Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise most actively have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary.
(A) have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
(B) have half the chance, or less, of dying of a heart attack than those who are sedentary do
(C) have half the chance that they will die of a heart attack, or less, than those who are sedentary do
(D) are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
(E) are at least fifty percent less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack
OA: E
can someone explain this one?
thank you!
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amysky_0205
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HerrGrau
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Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise most actively have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary.
(A) have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
This is awkward and non-standard. Should be less than half the chance
(B) have half the chance, or less, of dying of a heart attack than those who are sedentary do
This is awkward and non-standard. Should be less than half the chance. The "do" is not parallel. It should be parallel with the have from the first half of the sentence.
(C) have half the chance that they will die of a heart attack, or less, than those who are sedentary do
The meaning is different. And there is also the parallelism issue.
(D) are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
Improper comparison - It should be Person X is at least 50% less likely than person Y to die of Z.
Not Person X is at least 50% less likely to die of a heart attack than Person Y. This one sounds like person Y is another disease that person x could die of.
(E) are at least fifty percent less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack
Correct
I hope this helps!
HG.
(A) have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
This is awkward and non-standard. Should be less than half the chance
(B) have half the chance, or less, of dying of a heart attack than those who are sedentary do
This is awkward and non-standard. Should be less than half the chance. The "do" is not parallel. It should be parallel with the have from the first half of the sentence.
(C) have half the chance that they will die of a heart attack, or less, than those who are sedentary do
The meaning is different. And there is also the parallelism issue.
(D) are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
Improper comparison - It should be Person X is at least 50% less likely than person Y to die of Z.
Not Person X is at least 50% less likely to die of a heart attack than Person Y. This one sounds like person Y is another disease that person x could die of.
(E) are at least fifty percent less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack
Correct
I hope this helps!
HG.
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insanejuxtapose
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E changes the meaning, it says people who are sedentary to die of a heart attack but does not clearly refer to the coronary patients who exercise.
I would probably go with D. Though 'as' does not sound right to me but would think it is the best of the options available. Experts please comment.
I would probably go with D. Though 'as' does not sound right to me but would think it is the best of the options available. Experts please comment.
HerrGrau wrote:Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise most actively have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary.
(A) have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
This is awkward and non-standard. Should be less than half the chance
(B) have half the chance, or less, of dying of a heart attack than those who are sedentary do
This is awkward and non-standard. Should be less than half the chance. The "do" is not parallel. It should be parallel with the have from the first half of the sentence.
(C) have half the chance that they will die of a heart attack, or less, than those who are sedentary do
The meaning is different. And there is also the parallelism issue.
(D) are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
Improper comparison - It should be Person X is at least 50% less likely than person Y to die of Z.
Not Person X is at least 50% less likely to die of a heart attack than Person Y. This one sounds like person Y is another disease that person x could die of.
(E) are at least fifty percent less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack
Correct
I hope this helps!
HG.
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Tommy Wallach
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Hey Guys,
HerrGrau did a pretty good job with this one, but just to mention a few other quick things.
The only way I can think of correctly using "half" in a comparison, as many of these answer choices do, is to use "that":
"I have less than half the chance of dying that you do."
(A) Even ignoring the "half or less than half" thing, we have:
"I have half the chance of dying of a heart attack as you."
We could possibly get away with: "I have half as much of a chance of dying of a heart attack as you do." That would be the "as...as..." comparison. But a single "as" won't cut it.
(B) Actually, there is no parallelism issue here. "I have half as much money as you do." That sentence is totally parallel. The "do" at the end of this sentence is attempting to create that parallelism. Unfortunately, this answer choice still makes many of the same mistakes as (A). Also, it incorrectly uses "than" instead of "as". "Than" can only be used with comparative words, such as "more" "less" "stronger" "smarter" etc.
(C) Makes the "than" mistake again.
(D) This answer uses "as" when it needed "than". This is because we have the comparative "less".
(E) Wins!
Hope that helps!
-t
HerrGrau did a pretty good job with this one, but just to mention a few other quick things.
The only way I can think of correctly using "half" in a comparison, as many of these answer choices do, is to use "that":
"I have less than half the chance of dying that you do."
(A) Even ignoring the "half or less than half" thing, we have:
"I have half the chance of dying of a heart attack as you."
We could possibly get away with: "I have half as much of a chance of dying of a heart attack as you do." That would be the "as...as..." comparison. But a single "as" won't cut it.
(B) Actually, there is no parallelism issue here. "I have half as much money as you do." That sentence is totally parallel. The "do" at the end of this sentence is attempting to create that parallelism. Unfortunately, this answer choice still makes many of the same mistakes as (A). Also, it incorrectly uses "than" instead of "as". "Than" can only be used with comparative words, such as "more" "less" "stronger" "smarter" etc.
(C) Makes the "than" mistake again.
(D) This answer uses "as" when it needed "than". This is because we have the comparative "less".
(E) Wins!
Hope that helps!
-t
Tommy Wallach, Company Expert
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