Sentence Correction

In 1998, there were 3.2 million public school students who were not proficient in English in the USA, almost twice as many as 1990.
(1)almost twice as many as
(2)almost twice as many as in
(3)almost twice as many as there were in
(4)nearly twice as many as in
(5)about twice as many as there were in

OA : after some discussion
Source : master Gmat free CAT

"........, twice as many as ......" is an appositive modifier.

B and C are contender

I opt for B but not sure

almost twice as many as 1990 = 2 x 1990 ~= 3880

IMO C

Yup I would also go with option C

+1 for C

I don't see any difference between B & C.

B uses an ellipsis and C doesn't.

(2)almost twice as many as [there were] in
(3)almost twice as many as there were in

I'll go with B for concision...

What is the difference between B and D?

Please explain.

Thanks.

IMO: C

what is OA? please anyone clarify the difference in B and C

OA is C