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twice as fast as

by manihar.sidharth » Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:54 pm
Q) In the 1980's the rate of increase of the minority population of the United States was nearly twice as fast as the 1970's.
(A) twice as fast as
(B) twice as fast as it was in
(C) twice what it was in
(D) two times faster than that of
(E) two times greater than

OA after some discussion.
IMO without reason is not expected!!:)
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by ice_rush » Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:19 pm
IMO C. If it is the correct answer, maybe i can try explaining my choice.
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:56 pm
ice_rush wrote:IMO C. If it is the correct answer, maybe i can try explaining my choice.
That's what I'd go with as well. How'd you get there?
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by ice_rush » Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:47 pm
(A) wrong comparison - comparing the rate of increase with 1970's
(E) wrong comparison - the rate of increase can't be greater than 1970's
(D) we don't know what is faster than "THAT" -- I am guessing wrong comparison here as well.

so it came down between B and C. (B) sounds redundant (Wonder if there's another reason to strike off B). C is more concise and uses correct comparison.
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by vikram4689 » Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:59 pm
IMO C

Rate cannot be fast or faster, rate can be high (e.g.twice as high as in 1970's)
(A) twice as fast as
(B) twice as fast as it was in
(D) two times faster than that of

Comparison is correct as rate can be greater but E changes meaning
(Original meaning=> R of 1980 = 2*R of 1970 ; E says R of 1980 > 2*R of 1970 )
(E) two times greater than

CORRECT in every aspect
(C) twice what it was in
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by manihar.sidharth » Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:30 am
OA is C..Can you please explain now!!!
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by simone88 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:31 am
vikram4689 wrote: Comparison is correct as rate can be greater but E changes meaning
(Original meaning=> R of 1980 = 2*R of 1970 ; E says R of 1980 > 2*R of 1970 )
(E) two times greater than
While I do agree with you that rate cannot be fast or faster I don't agree that E is wrong for the reason you are saying.
two times greter does not mean >2* but means =2*
to me, the reason why it is wrong is that it should be "two times greater than the rate of increase in (otherwise you don't have a right comparison)
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by vikram4689 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:35 am
manihar.sidharth wrote:OA is C..Can you please explain now!!!
Please refer to my explanation above
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by vikram4689 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:41 am
simone88 wrote:
vikram4689 wrote: Comparison is correct as rate can be greater but E changes meaning
(Original meaning=> R of 1980 = 2*R of 1970 ; E says R of 1980 > 2*R of 1970 )
(E) two times greater than
While I do agree with you that rate cannot be fast or faster I don't agree that E is wrong for the reason you are saying.
two times greter does not mean >2* but means =2*
to me, the reason why it is wrong is that it should be "two times greater than the rate of increase in (otherwise you don't have a right comparison)
"two times greater than the rate of increase in... underlined part is elided(ellipses) as it is apparent

Two times greater does not mean (=2*). In fact, the precise definition is:
X = 2*Y ... X is 2 times Y
X = Y + 2*Y ... X is 2 times greater than Y

I hope this cleared your doubt
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by simone88 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:59 pm
vikram4689 wrote:
"two times greater than the rate of increase in... underlined part is elided(ellipses) as it is apparent

Two times greater does not mean (=2*). In fact, the precise definition is:
X = 2*Y ... X is 2 times Y
X = Y + 2*Y ... X is 2 times greater than Y

I hope this cleared your doubt
could some expert confirm this thesis? because I believe that two times greater means that =2* and not =3*
could some expert confirm also that "the rate of increase in" can be elited as ellipses?
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:06 pm
You run into that interpretation issue with percent changes as well, i.e "200% greater than..." I have two rules that I follow to make sure I interpret the question correctly:

1. X is Y times greater than Z (or X is Y percent greater than Z)

"Greater than" means we keep the original value, then add the change on top: "X is 200% greater than Y" should be translated as X = Y (original value) + 2Y (200% increase), and "X is 2 times greater than Y" should be translated as X = Y (original value) + 2Y (two times Y).

2. X is Y times Z (or X is Y percent of Z)

"Times" and "percent of" mean that we simply need to do the multiplication. "X is 200% of Y" should be translated as X=2Y, and "X is 2 times Y" should be translated as X=2Y.
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by simone88 » Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:26 pm
thanks. I didn't know that because in italian the statement "2 times grater than" means just 2*
What about the possibility to elide the rate of increase in vikram4689 was talking about?
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