LIKE VS AS and "IT"

Question

There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels; more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990.

A. generated through wind power now than it was
B. generated through wind power now as it was
C. generated through wind power now as was the case
D. now generated through wind power as it was
E. now generated through wind power than was the case

OA C

what is the difference in meaning in B and D with the placement of now and what is wrong with D?

hemant_rajput · Answer

prat_agl wrote:There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels; more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990.

A. generated through wind power now than it was
B. generated through wind power now as it was
C. generated through wind power now as was the case
D. now generated through wind power as it was
E. now generated through wind power than was the case

OA C

what is the difference in meaning in B and D with the placement of now and what is wrong with D?

I don't have any explanation but when i choose the option I choose C because it feels right to me.

GMATGuruNY · Answer

prat_agl wrote:There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels; more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990.

A. generated through wind power now than it was
B. generated through wind power now as it was
C. generated through wind power now as was the case
D. now generated through wind power as it was
E. now generated through wind power than was the case

OA C

what is the difference in meaning in B and D with the placement of now and what is wrong with D?

In A and E, as much...THAN is unidiomatic.
The correct idiom is as much X AS Y.
Eliminate A and E.

In B and D, it (subject pronoun) seems to refer to more than ten times (the preceding subject).
The result is a nonsensical comparison:
MORE THAN TEN TIMES is generated now as MORE THAN TEN TIMES was [generated] in 1990.
Eliminate B and D.

The correct answer is C.

In the OA, the placement of now is parallel with the placement of in 1990:
More than ten times is generated through wind power NOW as was the case IN 1990.

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prat_agl · Answer

Thanks GMATGuruNY. Can you please explain the difference in meaning in B and D if we ignore the IT construction.

ceilidh.erickson · Answer

Aside from the "it" construction, there is no difference in meaning between B and D. The only distinction is the placement of "now." Sometimes when modifiers move, it changes the meaning of the sentence, by changing what's modified. In this case, though, moving the modifier "now" makes no difference:
... generated (through wind power) now...
... now generated (through wind power)....

An adverbial modifier can be placed before the verb, after the verb, or after the entire clause, and the meaning is the same. This is just a red herring split.

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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