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Fuel Efficient cars

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Fuel Efficient cars

by ani781 » Sat Oct 05, 2013 4:29 am
Today's technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their production history.

(A) small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their
(B) small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
(C) small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
(D) more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
(E) more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in


Questions:
a) Are we talking about the production history of cars or manufacturers ? Is nt it that the manufacturers are producing and hence their refers to the manufacturers?
b) Is pronuoun ambiguity the only thing one must lookout for ?
c) Are we comparing small cars or fuel-efficient small cars ?

[spoiler]OA is (c)[/spoiler]
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by theCodeToGMAT » Sat Oct 05, 2013 4:40 am
{A} - INCORRECT; "now" is redundant; we need "other" with time; "their" is ambiguous
{B} - INCORRECT; we need "other" with time; "their" is ambiguous
{C} - CORRECT
{D} - INCORRECT; "their" is not needed; incorrect comparison; "their" is ambiguous
{E} - INCORRECT; we need "other" with time; "now" is redundant; "their" is ambiguos

Answer to your questions:
(A) - this is were "their" is ambiguous.. when we cannot find the answer.
(B) - I checked 'pronoun' ambiguous at last.
(C) - Small cars
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by vinay1983 » Sat Oct 05, 2013 5:59 am
ani781 wrote:Today's technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their production history.

(A) small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their
(B) small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
(C) small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
(D) more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
(E) more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in


Questions:
a) Are we talking about the production history of cars or manufacturers ? Is nt it that the manufacturers are producing and hence their refers to the manufacturers?
b) Is pronuoun ambiguity the only thing one must lookout for ?
c) Are we comparing small cars or fuel-efficient small cars ?

[spoiler]OA is (c)[/spoiler]
Uff so many queries!It happens actually it has to happen sooner or later :). welcome to the world of GMAT SC. Now back to your question.

Technology enables manufacturers to produce small cars that are more fuel efficient than those cars, which were not much fuel efficient, is the meaning trying to be conveyed.

A-"Wrong" cars are more fuel efficient than whom or what? No idea-Out
B-"cars" needs plural, "that" is singular. Also "at anytime in their" is absurd sounding. Also "their" is ambiguous.
C-Correct comparison. Small cars now are more efficient than those(small cars produced earlier) in eternity
D-Interchange of subject and object, it is about cars and not fuel efficacy
E-Same as D

Now to your questions:

1. GMAT allows some pronoun ambiguity. Here we are concerned about cars and not manufacturers,they are mentioned to tell us about the effect of technology on manufacturers.
2.No!Meaning clarity is on top, then comes many things. pronoun ambiguity is a part of the process, not the only one
3. We have to compare small cars, because they were "more" or "less" fuel efficient and not vice versa.

Honestly i liked your doubts. To the point and VERY RELEVANT!
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by [email protected] » Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:58 pm
Hi ani781,

Even though some SCs can be "layered", most GMAT SCs incorporate a variety of rules that you can use to prove which answer is correct and which answers are incorrect. Usually you don't even need to know all of the rules to choose the correct answer - you just need to know enough of them...

Here's what I "see" in this SC:

1) A Comparison: "cars" based on today's technology vs. cars in "their production history". We MUST compare cars to cars (not cars to time).

2) Description/modifiers: A modifier must be placed next to what it's SUPPOSED to modify and not in an ambiguous place.

Consider the 2 phrases:
"small cars that are more fuel-efficient"
"more fuel-efficient small cars"

The first option clearly describes a type of car that is MORE FUEL-EFFICIENT
The second option MIGHT describe a type of car that is more fuel-efficient OR it MIGHT describe the NUMBER of cars (More.....small cars). This is ambiguous and not correct.

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Oct 25, 2013 5:09 am
Another issue: they cannot serve to compare TWO DIFFERENT SETS of cars.
Incorrect: This year's CARS are better than THEY were last year.
Here, the use of they implies that the SAME set of cars is being discussed in each instance.
Not so.
The intention of the sentence to compare ONE set of cars (this year's cars) to ANOTHER (last year's cars).
Correct: This year's cars are better than last year's.
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