Another (tricky) SC Question

elliefrance wrote:Q: According to public health officials, in 1998 MA became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it.

- same
- than born
- than they were
- than there had been
- than had been born

I choose B "than born" because if I extended the sentence out it would read - in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than born to women under the age of thirty. Unfortunately, the correct answer is A. Any thoughts?

Thanks!
-Ellie

Intended meaning: According to public health officials, in 1998 MA became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under the age of thirty.

We are comparing the ages of women when they had babies; whether the women were over 30 or under 30 when they had babies.

So, it must refer to the age of thirty. Only A has this structure.

B implies that babies were born under the age of thirty. Incorrect.

Hi Vinayak

I got the Answer correct but i have a different opinion.

Because non underlined uses More X, so anything after Than must be parallel to whatever is after X.
I think A is correct because of the following structure.

According to public health officials, in 1998 MA became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than [ were born to women] under it.

B is incorrect because Born is not parallel to were born.

What do you think about the above reasoning of A.

vk_vinayak wrote:

elliefrance wrote:Q: According to public health officials, in 1998 MA became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it.

- same
- than born
- than they were
- than there had been
- than had been born

I choose B "than born" because if I extended the sentence out it would read - in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than born to women under the age of thirty. Unfortunately, the correct answer is A. Any thoughts?

Thanks!
-Ellie

Intended meaning: According to public health officials, in 1998 MA became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under the age of thirty.

We are comparing the ages of women when they had babies; whether the women were over 30 or under 30 when they had babies.

So, it must refer to the age of thirty. Only A has this structure.

B implies that babies were born under the age of thirty. Incorrect.

i concur with both of you. correct un-ellipsed sentence would be

According to public health officials, in 1998 MA became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than were born to women under the age of thirty.