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Hair-growth drug

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by hksam07 » Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:50 am
A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per milligram, as the drug's maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

A. as
B. than
C. that
D. of what
E. at which

OA: C
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Re: Hair-growth drug

by lunarpower » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:48 pm
hksam07 wrote:A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per milligram, as the drug's maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

A. as
B. than
C. that
D. of what
E. at which

OA: C
(a) and (b) are unidiomatic: (a) is wrong because the sentence doesn't contain "three times as much...", and (b) is wrong because the sentence doesn't contain "more".

(e) is bad diction: "the price at which the manufacturer charges" isn't right. you don't charge at a price; you just charge a price (for something).

--

(d), taken literally, has an absurd meaning: it says "the price of what the drug's maker charges".
but you must notice that "what the drug's maker charges" is already the price of the product. therefore, "the price of what the drug's maker charges" would illogically refer to the price of a price.

--

that leaves (c), the only answer that's idiomatic and semantically correct. as a bonus, it's concise, too.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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by goelmohit2002 » Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:41 am
Hi Ron,

As per your post at the following link:

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/pos ... tml#p31786

========================================
Ron>>>>
i'm surprised to see "the drug's maker", a phrase that i would think gmac would consider "awkward". i'd expect to see "the maker of the drug" instead.
=========================================

Can you please tell why in general GMAC considers "the drug's maker" type of constructions wrong ?

I guess these type of choices are quite common in GMAT options....probably in wrong ones....

What is the reasoning for the same....so that we can straightaway kick out similar options by recognizing the pattern ?

Thanks
Mohit
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Re: Hair-growth drug

by goelmohit2002 » Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:53 am
lunarpower wrote: (d), taken literally, has an absurd meaning: it says "the price of what the drug's maker charges".
but you must notice that "what the drug's maker charges" is already the price of the product. therefore, "the price of what the drug's maker charges" would illogically refer to the price of a price.
Hi Ron,

Can you please tell a bit more about the usage of "what" in GMAT....

Does it act like pronoun like "where", "when", "that".....

basically what role does "what" play in a GMAT sentence ?

Thanks
Mohit
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Re: Hair-growth drug

by lunarpower » Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:44 am
goelmohit2002 wrote:
lunarpower wrote: (d), taken literally, has an absurd meaning: it says "the price of what the drug's maker charges".
but you must notice that "what the drug's maker charges" is already the price of the product. therefore, "the price of what the drug's maker charges" would illogically refer to the price of a price.
Hi Ron,

Can you please tell a bit more about the usage of "what" in GMAT....

Does it act like pronoun like "where", "when", "that".....

basically what role does "what" play in a GMAT sentence ?

Thanks
Mohit
in MOST cases of these kinds of constructions, in which "what" is a relative pronoun, you can replace it with "the NOUN that..."

so, for instance, in this construction ("what the drug's maker charges"), you can replace "what" with "the price that..."

--

"what" can also be a question word, but these sentences aren't questions - so you shouldn't have to worry about that.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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Re: Hair-growth drug

by goelmohit2002 » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:42 am
lunarpower wrote:
in MOST cases of these kinds of constructions, in which "what" is a relative pronoun, you can replace it with "the NOUN that..."

so, for instance, in this construction ("what the drug's maker charges"), you can replace "what" with "the price that..."
Hi Ron,

Either I am misinterpreting you or misinterpreting OG...

but OG-12, Q50 option B explanation say that what cannot be used as relative pronoun instead of "that"...

Kindly tell what I am missing here...or in case I am misinterpreting you.

Thanks
Mohit
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Re: Hair-growth drug

by lunarpower » Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:55 pm
goelmohit2002 wrote:
lunarpower wrote:
in MOST cases of these kinds of constructions, in which "what" is a relative pronoun, you can replace it with "the NOUN that..."

so, for instance, in this construction ("what the drug's maker charges"), you can replace "what" with "the price that..."
Hi Ron,

Either I am misinterpreting you or misinterpreting OG...

but OG-12, Q50 option B explanation say that what cannot be used as relative pronoun instead of "that"...

Kindly tell what I am missing here...or in case I am misinterpreting you.

Thanks
Mohit
no, you're correct. you can't substitute "what" for "that".
but note that the meaning of "what" is, essentially, the same as "the NOUN that..."

i don't have a huge command of exact terminology (relative pronoun, etc.), so it's certainly possible that i may have misused the term "relative pronoun". apologies if that is the case.

in general, just make sure that you know the usage cited above for "what".
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

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by sukkhi » Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:34 am
Hi Ron,


in your explanation for "what" case you are ignoring "for another product" part....why so?

if i include this part it looks alright to say ..x times the price of what i pay for i5(another product).
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