Sentence Correction

According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it.

A. than
B. than born
C. than they were
D. than there had been
E. than had been born

OA:A

Here we are comparing ages --- over 30 and below 30 --- Also IT refers to 30

A. than ---- correct comparision --- more babies were born to women (over 30 than under 30) --- meaning is clear
B. than born ---- to maintain parallesism --- than were born to women under 30----- would be correct.
C. than they were --- not parallel --- than they were under it (is wrong)
D. than there had been --- not parallel ---- wrong use of past perfect
E. than had been born -- incorrect comparison --- had been is wrong --- we are not refering to one event in past that has ocured before another past event ----- both events in the past

this example tests you on parallelism.

"than" requires parallelism. Also, note that "it" refers to "age of thirty".

"more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it." - Note that for parallelism, we start from right to left. See what is parallel to "under it" on the Left hand side of "than".

A maintains parallelism and hence is the correct answer. Since the sentence maintains parallelism what is implied here -
More babies were born to women over the age of thirty than [babies were born to women] under it.

B - Incorrect answer.
Answer option does not maintain parallelism. let us look at parallelism -
"more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than born under it.

Not perfectly parallel. "to women" is missing in RHS.
This answer option nonsensically implies that "[babies were] born under age of thirty".

C - Incorrect answer.

"more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than they were under it.". - two clauses are in parallel; however, "to women" is omitted. this changes the meaning of the sentence.

this sentence implies that babies were born under age of 30. - Illogical.

D - Incorrect.
Usage of past perfect is incorrect. We are referring to a specific time period - 1998.
Also, this option changes the meaning of the sentence.

E - Incorrect.
Usage of past perfect is incorrect. We are referring to a specific time period - 1998.
Changes the meaning of the sentence (like option B) -
"more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than had been born under it.

Not perfectly parallel. "to women" is missing in RHS.
This answer option nonsensically implies that "babies had been born under age of thirty".