GMAT PREP Paper test question

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krazy800
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Topic: GMAT PREP Paper test question
PostWed Sep 30, 2009 10:23 pm

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This Q is from GmatPrep paper Test

Q1. There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels: more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990.
A) generated through wind power now than it was
B) generated through wind power now as it was
C) generated through wind power now as was the case
D) now generated through wind power as it was
E) now generated through wind power than was the case


Could some one explain the intent of the sentence? Please explain the logic behind the correct answer.

Thanks in advance for the help!!!!!

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sunnyjohn
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PostThu Oct 01, 2009 12:02 am

Concept tested:

Ididom : -- As...X...as

As "Much" energy is generated through wind power now AS
.....

A ,E - out of wrong IDIOM
B,C and D use correct idiom.

Much :- modifying generated Energy, so we need something like

as much energy is generated through power now as energy was generated through power in 1990.

Now see what match near to this:-
B) generated through wind power now as it was

it :- refer to Energy
as much generated through wind power now as energy was in 1990.

compare total energy in 1990 , with currenty generated energy using wind power.

C) generated through wind power now as was the case

was the case :- energy generated using wind power in 1990.. correct comparison here.

D) same problem as that of B

IMO: C
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lunarpower
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PostSun Oct 04, 2009 11:35 am

krazy800 wrote:
This Q is from GmatPrep paper Test

Q1. There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels: more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990.
A) generated through wind power now than it was
B) generated through wind power now as it was
C) generated through wind power now as was the case
D) now generated through wind power as it was
E) now generated through wind power than was the case


Could some one explain the intent of the sentence? Please explain the logic behind the correct answer.

Thanks in advance for the help!!!!!
ah. a clever question. clever mostly because it contains BOTH "more than" AND "as much as", requiring you to put in some extra effort to distinguish between the two.

fortunately, the "more than" is sitting there in one piece, so you can basically just ignore it and pretend that the sentence just says "ten times as much...".

with "as much", you need "as", not "than". so (a) and (e) are dead.

--


in any case, the choices with "it" are incorrect because the "it" doesn't have a legitimate antecedent.
pronouns automatically stand for nouns plus all the adjectives and essential modifiers that are attached to those nouns. therefore, "it", in this sentence, would have to stand for "more than ten times as much energy". that, of course, doesn't work.

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PostSun Oct 04, 2009 11:36 am

by the way

here's the most important takeaway from this problem:

if you see a split between
* a PRONOUN
and one of the following two:
* a specific noun;
* an abstract expression that's meant to substitute for a pronoun (such as "was the case" or "do so");

then you should be HIGHLY suspicious of the pronoun.


so, if you see "do so" vs. "do it", you should bank on "do so", unless you have VERY strong reasons to go the other way.
if you see "them" vs. "those NOUNs", you should bank on the latter, unless you have very strong reasons to go the other way.

same here.

--

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krazy800
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PostTue Oct 06, 2009 2:04 am

Thanks Ron!!!!
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PostFri Nov 06, 2009 3:48 am

Ple, help, I do not understand

if we use "was the case", "the case" is compared with "energy". This is incorrect

pls, help me out
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palvarez
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PostSat Nov 07, 2009 4:14 pm

This is another trap that GMAT tests often.

In OG 10, there is a question about comparing the effects of earthquake wrt west n east coasts.

The concept tested is this: you have a comparative adjective modifying a noun; this noun phrase ( comp. Adj + noun) is referred to as "it" in the "as clause".
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duongthang
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PostMon Nov 09, 2009 1:45 am

palvarez wrote:
This is another trap that GMAT tests often.

In OG 10, there is a question about comparing the effects of earthquake wrt west n east coasts.

The concept tested is this: you have a comparative adjective modifying a noun; this noun phrase ( comp. Adj + noun) is referred to as "it" in the "as clause".
Is it the question 99 in OG10? pls, tell me the question so that I can study it. Thank
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duongthang
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PostMon Nov 09, 2009 2:09 am

Sory, the question 199 in OG 10
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duongthang
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PostMon Nov 09, 2009 2:58 am

Thank you Ron. It is wonderful to have you in this forum.

I have a question.

I see in many questions in OG, "that" can refer to only one word, a noun, not to a noun+modifier. "that" is a pronoun so I think "that" is a special.

Ron, Can you explain more about "that"
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PostMon Nov 16, 2009 1:01 pm

Received a PM asking me to respond on how "energy" can be compared to "case."

"as was the case" is actually referring back to the first item in the comparison:

energy generated now
vs
energy generated in 1990

because they tell us that it's 10x now, we could also interpret this as:

10x energy generated now
vs
x energy generated in 1990

The reason we can't use "it" to refer to "x energy generated" is because "it" is a pronoun and can refer only to nouns. We're trying to refer to an entire clause (includes the verb "is generated"), so we can't use a simple pronoun. "was the case" is more flexible - that can actually refer to the whole clause, not just a noun.

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