Question

On the whole， ambitious students are more likely to succeed in their studies than ...

On the whole， ambitious students are more likely to succeed in their studies than are those with little ambition. 我的问题是，这里“than are those with little ambition.”为虾米要有一个“are” ?

Answer 1

On the whole， ambitious students are more likely to succeed in their studies than are those with little ambition. 我的问题是，这里“than are those with little ambition.”为虾米要有一个“are” ?
答：没有错，但可以省。属于倒装，因为从句的主语有了一个后置定语。
就象：Tom is taller than Peter (is). 一样，
On the whole， ambitious students students are more likely to succeed in their studies than those (定语）（are）这一句中的are可省可不省。作者不省。但由于这从句中的主语有一后置定语，than those with little ambition are 不仅不平衡，还极容易引起误会，所以就倒装一下。
其实完全可以省略。写此句的人有点多此一举了。

Answer 2

楼上的哥们说的没错，是因为句子平衡的问题，但是说的不够完整，实际上with little ambition这个限定部分的后置倒置了系动词“are”必须前置，这样形式上成了倒装

Answer 3

错了吧，are 不应该有啊