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Question

Difficulty: HardParallel Structure

Complete the passage with the word that maintains a parallel structure within the sentence.

Answer:In her research on workplace productivity, psychologist Jeanette Harris examines how digital environments affect mental endurance. Harris posits that cognitive fatigue is influenced more by the duration of continuous screen exposure than 【by】 the complexity of the tasks being performed. Consequently, she recommends taking short, scheduled breaks throughout the workday to mitigate mental exhaustion.

Answer

by
The sentence establishes a comparison between two causes of cognitive fatigue using the structure 'more [X] than [Y]'. The first element of the comparison is introduced as a prepositional phrase starting with the preposition 'by' ('by the duration of continuous screen exposure'). To maintain parallel structure, the second element of the comparison ('the complexity of the tasks being performed') must also be introduced as a prepositional phrase starting with the identical preposition 'by'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the comparative structure in the sentence.
The sentence contains a comparison indicated by the core construction: 'influenced more by [noun phrase] than [blank] [noun phrase]'.
This comparative pattern establishes the relationship between the two factors that influence cognitive fatigue.
2
Analyze the grammatical form of the first element in the comparison.
The first element is the prepositional phrase 'by the duration of continuous screen exposure', which is introduced by the preposition 'by'.
Parallel structure dictates that elements linked in a comparison must share matching grammatical structures.
3
Determine the appropriate grammatical form to complete the comparison.
The second element after 'than' must also be a prepositional phrase introduced by the same preposition. Therefore, the blank must be filled with 'by' to create 'than by the complexity of the tasks being performed'.
Repeating the preposition 'by' ensures grammatical parallelism between 'more by [X]' and 'than by [Y]'.

Key Concept

Parallelism in comparative structures requires that the elements being compared share the same grammatical form, including prepositions.
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Topics

Parallel Structure

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