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A small error?

by nubu » Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:15 am
Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year
than last because refiners are paying about $5 a
barrel more for crude oil than they were last year.

(A) Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this
year than last because refiners are paying about
$5 a barrel more for crude oil than they were
(B) Heating-oil prices are expected to rise higher
this year over last because refiners pay about
$5 a barrel for crude oil more than they did
(C) Expectations are for heating-oil prices to be
higher this year than last year's because refiners
are paying about $5 a barrel for crude oil more
than they did
(D) It is the expectation that heating-oil prices will be
higher for this year over last because refiners
are paying about $5 a barrel more for crude oil
now than what they were
(E) It is expected that heating-oil prices will rise
higher this year than last year's because refiners
pay about $5 a barrel for crude oil more than
they did

OA A. The question is in OG 12. It is not hard so I show the OA and go to my point directly. in (A) ... "higher this year than last" is wrong, isn't it? It should be "higher this year than last year", right?

thanks
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by stormier » Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:40 am
nubu wrote:Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year
than last because refiners are paying about $5 a
barrel more for crude oil than they were last year.

(A) Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this
year than last because refiners are paying about
$5 a barrel more for crude oil than they were
(B) Heating-oil prices are expected to rise higher
this year over last because refiners pay about
$5 a barrel for crude oil more than they did
(C) Expectations are for heating-oil prices to be
higher this year than last year's because refiners
are paying about $5 a barrel for crude oil more
than they did
(D) It is the expectation that heating-oil prices will be
higher for this year over last because refiners
are paying about $5 a barrel more for crude oil
now than what they were
(E) It is expected that heating-oil prices will rise
higher this year than last year's because refiners
pay about $5 a barrel for crude oil more than
they did

OA A. The question is in OG 12. It is not hard so I show the OA and go to my point directly. in (A) ... "higher this year than last" is wrong, isn't it? It should be "higher this year than last year", right?

thanks
Higher this year than last [year]. In this construction year is implied and does not have to be repeated.

Another example: I ate two bananas yesterday but only one [banana] today.

The word banana is implied and need not be repeated. Although such a repetition would not cause a grammatical error, it would introduce redundancy and awkwardness in the sentence.
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by Night reader » Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:26 pm
guys nobody is perfect :)

GMAT has refined the original sentence and made some reservation here

@stormier your example is distinct, not grammatically sound though; one is the quantifier and must be used with the noun or the noun phrase

'one' can can also be used as a substitute to avoid the redundancy in a sentence.

I am including the link with the original source of GMAC text for this SC entry as well as the attachment

https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A960958260
Attachments
GMAC's one ;).JPG
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by nubu » Thu Jan 27, 2011 7:50 pm
thank you guys, especially Night Reader, your explanation is very clear
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by rohu27 » Fri Jan 28, 2011 4:29 am
off topic question for Night reader:
Man, how did you get the original source? Amazing :D

Night reader wrote:guys nobody is perfect :)

GMAT has refined the original sentence and made some reservation here

@stormier your example is distinct, not grammatically sound though; one is the quantifier and must be used with the noun or the noun phrase

'one' can can also be used as a substitute to avoid the redundancy in a sentence.

I am including the link with the original source of GMAC text for this SC entry as well as the attachment

https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A960958260
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by stormier » Fri Jan 28, 2011 4:46 am
@nightreader

I didn't quite understand the point of your post. What does the original source of the sentence have to do with its correctness ?

Did you mean that option A was incorrect ?

I know I used my example in a slightly different structure. Could you correct my example sentence about the bananas ?

Many thanks.
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by EducationAisle » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:17 am
This is a pretty common usage in English actually. Example:

This winter is colder than last.

Which is equivalent to saying:

This winter is colder than last (winter).

In English, it is called Ellipsis.
Ashish
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Now! Preview the entire Grammar Section of Sentence Correction Nirvana at pothi
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by Night reader » Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:56 pm
@EducationAisle: if we stretch our minds to many grammatical expressions in English literature, then we should close our eyes on GMAT SC. In your example :

This winter is colder than last
must be at least - than the last for grammatical correct way of expression; adjectives may be used as nouns and/or noun phrases when preceded with a definite article 'the'

Should I cite here many sentences from the "Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck - I used to read this novel in high school, pretty decent southern american Engl :) although sunk in its old time

also, This winter is colder than the last (winter).
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by EducationAisle » Wed Feb 02, 2011 8:39 pm
@nightreader

I didn't quite understand the point of your post.

Few points:

1. The intent of the author of the original post was to understand whether 'year' in the latter part of the sentence needs to be explicitly stated or can we consider it implied. In my post, I have tried to explain that it is implied

2. 'articles' per-se are not explicitly tested on GMAT, so am not sure what learning/extra information your post provides to GMAT test takers

3. You mention: adjectives may be used as nouns and/or noun phrases when preceded with a definite article 'the'. Ok, but what makes you think 'last' is used as a noun/noun-phrase in this sentence.

Lastly (and it is a minor point in the context being discussed), OG questions are supposed to be the ultimate truth for GMAT test takers and for us instructors.
Ashish
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by Night reader » Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:46 pm
I understood the intent of the post's author precisely, and had replied with discussion about missing word "year"
Agree that articles are not precisely tested on GMAT :) this makes some of us happy, doesn't eh...
The word "last" functions in the sentence as a modifier of time which is currently expressed through the adjective only. I am not to tell you how adjectives function as modifiers in a grammatically correct sentence; it's not the case here. Yet I agree answer <A> is the least error containing of all answers and thus must be credited answer.

p.s. I should ask OG contributors to seek the mistake in this sentence, as in the past many corrections to the official guides were made under the name of misprinting.

Cheers.

EducationAisle wrote:@nightreader

I didn't quite understand the point of your post.

Few points:

1. The intent of the author of the original post was to understand whether 'year' in the latter part of the sentence needs to be explicitly stated or can we consider it implied. In my post, I have tried to explain that it is implied

2. 'articles' per-se are not explicitly tested on GMAT, so am not sure what learning/extra information your post provides to GMAT test takers

3. You mention: adjectives may be used as nouns and/or noun phrases when preceded with a definite article 'the'. Ok, but what makes you think 'last' is used as a noun/noun-phrase in this sentence.

Lastly (and it is a minor point in the context being discussed), OG questions are supposed to be the ultimate truth for GMAT test takers and for us instructors.
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