A A.

imo:A A

IMO C, E

1. as likely as

2. "that" is required to modify canon, idiom "helpful in"

The ans are C & E....

but i m not getting why the answer cant be A for 1st Q, -- more than is also a correct idiomatic expression

Also in 2nd Q cannon shooting dead chickens should be modified or canon has to modified? i m confused....
Please Explain

1. This is an idiom issue. likely to > likely in, thus leaves only C&E, and C is preferred because in E, "it" has no clear referent.

2. A cannon that shoots > A cannon shooting in term of clarity/construction.

Sorry if my explanation is a bit flaky.

the confusion in 2nd Q is -- what should this modifier modify...the whole phrase or cannon??

If I understand freakyyy point:

If you look at the whole phrase "a canon shooting dead chickens at the airplane" is still a canon with its modifier attached to it
OTHERWISE the phrase might have been
"the shooting of dead chicken by a canon at the airplane" , which is not the case here, if it were, it would have been still awkward .
hence E.
Hope, it helped.

freakyyy wrote:According to a survey of graduating medical students conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges, minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice in socioeconomically deprived areas.
(A) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice
(B) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than other graduates who plan on practicing
(C) minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as other graduates to plan on practicing
(D) it is nearly four times more likely that minority graduates rather than other graduates will plan to practice
(E) it is nearly four times as likely for minority graduates than other graduates to plan to practice

which 1 is correct A or C & why?

According to United States Air Force officials, a cannon shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate what kind of damage can result when jets fly into a flock of large birds.
(A) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate
(B) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved itself helpful as a demonstration of
(C) shooting dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful as demonstrating
(D) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful to demonstrate
(E) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful in demonstrating

A or E & why?

Help please

For ques2...the correct idioms to be used are either 'helpful in demonstrating' OR 'help to demonstrate'