[MasterOfThe Universe]

I have narrowed the best answer to A and B. Can you tell me which is correct and why?

According to one expert, the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not so much that dogs are being bred for looks or to meet the other narrow criteria as that the breeds have relatively few founding members.

A. the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not so much that dogs are being bred for looks or to meet the other narrow criteria

B. the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not as much their being bred for looks or meeting other narrow criteria as much

-MOTU

[JEM]

MOTU,

(A) is the correct answer for two reasons:

First, in (B) "their" is ambiguous.

Second, in (B) the parallelism between "their" and "that" is not grammatical. I.e. the form: "not so much their X as that Y" is incorrect. The proper form is: "not so much that X as that Y.

Hope that helped.

JEM

[Bobotalk]

Great answer, JEM - I had only noticed the ambiguity present, and not the parallelism.