Comparison -ellipsis

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saranshpuri: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 46; Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 6:32 am; Thanked: 1 times

Comparison -ellipsis

by saranshpuri » Sun Apr 20, 2014 1:34 am

Hello,

Amy chances of success are higher than Betty.

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last year.

First sentence is wrong as it compares chances of success with betty.

Second one is correct, but it compares last years with Heating oil prices.

Although second sentence looks right to me , but when applying comparison rules , it seems to be incorrect.

Experts please help and clear my doubt how to solve this type of questions

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Apr 20, 2014 1:34 am

aditya8062: Legendary Member; Posts: 774; Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:32 am; Thanked: 46 times; Followed by:14 members

by aditya8062 » Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:21 am

Amy chances of success are higher than Betty.

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last year.

the first one seems wrong because of wrong construction ---"Amy chances of success"
the correct construction should have been "Amy's chances of success"

i feel following construction would have been oki -->Amy's chances of success are higher than betty's
or
Amy's chances of success are higher than those of bettey's

i request GMAT GURU to please weigh in
thanks and regards

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AnjaliOberoi: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 223; Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:22 am; Thanked: 12 times; Followed by:8 members

by AnjaliOberoi » Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:54 am

Hi Saransh,

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last year.. in this sentence Heating - oil prices of this year are compared with Heating -oil prices of last year.

In the original sentence Heating -oil prices of the current year is compared with last year - wrong
It should be "Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than those of last year"

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saranshpuri: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 46; Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 6:32 am; Thanked: 1 times

by saranshpuri » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:43 am

AnjaliOberoi wrote:Hi Saransh,

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last year.. in this sentence Heating - oil prices of this year are compared with Heating -oil prices of last year.

In the original sentence Heating -oil prices of the current year is compared with last year - wrong
It should be "Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than those of last year"

Hello Anjali,

Even I feel second statement is wrong. But this question is discussed earlier in the forum , where the statement is a part of correct answer. Same doubt had been raised there where GMAT GURU has given a explanation for why second statement is correct.

Even first statement was mentioned in the same discussion as wrong.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/comparison-c ... 01474.html

Even though i somewhat understood the GMAT guru explanation. But still i have some confusion related to ellipsis type of questions. I need some advise how to deal with ellipsis problem so as to be absolute sure on the D- Day.

Experts , please clarify my doubts regarding ellipsis and let me know what approach needs to be followed while tackling such questions. Also let me know the difference between First and Second Statement.

Thanks

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; Followed by:1906 members; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon Apr 21, 2014 3:23 am

saranshpuri wrote:Hello,

Amy chances of success are higher than Betty.

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last year.

First sentence is wrong as it compares chances of success with betty.

Second one is correct, but it compares last years with Heating oil prices.

Although second sentence looks right to me , but when applying comparison rules , it seems to be incorrect.

Experts please help and clear my doubt how to solve this type of questions

Parallel forms should serve the SAME FUNCTION.

Amy's chances of success are higher than Betty.
Here, Betty (noun) seems to be parallel with chances (noun).
Since chances serves as the subject of are, Betty must play a similar role in the second clause.
As a result, the sentence seems to be comparing how CHANCES are higher with how BETTY is high.
Not the intended comparison.

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last year.
Here, last year (modifier) is clearly parallel with this year (modifier).
Since this year serves as an adverb indicating when prices are expected to be higher, last year must play a similar role.
The resulting comparison is clear and logical: how prices are expected to be higher this year is being compared to how prices were high last year.

Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

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aditya8062: Legendary Member; Posts: 774; Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:32 am; Thanked: 46 times; Followed by:14 members

by aditya8062 » Mon Apr 21, 2014 3:55 am

thanks GMAT GURU
kindly tell me if following will be correct
sentence 1 :Amy's chances of success are higher than Betty's

sentence 2 : Amy chances of success are higher than those of Betty

sentence 3 :Amy chances of success are higher than those of Betty's
thanks and regards