Sentence Correction

@GMATGURUNY : I am confused. In E, are we not comparing a noun with a clause ? "speeds" are being compared to "(speeds) are currently possible". It would be very helpful if you could dissect the comparion part of this sentence for us?


Thanks.

@GMATGURUNY :

2. What is the exact cause for which option D is wrong?
the pronoun that is singular, but it's referring to speeds, a plural noun.

1. What role "that " is playing in option D
2. If we replace "that" with "those" in answer choice D, it becomes correct answer choice ?
3. D does not miss the verb ?

Thanks .
Even if D were to replace that with those, E would still be better. The intended meaning is that the speeds would be much higher than are currently possible. In E, the verb are makes the comparison clear.


if we change the option D as

D. at much higher speeds than are

E. at speeds much higher than are

then which one is correct..D or E...?? why.?? thanks.

prepgmat09 wrote:@GMATGURUNY : I am confused. In E, are we not comparing a noun with a clause ? "speeds" are being compared to "(speeds) are currently possible". It would be very helpful if you could dissect the comparion part of this sentence for us?


Thanks.

Sometimes when making comparisons we leave out unnecessary words in order to make the sentence more concise:

John swims faster than Mary.

The meaning of this sentence is that John swims faster than Mary swims. The second swims is omitted because the comparison is clear without it.

A more complex example:

Prices are higher than were expected.

The meaning of this sentence is that prices are higher than they were expected to be.

In the SC above:

...the alliance...would enable customers to receive internet data...at speeds much higher than are currently possible.

The meaning is that the alliance...would enable customers to receive internet data...at speeds much higher than speeds that are currently possible.

Leaving out words in a comparison is called ellipsis. As long as the comparison is clear -- and as long as the sentence isn't comparing the wrong things -- there is no error.

Hope this helps!

GMATGuruNY, thank you for explaining this in detail.

However, I have a follow-up question. I learnt from my course with Knewton that in order to form an elliptical construction, only those words can be removed that have a prior presence in the sentence. But here, "that are" does not come in the earlier part of the sentence. Noticing the problem, I rejected this answer choice. Could you please point out if I am making a conceptual mistake?

prepgmat09 wrote:GMATGuruNY, thank you for explaining this in detail.

However, I have a follow-up question. I learnt from my course with Knewton that in order to form an elliptical construction, only those words can be removed that have a prior presence in the sentence. But here, "that are" does not come in the earlier part of the sentence. Noticing the problem, I rejected this answer choice. Could you please point out if I am making a conceptual mistake?

When ellipsis is used in a comparison, as long as it's clear what words are being omitted, I wouldn't eliminate the answer choice:

She is taller than I.

The sentence above is correct because it's clear that the omitted word is am:

She is taller than I am.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, GMATGuruNY.

GMATGuruNY -

In D you state that 'that' can refer only to singular subject.
I don't think that's correct as 'that' can refer to "compound nouns"

https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-that-t64779.html

Please see the above post.

gmatrant wrote:GMATGuruNY -

In D you state that 'that' can refer only to singular subject.
I don't think that's correct as 'that' can refer to "compound nouns"

https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-that-t64779.html

Please see the above post.

Like most words, the pronoun that has different uses.

When used in a relative clause, that can refer either to a singular noun or to a plural noun:

The book that was sitting on the table
The books that were sitting on the table

When making a comparison, however, we use that to replace a singular noun and those to replace a plural noun:

The price this year, like that of last year, is quite reasonable.
Prices this year, like those of last year, are quite reasonable.

Hope this helps!

As rightly said , E is the correct option

As rightly said , E is the correct option

Thanks for the explanation for the 'D' option.

I chose E too.