Sentence Correction

42. According to a survey of graduating medical students conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges, minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice in socioeconomically deprived areas.
(A) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice
(B) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than other graduates who plan on practicing
(C) minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as other graduates to plan on practicing
(D) it is nearly four times more likely that minority graduates rather than other graduates will plan to practice
(E) it is nearly four times as likely for minority graduates than other graduates to plan to practice

Why answer is C? Somebody may please explain why choice A is wrong?

in more x than y, x and y needs to be parallel, A, B do not have it correctly,

D uses more.. that wrongly,
E uses as likely... than.... wrongly

C has as likely as idiom correctly

A is wrong because "likely than" is not correct, "likely to" is the correct idiomatic usage.


State the source of the question please.

I ask for the source because the answer was between C or D for me, and I picked C because I believe "plan on" is an incorrect uage, and "plan to" is better.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with D, and why is C preferred over D, if at all it is?

axat wrote:A is wrong because "likely than" is not correct, "likely to" is the correct idiomatic usage.


State the source of the question please.

I ask for the source because the answer was between C or D for me, and I picked C because I believe "plan on" is an incorrect uage, and "plan to" is better.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with D, and why is C preferred over D, if at all it is?

There's no idiom used in choice D. So, it's a bit confusing when the comparison is made between minority students and other grad students.

Thanks mbadrew, but I am still not entirely satisfied. Could you please explain a little more?

Also what are your comments on 'plan on' and 'plan to'.

mbadrew wrote:

axat wrote:A is wrong because "likely than" is not correct, "likely to" is the correct idiomatic usage.


State the source of the question please.

I ask for the source because the answer was between C or D for me, and I picked C because I believe "plan on" is an incorrect uage, and "plan to" is better.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with D, and why is C preferred over D, if at all it is?

There's no idiom used in choice D. So, it's a bit confusing when the comparison is made between minority students and other grad students.

According to MGMAT SC guide whenever you see 'times' which indicates multiplication, you should use 'as...as' construction. Only 'C' uses it correctly.

vaishalijain7 wrote:According to MGMAT SC guide whenever you see 'times' which indicates multiplication, you should use 'as...as' construction. Only 'C' uses it correctly.

Yes, that's absolutely correct. Also, the idiom for plan is "to" and not "on".

kc_raj wrote:in more x than y, x and y needs to be parallel, A, B do not have it correctly,

D uses more.. that wrongly,
E uses as likely... than.... wrongly

C has as likely as idiom correctly

in choice a : minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice

what is the wrong in idiom?

four times more likely than are, is not the correct idiom

four times as like as, is the correct idiom. I cannot explain idioms.

kc_raj wrote:four times more likely than are, is not the correct idiom

four times as like as, is the correct idiom. I cannot explain idioms.

Hi,
I am again opening this thread.

I want to understand that in the original question, we were given "more likely" and the OA says " as likely"

Let me paraphrase both the statements in numerical terms

X is 4 times more likely than Y = > so if y=4 then X will be more than 16 and not 16. Am I right?

X is 4 times as likely as Y => so if y = 4, then X will be exactly 16 and not more than 16.

This is the difference which is making me so confused that I can't go ahead with this sentence.

Please express your views friends.

Thanks

@gmat740,

Don't get confused with the mathematical aspect of the Verbal question. Whether the intent of sentence is more likely than or it is as likely as, you should take care of only correct answer.

A. Minority graduates are four times more likely " to do what"; and the whatever minority graduates want to do is going with the compared clause. So incorrect

B. It seems other graduates plan on practicing ...Incorrect.

C. correct- maintains parallelism and correct idiomatic usage.

D. awkward rhetorical construction and wrong Idiomatic usage: more X rather than Y-incorrect.

E. Incorrect comparison and wrong idiomatic usage: "as likely than" -incorrect.

mbadrew wrote:

vaishalijain7 wrote:According to MGMAT SC guide whenever you see 'times' which indicates multiplication, you should use 'as...as' construction. Only 'C' uses it correctly.

Yes, that's absolutely correct. Also, the idiom for plan is "to" and not "on".

Please clarify what the correct idiom for plan is.C the correct answer uses plan "on".

Hi all,
OA is C.
But I am confused by the use of on in this choice.
Is it correct to say "to plan on practicing"

please clarify.

Hi,
I collided with it on GMATPREP.
head on, knocked out...