According to recent studies comparing the nutritional

A. wild animals have less total fat than do livestock fed on grain and more of a kind of fat they think is
B. wild animals have less total fat than livestock fed on grain and more of a kind of fat thought to be --> incorrect comparison
C. wild animals have less total fat than that of livestock fed on grain and have more fat of a kind thought to be
D. total fat of wild animals is less than livestock fed on grain and they have more fat of a kind thought to be --> Wrong antecedent for they, it is referring to fat
E. total fat is less in wild animals than that of livestock fed on grain and more of their fat is of a kind they think is

Hence, I believe the answer is C.

hi aspirant
i saw this problem earlier so i think that i can explain.
i think that you are actually between B and C as other choices are inferior to those.
in B
wild animals have less total fat than livestock -pretty nice version,look at example
Ann has fewer coins than Bob,the structure is similar to above in B
but in C
wild animals have less total fat than that of livestock, what is that of? compare with
Ann has fewer coins than that of Bob, it is nonsensical comparison.
for sure we can write
the economy of USA is greater than that of Africa. ( no offence to Africa), here that of refer to the economy, and it is logical comparison or in other version
the USA has greater economy than Africa. the same concept is tested here
as for other options
in A- they think
in D- total fat of wild animals is less than livestock wrong comparison
of total fat with animals, vague antecedent-they
in E total fat is less in wild animals than that in of livestock, i hope preposition in is needed here, of their-again vague antecedent, they think- does not mean anything, it follows that recent studies think

Yeah, I chose B too. I think the "than that of" in choice C rubbed me the wrong way.

clock60 wrote:hi aspirant
i saw this problem earlier so i think that i can explain.
i think that you are actually between B and C as other choices are inferior to those.
in B
wild animals have less total fat than livestock -pretty nice version,look at example
Ann has fewer coins than Bob,the structure is similar to above in B
but in C
wild animals have less total fat than that of livestock, what is that of? compare with
Ann has fewer coins than that of Bob, it is nonsensical comparison.
for sure we can write
the economy of USA is greater than that of Africa. ( no offence to Africa), here that of refer to the economy, and it is logical comparison or in other version
the USA has greater economy than Africa. the same concept is tested here
as for other options
in A- they think
in D- total fat of wild animals is less than livestock wrong comparison
of total fat with animals, vague antecedent-they
in E total fat is less in wild animals than that in of livestock, i hope preposition in is needed here, of their-again vague antecedent, they think- does not mean anything, it follows that recent studies think

Hi Clock60,

I totally agree with the reply and answer you posted. could you please shed more light on, where to use 'that of' and where not.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Calvin

clock60 wrote:hi aspirant
i saw this problem earlier so i think that i can explain.
i think that you are actually between B and C as other choices are inferior to those.
in B
wild animals have less total fat than livestock -pretty nice version,look at example
Ann has fewer coins than Bob,the structure is similar to above in B
but in C
wild animals have less total fat than that of livestock, what is that of? compare with
Ann has fewer coins than that of Bob, it is nonsensical comparison.
for sure we can write
the economy of USA is greater than that of Africa. ( no offence to Africa), here that of refer to the economy, and it is logical comparison or in other version
the USA has greater economy than Africa. the same concept is tested here
as for other options
in A- they think
in D- total fat of wild animals is less than livestock wrong comparison
of total fat with animals, vague antecedent-they
in E total fat is less in wild animals than that in of livestock, i hope preposition in is needed here, of thehasir-again vague antecedent, they think- does not mean anything, it follows that recent studies think

Hi Clock60,

Thanks for your response. Yup I am confused between B and C ..........can you please tell that in your example which you explained i.e "Ann has fewer coins than that of Bob, it is nonsensical comparison."........in this to what is "that of" refering??????? does it refer to coins of bob??????though I agree on "Ann has fewer coins than Bob has"

If I take option C then that of refers to total fat and I feel that the sentence is logical i.e wild animals have less total fat than total fat of livestock????????Am I correct???????

hi aspirant
in you example as well as in option C.
wild animals have less total fat than total fat of livestock?
i am not sure that it is correct. imo here you compare wild animals and total fat that is illogical but i cam mistake
correct version will be
wild animals have less total fat than livestocks (have). second have can be omitted.
or in other variant as in option D that is partly correct
total fat of wild animals is less than that of livestock, here that of refers to total fat. but not to wild animals

clock60 wrote: in you example as well as in option C.
wild animals have less total fat than total fat of livestock?

are we not comparing total fat in wild animals have less total fat than total fat of livestock??????

i pick option B

Aspirant -

Two things (maybe three things):

You are way too generous when reading. I wrote an article about this problem! Anyway you are seeking to make the most useful or obvious meaning of the sentence, which is good in work life but not on the GMAT.

Secondly, remember that Sentence Correction is a comparison. Even if C were something we could force to work B is better. B is more straight-forward, shorter, etc. So remember that you are looking for the better option here.

Finally, Clock60 is exactly right on this one. What if I were to say "I am taller than that of you" It makes no sense. You use the "that of" when you are comparing a property of one thing to a property of another. So you would say that "the height of the Chrysler building is greater than that of the Empire State Building."

THAT is one of my favorite GMAT words. It is a special word in two circumstances - 1) you need a that when you quote anything on the GMAT. Such as "He said that I should study more" You will notice that the GMAT never seems to use quotations, so you will always need the "that."

2) The other special use of the THAT is what we are discussing on this question. In this use of "that" the word that is functioning pretty much as a pronoun. THAT is referring back to another word the way that a pronoun refers back to a noun. So in my example about the buildings, you can see that the word "that" is referring to "the height" and if you insert "the height" for "that" you have a good sentence. "The height of the Chrysler building is greater than the height of the Empire State Building."

David@VeritasPrep wrote:Aspirant -

Two things (maybe three things):

You are way too generous when reading. I wrote an article about this problem! Anyway you are seeking to make the most useful or obvious meaning of the sentence, which is good in work life but not on the GMAT.

Secondly, remember that Sentence Correction is a comparison. Even if C were something we could force to work B is better. B is more straight-forward, shorter, etc. So remember that you are looking for the better option here.

Finally, Clock60 is exactly right on this one. What if I were to say "I am taller than that of you" It makes no sense. You use the "that of" when you are comparing a property of one thing to a property of another. So you would say that "the height of the Chrysler building is greater than that of the Empire State Building."

THAT is one of my favorite GMAT words. It is a special word in two circumstances - 1) you need a that when you quote anything on the GMAT. Such as "He said that I should study more" You will notice that the GMAT never seems to use quotations, so you will always need the "that."

2) The other special use of the THAT is what we are discussing on this question. In this use of "that" the word that is functioning pretty much as a pronoun. THAT is referring back to another word the way that a pronoun refers back to a noun. So in my example about the buildings, you can see that the word "that" is referring to "the height" and if you insert "the height" for "that" you have a good sentence. "The height of the Chrysler building is greater than the height of the Empire State Building."

thanks a lot david,I got the concept now

Thanks David, Can you please share link of the article you mentioned.

I have tried to solidify this concept, please tell whether following are analysis is right:
1. Wild animals have less total fat than that of livestock (Incorrect, comparison between wild animals & total fat (that of) )
2. A has more pencils than those of B (Incorrect, A is compare to pencils)
3. Wild animals have less total fat than livestock do (Incorrect, "have" should be used in place of "do". Therefore, "Wild animals have less total fat than livestock" is correct)

4. Following sentences are equivalent:
a) Wild animals have less total fat than livestock have
b) Wild animals have less total fat than have livestock
c) Wild animals have less total fat than livestock

"3. Wild animals have less total fat than livestock do"

why it is wrong.

regards nafi

Here is the link to the article about people being to charitable on the GMAT.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/03/ ... n-the-gmat