Sentence Correction

For the last five years the Dutch economy has grown faster than Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained well below that of the other three countries.

A. Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained

B. have those of Britain, France, or Germany, and the unemployment rate remaining

C. have Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained

D. the economy of Britain, France, and Germany, with the unemployment rate that has remained

E. the economies of Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained
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IMO E

IMO E

IMO E

IMO:E

IMO E

Why not B?

IMO E

stubbornp wrote:Why not B?

Can't be 'B' because the we need the word 'and' between the countries.

e.g. I run faster than Joe, Mike AND James. (it should not be 'or').

Hope this helps.

kindly oblige my question; am a non-native, but I want to learn more.

In the above question, comparison is done as follows:
first part: Dutch economy to the economies of B, F, and G;
2nd part: Dutch unemployment rate to THAT of the other 3 countries.

Is it correct to make the comparison as:
first part: Dutch economy to THAT of B, F, and G;
2nd part: Dutch unemployment rate to THOSE of the other 3 countries
(after all, economy was compared to economies in the first part)

Thanks as i look forward to expert opinion.

gmatdriller wrote:kindly oblige my question; am a non-native, but I want to learn more.

In the above question, comparison is done as follows:
first part: Dutch economy to the economies of B, F, and G;
2nd part: Dutch unemployment rate to THAT of the other 3 countries.

Is it correct to make the comparison as:
first part: Dutch economy to THAT of B, F, and G;
2nd part: Dutch unemployment rate to THOSE of the other 3 countries
(after all, economy was compared to economies in the first part)

Thanks as i look forward to expert opinion.

1st part: Dutch economy to THOSE of B, F, and G;
2nd part: Dutch unemployment rate to THOSE of the other 3 countries

B,F and G make a compound noun, so THAT (singular) cannot be used here.
Your assessment of 2nd part is correct.
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As to the analysis of the stated question -
A - The Dutch economy has been incorrectly compared to the countries Britain, France and Germany.

B - than is used to compare two noun phrases, use of verb have disturbs the noun phrase those those of B, F and G.
E.g. - Tom has more money than Bob - Correct
Tom has more money than has Bob - Incorrect.

And can be use to join two independent clauses. Here unemployment rate remaining well below that of the other three countries. is a just a noun followed by a participle phrase.

C - Similar error to B in the use of have.

D - B, F and G make a compound noun. So economy must agree in number to the compound noun. Thus it should be written as economies of B, F and G

Use of with is not right as it is incorrectly modifying Dutch economy. With means accompanied by.
So this sentence would mean - The Dutch economy has grown faster than those of B, F and G accompanied by the unemployment rate that has remained... Dutch economy is accompanied by unemployment rate? Not really.

E - Correct. All errors removed.

However, I have an issue in the non underlined portion here. use of that in well below that of the other three countries. looks wrong. other three countries is plural, so the correct pronoun should be those.

What is the source of this question?

niksworth wrote: However, I have an issue in the non underlined portion here. use of that in well below that of the other three countries. looks wrong. other three countries is plural, so the correct pronoun should be those.

Usage of that here is correct because


Employment rate in country x is compared with employment rate in Z (Z here is our complex noun - B, F and G)

mohit11 wrote:

niksworth wrote: However, I have an issue in the non underlined portion here. use of that in well below that of the other three countries. looks wrong. other three countries is plural, so the correct pronoun should be those.

Usage of that here is correct because


Employment rate in country x is compared with employment rate in Z (Z here is our complex noun - B, F and G)

Isn't Z plural here?

annakool1009 wrote:For the last five years the Dutch economy has grown faster than Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained well below that of the other three countries.

A. Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained

B. have those of Britain, France, or Germany, and the unemployment rate remaining

C. have Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained

D. the economy of Britain, France, and Germany, with the unemployment rate that has remained

E. the economies of Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained
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I do not see any big issue with D.

E is changing the meaning here. The sentence presents the 2 ideas that are correlated. E says that both the ideas are separate.

Source: GMATPREP