komal wrote:As a result of the Black Death, the plague that afflicted Europe in 1348-49, as many as half the population died and less than half the work force remained in certain cities.

(A) as many as half the population died and less than half the work force remained

(B) as much as half the population died and fewer than half the work force remained

(C) as many as half the people died and less than that remained in the work force

(D) as much as half the population died and less than half the work force remained

(E) as many as half the population and less than half the work force died or remained

OA D

komal wrote:As a result of the Black Death, the plague that afflicted Europe in 1348-49, as many as half the population died and less than half the work force remained in certain cities.

(A) as many as half the population died and less than half the work force remained - population is uncountable - ELIMINATE

(B) as much as half the population died and fewer than half the work force remained - fewer is used when subject can be counted one-by-one. - ELIMINATE

(C) as many as half the people died and less than that remained in the work force - Population UNCOUNTABLE - ELIMINATE

(D) as much as half the population died and less than half the work force remained - population is not countable. U cannot say one population, 2 population... - less than is used when the subject cant be counted - in this case population . hence the CORRECT ANSWER - It also maintains parallelism .

(E) as many as half the population and less than half the work force died or remained- its considering the population tht died and tht remained together . - ELIMINATE

OA D

mgmt_gmat wrote:IMO (A)... How the population can't be counted.