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
OA is B
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Hello Experts,
My questions are
1) is OA uses summative modifier?
IF yes, then shouldn't it be
,a proportion greater than blah blah
2) What is the ellipses in OA?
is it proportion?
Thanks in anticipation Experts
Is it summative modifier? what is the Ellipses in OA ?
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1. Yes, in the correct answer (option B) the phrase a greater proportion than in any previous election is a summative modifier. It sums up and describes the previous information about the television costs and what they accounted for: more than half the spending.
2. It could be argued that there is an ellipsis in option B, but my own sense of it is that there is not one. A summative modifier acts adjectivally or adverbially to describe the information before it: thus, a greater proportion than in any previous election is a complete and sufficient descriptive summation of more than half the spending. If you wanted to force a kind of greater specificity into this modifier, you could say, I suppose, that the words of the spending (before THAN) and the proportion (after THAN) represent an ellipsis because they could be inserted into the sentence.
Nevertheless, I don't really see the point of worrying about this matter: the thing you need to see is that option B has no errors of grammar, idiom, or diction, and above all that it makes sense just as it is written.
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2. It could be argued that there is an ellipsis in option B, but my own sense of it is that there is not one. A summative modifier acts adjectivally or adverbially to describe the information before it: thus, a greater proportion than in any previous election is a complete and sufficient descriptive summation of more than half the spending. If you wanted to force a kind of greater specificity into this modifier, you could say, I suppose, that the words of the spending (before THAN) and the proportion (after THAN) represent an ellipsis because they could be inserted into the sentence.
Nevertheless, I don't really see the point of worrying about this matter: the thing you need to see is that option B has no errors of grammar, idiom, or diction, and above all that it makes sense just as it is written.
If you like this post, please click on the THANK icon.
Try our online GMAT prep
Last edited by fabiocafarelli on Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.
As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
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