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comparison: "a greater proportion than it was"

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comparison: "a greater proportion than it was"

by clawhammer » Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:55 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

Can someone explain why A ('it was') is wrong?
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by ronaldramlan » Sat Dec 04, 2010 8:39 am
A is incorrect because the pronoun "it" does not have a clear antecedent. What the sentence is trying to say is, the proportion of television costs in the presidential campaign of 1992 is greater than (that) in any previous election. Thus, choice B is correct.
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by nazar7ft » Sat Dec 04, 2010 8:48 am
clawhammer wrote: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

Can someone explain why A ('it was') is wrong?
General:

If you find any pronoun that has more than one potential antecedents, you should eliminate it. This type of pronouns are ambiguous.

Specific:

It MUST have a singular antecedent. There are two singular nouns: "spending" and "campaign". If you replace "it" with either of these, you find the followings:

A greater proportion than spending was....
A greater proportion than the campaign was....

So, there are two potential antecedents of "it"; therefore, it is ambiguous. We should eliminate it.

Thanks.
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by clawhammer » Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:10 pm
Thanks all! I was just thinking, since it already states "a greater proportion", is it still ambiguous?
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by vietmoi999 » Fri Feb 28, 2014 8:58 pm
clawhammer wrote: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

Can someone explain why A ('it was') is wrong?
I agree B is best

but I do not understand the full version of B. Please, make full choice B. (of course, B is an ellipsis)

pls, help. Thank
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by vietmoi999 » Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:14 am
very hard one.
I agree B is best.

B is an ellipsis. and I want to make B full. I do not understand the latter half of comparison in B.
If anyone in this gmat forum is in England, pls email to me([email protected]) . I have some problems and need your advise. Thank a lot
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