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An exceptionally literate people,

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An exceptionally literate people,

by aditya8062 » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:47 am
An exceptionally literate people, more Icelanders publish books per capita than do the people of any other nation.
A. more Icelanders publish books per capita than do the people of
B. more Icelandic books are published by Icelanders per capita than by the people of
C. Icelanders publish more books per capita than do the people of
D. Iceland's per capita publication of books is higher than that by
E. the per capita publication of Icelandic books is higher than that in


my concern 1 : i agree that C is the right answer here but what concerns me is the fact that the meaning of A is not wrong enough to reject it. it is possible that "more Icelanders" publish books than do "other people". is it that A is grammatically wrong? what can be the best reason to eliminate A?
concern 2 : also is it wrong if "more Icelanders" instead of "Icelanders" gets modified by "An exceptionally literate people"
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by tanvis1120 » Tue Aug 05, 2014 3:52 pm
aditya8062 wrote:An exceptionally literate people, more Icelanders publish books per capita than do the people of any other nation.
A. more Icelanders publish books per capita than do the people of
B. more Icelandic books are published by Icelanders per capita than by the people of
C. Icelanders publish more books per capita than do the people of
D. Iceland's per capita publication of books is higher than that by
E. the per capita publication of Icelandic books is higher than that in


my concern 1 : i agree that C is the right answer here but what concerns me is the fact that the meaning of A is not wrong enough to reject it. it is possible that "more Icelanders" publish books than do "other people". is it that A is grammatically wrong? what can be the best reason to eliminate A?
concern 2 : also is it wrong if "more Icelanders" instead of "Icelanders" gets modified by "An exceptionally literate people"
Thanks and regards

Hi Aditya,

The correct option in C.
Explanation:
"An exceptionally literate people" here refers to the Icelanders, and not their "books", "more books" or "more icelanders". The option C correctly places the modifier just beside Icelanders. It also correctly conveys the meaning that the target sentence is meant to do (Icelanders publish "more books" and not "more Icelanders" publish books).
Hope this helps !
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Aug 07, 2014 7:52 am
aditya8062 wrote:An exceptionally literate people, more Icelanders publish books per capita than do the people of any other nation.
A. more Icelanders publish books per capita than do the people of
B. more Icelandic books are published by Icelanders per capita than by the people of
C. Icelanders publish more books per capita than do the people of
D. Iceland's per capita publication of books is higher than that by
E. the per capita publication of Icelandic books is higher than that in


my concern 1 : i agree that C is the right answer here but what concerns me is the fact that the meaning of A is not wrong enough to reject it. it is possible that "more Icelanders" publish books than do "other people". is it that A is grammatically wrong? what can be the best reason to eliminate A?
concern 2 : also is it wrong if "more Icelanders" instead of "Icelanders" gets modified by "An exceptionally literate people"
Thanks and regards
A: An exceptionally literate people, more Icelanders publish books per capita than do the people of any other nation.

Error 1:
In A, an exceptionally literate people serves to modify more Icelanders.
The implication is that MORE ICELANDERS constitute A PEOPLE.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Whereas more Icelanders refers to a NUMBER of Icelanders (10 Icelanders, 100 Icelanders, etc.), a people refers to an ENTIRE NATION.
Thus, A implies that a NUMBER of Icelanders constitute an ENTIRE NATION.
Not the intended meaning.

Error 2:
books PER CAPITA means (total number of books)/(total population).
This phrase cannot serve to refer to more Icelanders, which -- as noted above -- implies a NUMBER of Icelanders.
Rather, per capita must refer to the entire NATION of Icelanders, as in the OA:
Icelanders publish more books per capita.
Here, Icelanders refers to the entire population.

Error 3:
More Icelanders publish...than do the people of any other nation.
This comparison is illogical.
Whereas more Icelanders refers to a NUMBER of Icelanders, the people refers to an entire NATION of people.
A NUMBER cannot be compared to a NATION.
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