comparison doubt(expert)

Expert replies

arghya05: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 81; Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:38 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 2 times

by arghya05 » Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:01 am

Soaring television costs accounted for more than half the spending in the presidential campaign of 1992, a greater proportion than it was in any previous election.

A. a greater proportion than it was
B. a greater proportion than
C. a greater proportion than they have been
D. which is greater than was so
E. which is greater than it has been

i cannot understand why c is wrong they refers to costs
i have a serious problem in comparison where subject is used after than or that of or those of are used after than

the shares rose 20 % the value in may than june
the shares rose 20 % the value in may thanthey do in june

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:01 am

VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:42 am

Actually, "they" does not refer to just "costs." Since we are starting the sentence with a gerund, "they" would have to refer back to the entire phrase "soaring television costs". It's the IDEA of "soaring" that is the subject of the sentence here.

Rephrase: Soaring accounted for more than 1/2 the spending, a greater proportion than it was...

"a greater proportion" refers to the idea of "more than 1/2" so "it" doesn't refer to anything, so we have a pronoun-ambiguity error.

But more seriously, we have a problem with MEANING here. Ask yourself: what is the author logically trying to say?

He's trying to say that "soaring costs" accounted for more, proportionally, in this 1 campaign than in any OTHER campaign. So really he wants to compare TWO CAMPAIGNS. Notice how B nicely makes the comparison clear ("the campaign of 1992...than in any previous election.)

Start by finding the two things that are really being compared.

For your "shares" example, you are comparing the RISE in May with the RISE in June, correct? The best way to word this would be: "The shares rose 20% the value in May than they did in June."

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