Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than a similar period a year earlier.
A. a similar period
B. a similar period's
C. in a similar period
D. that in a similar period
E. that of a similar period
C
OG Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers
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I received a PM requesting that I explain the error in D.AbeNeedsAnswers wrote:Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than a similar period a year earlier.
A. a similar period
B. a similar period's
C. in a similar period
D. that in a similar period
E. that of a similar period
C
In D, that seems to stand in for the circulation, as follows:
D: Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than the circulation in a similar period a year earlier.
Here, the phrase in blue refers to the sales figures for each newspaper:
Newspaper A = 1,000,000 copies.
Newspaper B = 900,000 copies.
Newspaper C = 875,000 copies.
But the phrase in red -- THE circulation -- implies that a year earlier ONE SPECIFIC CIRCULATION was shared by all of the newspapers.
It is illogical to compare the different sales figures for each newspaper to one specific circulation.
Eliminate D.
The OA implies the following:
Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than [they had circulation] in a similar period a year earlier.
Here, the words in brackets are omitted but implied.
The result is a logical comparison: the sales figures for each newspaper from October 1995 through March 1996 are compared to the sales figures for each newspaper in a similar period a year earlier.
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Thanks for responding to my PM Mitch.
Had a quick follow up question. Why can't D be interpreted as:
Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than (most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had) that in a similar period a year earlier.
Here, the portion in blue is the elliptical part.
So, this does seem to be comparing how much most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had:
i) circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996
ii) circulation in a similar period a year earlier
Appreciate, as always.
Had a quick follow up question. Why can't D be interpreted as:
Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than (most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had) that in a similar period a year earlier.
Here, the portion in blue is the elliptical part.
So, this does seem to be comparing how much most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had:
i) circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996
ii) circulation in a similar period a year earlier
Appreciate, as always.
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Note the following:iongmat wrote:Thanks for responding to my PM Mitch.
Had a quick follow up question. Why can't D be interpreted as:
Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than (most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had) that in a similar period a year earlier.
Here, the portion in blue is the elliptical part.
So, this does seem to be comparing how much most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had:
i) circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996
ii) circulation in a similar period a year earlier
Appreciate, as always.
that cannot stand in for circulation IN GENERAL.
It must stand in for ONE SPECIFIC CIRCULATION.
Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had that in a similar period a year earlier.
Here -- because the comparison is illogical -- the referent for that is unclear.
The implied comparison seems to be as follows:
Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than THE circulation in a similar period a year earlier.
As noted in my post above, the phrase in blue refers to the sales figures for each newspaper:
Newspaper A = 1,000,000 copies.
Newspaper B = 900,000 copies.
Newspaper C = 875,000 copies.
But the phrase in red -- THE circulation -- implies that a year earlier ONE SPECIFIC CIRCULATION was shared by all of the newspapers.
It is illogical to compare the different sales figures for each newspaper to one specific circulation.
As a result, the sentence is incomprehensible.
Generally, SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE should not be followed that or those.
Incorrect: The company had higher profits in 1990 than those in 1980.
Correct: The company had higher profits in 1990 than in 1980.
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Hi Mitch, I came across the following:
In addition to having more protein than wheat does, rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat, with more of the amino acids essential to the human diet.
This seems to have the structure
SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE, but is followed by that.
Appreciate your response.
In addition to having more protein than wheat does, rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat, with more of the amino acids essential to the human diet.
This seems to have the structure
SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE, but is followed by that.
Appreciate your response.
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Rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat.iongmat wrote:Hi Mitch, I came across the following:
In addition to having more protein than wheat does, rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat, with more of the amino acids essential to the human diet.
This seems to have the structure
SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE, but is followed by that.
Appreciate your response.
Here, has is followed not by a comparative but a NOUN (protein).
Thus, the rule in my post above does not apply.
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ok. So, the sentence is:
Rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat.
Instead of this, if the sentence had been:
Rice has higher quality protein than that in wheat.
Then the sentence would be incorrect. Is my understanding right?
This is really proving to be quite confusing.
Rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat.
Instead of this, if the sentence had been:
Rice has higher quality protein than that in wheat.
Then the sentence would be incorrect. Is my understanding right?
This is really proving to be quite confusing.
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Your understanding is correct.iongmat wrote:ok. So, the sentence is:
Rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat.
Instead of this, if the sentence had been:
Rice has higher quality protein than that in wheat.
Then the sentence would be incorrect. Is my understanding right?
This is really proving to be quite confusing.
Generally, COMPARATIVE + than serves to compare one clause to another, even if portions of the clauses are omitted but implied.
Rice has protein of higher quality than that in wheat.
Here, the following comparison is implied:
Rice has protein [that is] of higher quality than the protein in wheat [is of high quality].
The implied clause in blue is compared to the implied clause in red.
The two implied usages of is serve to compare the state-of-being of the first protein to the state-of-being of the second protein.
In short:
Each protein IS of a particular level of quality.
Rice has higher quality protein than that in wheat.
Here, no action or state-of-being is attributed to the two phrases in red.
Since it is unclear what clauses are being compared, the sentence is not viable.
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Dear MitchGMATGuruNY wrote: Generally, SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE should not be followed that or those.
Incorrect: The company had higher profits in 1990 than those in 1980.
Correct: The company had higher profits in 1990 than in 1980.
In your example above: Why 'those' is wrong? is the meaning clear as follows:
The company had higher profits in 1990 than the company had profits in 1980.
or
The company had higher profits in 1990 than profits in 1980 that the company had
If both meanings are incorrect, what is the correct meaning here?
Thanks
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This is the comparison conveyed by the green sentence above.Mo2men wrote:Dear MitchGMATGuruNY wrote: Generally, SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE should not be followed that or those.
Incorrect:
The company had higher profits in 1990 than those in 1980.
Correct:
The company had higher profits in 1990 than in 1980.
In your example above: Why 'those' is wrong? is the meaning clear as follows:
The company had higher profits in 1990 than the company had profits in 1980.
Here, each blue portion has a subject (the company) and a verb (had) and thus constitutes a clause.
The result is a logical comparison.
This is the comparison implied by the incorrect red sentence above.or
The company had higher profits in 1990 than profits in 1980 that the company had
The first blue portion has a subject (the company) and a verb (had) and thus constitutes a CLAUSE.
The second blue portion has a noun phrase (profits in 1980) and a that-modifier (that the company had) but no main verb and thus does NOT constitute a clause.
The result is an illogical comparison.
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Dear GMATGuru,GMATGuruNY wrote:This is the comparison conveyed by the green sentence above.Mo2men wrote:Dear MitchGMATGuruNY wrote: Generally, SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE should not be followed that or those.
Incorrect:
The company had higher profits in 1990 than those in 1980.
Correct:
The company had higher profits in 1990 than in 1980.
In your example above: Why 'those' is wrong? is the meaning clear as follows:
The company had higher profits in 1990 than the company had profits in 1980.
Here, each blue portion has a subject (the company) and a verb (had) and thus constitutes a clause.
The result is a logical comparison.
1- Which is true to construct the following sentence:
A : The profits of my company are HIGHER than THOSE of any other company in the region [ARE].
B: The profits of my company are MORE than THOSE of any other company in the region [ARE].
Here, profits are plural so it seems countable like cars, chairs..etc but it makes no sense consider countable. So we should use HIGHER to mean an AMOUNT of profits.
2- Regarding the rule : SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE should not be followed that or those
The following follows the structure above but it has no meaning:
The Pacific Ocean has a greater depth than any other ocean.
Is it correct to re-write?
The Pacific Ocean has a greater depth than THAT of any other ocean. ..............here THAT refers to depth.
if true, What are the CLAUSES being compared?
3- Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than in a similar period a year earlier.
Why 'lower' is used instead of 'less'?
Your thoughts is highly appreciated
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Plural terms such as profits, revenues, costs, etc. refer to NUMERICAL VALUES.Mo2men wrote:Dear GMATGuru,
1- Which is true to construct the following sentence:
A : The profits of my company are HIGHER than THOSE of any other company in the region [ARE].
B: The profits of my company are MORE than THOSE of any other company in the region [ARE].
Here, profits are plural so it seems countable like cars, chairs..etc but it makes no sense consider countable. So we should use HIGHER to mean an AMOUNT of profits.
When comparing plural terms that refer to numerical values, we generally do not use more but instead use -ER comparatives such as higher, lower, greater, etc.
Thus, the blue sentence above is correct; the red sentence is not.
The sentence above is not incorrect, but the intended meaning can be expressed more directly as follows:2- Regarding the rule : SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE should not be followed that or those
The following follows the structure above but has no meaning:
The Pacific Ocean has a greater depth than any other ocean.
The Pacific Ocean is deeper than any other ocean.
The sentence above is incorrect.Is it correct to re-write?
The Pacific Ocean has a greater depth than THAT of any other ocean.[..............here THAT refers to depth.
if true, What are the CLAUSES being compared?
As noted in my earlier post:
SUBJECT + FORM OF TO HAVE + COMPARATIVE should not be followed that or those.
Here, circulation refers to a numerical value: the number of copies sold.3- Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than in a similar period a year earlier.
Why 'lower' is used instead of 'less'?
Your thoughts is highly appreciated
For a numerical value, an -ER comparative such as lower is appropriate.
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this is one more terrible comparison question. I am confused between choice c and d.AbeNeedsAnswers wrote:Most of the country's biggest daily newspapers had lower circulation in the six months from October 1995 through March 1996 than a similar period a year earlier.
A. a similar period
B. a similar period's
C. in a similar period
D. that in a similar period
E. that of a similar period
C
possibly, we should remember one pattern of comparison in which "that/those" is not necessary.
I want to say something of choice d.
"that in a similar period a year earlier". if we write this way, "in a similar period a year earlier " modifies "that", which is "circulation" and, so, works as adjective. but in the preceding part of comparison, " in the six month...." work as an adverb. this is not parallel and, so, will make illogical meaning.
so, the sentence is
most daily newspaper had lower circulation in this period than the circulation in latter period had lowe circulation.
to make logic comparison, the 2 corresponding elements must be of the same grammatical role in the 2 clauses . this is to make logic parallelism and comparison.
choice d change the phrase "in the similar period" into adjective phrase and make unparalleled illogical comparison.
so, in this case, "that/those" destroy logical comparison and should be cut off.
am i correct?