greater influence on the development of his personality than has his mother. –> correct
  The Prime Minister has more power than the King, even though the latter is the country’s titular leader. –> correct
• if you are dealing with a word that describes things that you can actually count, then you should use “more”.
  I have more sports jerseys than anyone else I know –> correct
• if you are dealing with an uncountable noun that is NOT a numerical quantity, then you should use “more”.
  there is more furniture in this store than in the other one –> correct

In this case: likelihood = probability = a NUMBER.
A number cannot be MORE.
A number can only be GREATER.

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Ngữ pháp khác:

The more …. , the more/greater ….: phải đảm bảo parallelism

• the more coffee these doctors drank: “the more” ở đây là ADJECTIVE modify cho “coffee”
• Vì vậy the more ở vế sau cũng phải act như một ADJECTIVE
  Vd: the more they had a likelihood of coronary disease: ở đây “the more” là ADVERB, ko parallel

POE

A) Loại vì:

• the more
• “they had” -> the more là adverb, ko parallel

B) Loại vì:

• the more

C) Loại vì:

• the more
• would have a likelihood to have: wordy

E) Loại vì:

• sai intended meaning: câu đề có ý là “greater likelihood” chứ ko phải “greater disease”