MGMAT SC

IMO 'C'

kvcpk wrote:A recent study of the United States tort system indicates that in 2004, accident, product-liability, and other tort costs totaled $260 billion, twice as many as 1990.

A. twice as many as 1990
B. twice as much as 1990
C. twice the amount spent in 1990
D. a number double those of 1990’s
E. a number double that of 1990’s

Please Explain your choice.

IMO C

herez an excerpt from RON

if you see "a NOUN X times greater/more than...", this comparison should be completed by another NOUN". it is NOT OK to have a clause here.
e.g.,
i saw a dog twice as large as my friend's Newfoundland.

BUT
if you see "X times as many/much NOUN as...", this comparison can be completed in a variety of ways; the overarching principle is that the context must make sense.
e.g.,
i have twice as many dogs as does my friend --> completed with a clause
i have twice as many dogs as cats --> noun compared to object, no ambiguity
i have twice as many dogs as my friend --> noun compared to subject, no ambiguity

it's complicated.

The above question falls under "a NOUN X times greater/more than..." category.. so its should be completed by a noun, which is amount as stated in option C

HTH!!

imo D.
The use of 'spent' in C means it was a deliberate spending.

"those of 1990’s" of-preposition with a possessive is redundant, and I believe double possessive is always wrong in GMAT.

Will go with 'C'.

kvcpk wrote:A recent study of the United States tort system indicates that in 2004, accident, product-liability, and other tort costs totaled $260 billion, twice as many as 1990.

A. twice as many as 1990
B. twice as much as 1990
C. twice the amount spent in 1990
D. a number double those of 1990’s
E. a number double that of 1990’s

Please Explain your choice.

My 2 cents : Look for parallelism in the prepositional phrase : ... in 2004 " .......... " in 1990"

Pick C, twice the amount spent in 1990 is a modifier modifying " $260 billion".

Thanks everyone for your inputs.
OA is C.

Would the following options also be correct?

1. twice that of 1990
2. twice that spent in 1990

Please advice,

Cheers

1. twice that of 1990
2. twice that spent in 1990

IMO
that can be replaced by noun hence first one is correct i.e twice the cost in 1990.
Doubt if 2nd one is correct the word "spent" is not required.