Parallelism - use of "has" for comparison

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Q- The release of Oliver Stone's JFK and the publication of several new books sparked renewed interest in the Kennedy assassination, which have been subjected to more conspiracy theories than any other event in American history.

Correct answer as per solution sheet: "which has been the subject of more conspiracy theories than"

My question: Shouldn't there be a "HAS" after "Than" for a reasonable comparison?
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by Mike@Magoosh » Thu Dec 26, 2013 9:00 am
Mustcrackgmat wrote:Q- The release of Oliver Stone's JFK and the publication of several new books sparked renewed interest in the Kennedy assassination, which have been subjected to more conspiracy theories than any other event in American history.

Correct answer as per solution sheet: "which has been the subject of more conspiracy theories than"

My question: Shouldn't there be a "HAS" after "Than" for a reasonable comparison?
Dear Mustcrackgmat,
I'm happy to help. :-)

The answer to your question is: No. We don't need a "has" or "have" after the word "than". The reason is: we are allowed to dropped understood words in parallel. See this post for more explanation:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/category/verbal ... rallelism/

Let me know if you have any further questions.
Mike :-)
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
https://gmat.magoosh.com/

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:45 am
Mustcrackgmat wrote:Q- The release of Oliver Stone's JFK and the publication of several new books sparked renewed interest in the Kennedy assassination, which have been subjected to more conspiracy theories than any other event in American history.

Correct answer as per solution sheet: "which has been the subject of more conspiracy theories than"

My question: Shouldn't there be a "HAS" after "Than" for a reasonable comparison?
A helping verb such as has can be omitted if its presence is clearly understood and the comparison allows for only one reasonable interpretation.
The Kennedy assassination has been the subject of more conspiracy theories than any other event in American history.
Here, only one interpretation is reasonable:
The Kennedy assassination has been the subject of more conspiracy theories than any other event in American history [has been the subject of conspiracy theories].

Alan has given more cookies to Bob than Carol.
Here, two interpretations are reasonable:
Case 1: Alan has given more cookies to Bob than Carol [has given to Bob].
Case 2: Alan has given more cookies to Bob than [he has given to] Carol.
If the intended comparison is Case 1, adding has will make the meaning clear:
Alan has given more cookies to Bob than Carol HAS.
If the intended comparison is Case 2, adding to will make the meaning clear:
Alan has given more cookies to Bob than TO Carol.
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