More likely ...than

[YuanqiZ223]

There is a wrong sentence in OG: 'The wealth of enigmatic fossils seems more likely to inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage rather than settle them."

My opinion to eliminate this sentence is that 'more likely' should be followed by 'than', not 'rather than'. However, the official explanation didn't mention this point. Therefore, I want to confirm here if my thought is correct.

Also, I think 'more likely to inflame ...than settle them' should be correct without 'to' in front of 'settle'.

Thank you

[Chelsey Cooley]

My opinion to eliminate this sentence is that 'more likely' should be followed by 'than', not 'rather than'. However, the official explanation didn't mention this point. Therefore, I want to confirm here if my thought is correct.

Yes, this is correct. This sentence is right:

She is more likely to succeed than to fail.

This sentence is wrong:

She is more likely to succeed rather than to fail.

Also, I think 'more likely to inflame ...than settle them' should be correct without 'to' in front of 'settle'.

However, this is incorrect. 'More likely... than...' is an example of a closed parallel marker, similar to 'either... or...' or 'both... and...'. So, the phrase right after 'more likely' and the phrase right after 'than' should be parallel to each other. Both should have 'to' in them.