Heart attack!

[sam_08854]

Researchers agreed that the study of new treatments for heart attack patients was
extremely important but more research was needed to determine that balloon angioplasty
preceded with ultrasound was or was not any better for heart attack patients than the
balloon procedure by itself.
A. more research was needed to determine that balloon angioplasty preceded with
ultrasound was or was not any better for heart attack patients than
B. more research was needed for determining whether or not balloon angioplasty
preceded by ultrasound is any better for heart attack patients than is
C. that more research was needed to determine whether balloon angioplasty preceded
by ultrasound is any better for heart attack patients than
D. that more research was needed to determine that balloon angioplasty preceded
with ultrasound was any better for heart attack patients than
E. that more research was needed for determining that balloon angioplasty preceded
by ultrasound is or is not any better for heart attack patients than is

SPOILER:
Official Answer is B, I chose C

[post2ashish]

both B & C have their own problems

B >
1. usage 'whether or not' is not concise
2. ... is any better than is .. > usage of 'is' not correct

C >
1. but that > not idiomatic

Between B & C, i picked C

Whts the source ??

[Aaragorn]

My vote for B as it removes the awkwardness of "ultrasound was or was not any better" in A.

[post2ashish]

My vote for B as it removes the awkwardness of "ultrasound was or was not any better" in A.

C also takes care of the awkardness in A.. Why not C ?

[Aaragorn]

Well C does take care of the awarkdness however, 'that' cannot follow 'but' here as But-that are used for negative or question statements.

Example: ....but that is not what i expected ...

....but that is totally wrong..

hope this helps

[Philospher57]

I dont think "that" creates much problem in C.Major problem with is C is absence of "is".Presence of "by" in the non-underlined portion necessiates "is" in the underlined portion.

[post2ashish]

I dont think "that" creates much problem in C.Major problem with is C is absence of "is".Presence of "by" in the non-underlined portion necessiates "is" in the underlined portion.

Hey, i'm still unable to understand how presence of 'by' necessiates 'is'. Kindly enlighten

X is better than Y OR X is better than is Y ?? i think former maintains ||ism

Could you elaborate / provide examples on the usage of latter ?


Added Later >>
i think i got it... i remember reading that the follwoing 3 structures are correct & convey the same meaning

X is better than Y (is) == X is better than Y == X is better than is Y

Please correct me if this incorrect. However, i'm still don't understand how presence of 'by' necessiates 'is'

[javeedw]

but isn't "whether or not" in B redundant...I chose C

[chatru]

I will go with "C" anytime

A. more research was needed to determine that balloon angioplasty preceded with ultrasound was or was not any better for heart attack patients than (a little awkward..)
B. more research was needed for determining whether or not balloon angioplasty preceded by ultrasound is any better for heart attack patients than is
C. that more research was needed to determine whether balloon angioplasty preceded by ultrasound is any better for heart attack patients than (correct... in all sence)
D. that more research was needed to determine that balloon angioplasty preceded with ultrasound was any better for heart attack patients than

E. that more research was needed for determining that balloon angioplasty preceded by ultrasound is or is not any better for heart attack patients than is

[kalyanakrishnan.a]

i think it is B. the "but that ...." phrase in C sounds awkward.