alex.gellatly wrote:In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to
about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than
those of the 1978 harvest.
(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest
(B) less than the 1978 harvest
(C) less than 1978
(D) fewer than 1978
(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest
In this one we are comparing India's rice production in 1978 to India's rice production in 1978.
With that in mind let's look at the options.
In 1979 lack of rain reduced
India's rice production to
about 41 million tons, nearly
25 percent less than
those of the 1978 harvest.
We need to pay attention to bold-ed phrases above.
(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest
The antecedent is "India's rice production". Production is a singular noun. Hence those is wrong. Subject-Pronoun verb error.No.
(B) less than the 1978 harvest
This is correct. The 1978 harvest is singular and parallel to "rice production" (which means the same as harvest here)
(C) less than 1978
Here we are comparing 1978 to India's rice production. This is an illogical comparison. No.
(D) fewer than 1978
25% is an amount and not a countable number. Wrong choice of comparative. Also we can't compare 1978 to production. Illogical comparison.No.
(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest
This one corrects the comparison error but uses the wrong comparative because it uses fewer rather than less. No.
Hence
B is correct.
