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Explaination of answer

by confuse mind » Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:53 am
In 1990's, there are more babies born by women over thirty years old than under it.
(A) than under it
(B) than were they under it
(C) than had been under it
(D) than were the babies
(E) than those were under it
ans- [spoiler]'a'[/spoiler]

can anyone pls explain me the answer of this ques.
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by sameerballani » Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:07 am
confuse mind wrote:In 1990's, there are more babies born by women over thirty years old than under it.
(A) than under it(it=30 years old)
(B) than were they under it(they is probably referring to same women(>30),which is wrong)(were- wrong tense)
(C) than had been under it(wrong tense)
(D) than were the babies(wrong comparison)
(E) than those were under it(were is not required here)
ans- [spoiler]'a'[/spoiler]
can anyone pls explain me the answer of this ques.
Sentence structure:there are more babies born by women over thirty years old than under it
Bold part shows comparison

However i feel if option E would have been: than those WHO were under it or than those under it, it might have been correct. In this case comparison is between women

I hope it helps

Thanks
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by confuse mind » Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:40 am
I feel the comparison must be done between women of characteristic1 and women of characteristic2 and not between the ages/years

I understand that option is not present here:

than by those under it.
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by sameerballani » Mon Jun 06, 2011 2:35 am
may be we need some expert comments.
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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:40 am
The SC posted seems to be an altered version of the following SC from GMATPrep:
According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it.
A. than
B. than born
C. than they were
D. than there had been
E. than had been born
In the SC above, it = the age of thirty.

In B, born implies that the babies were born under the age of thirty. Eliminate B.

In C, the antecedent of they is unclear. Eliminate C.

In D and E, since all the babies discussed in the sentence were born during the same time period (1998), the past perfect had been is incorrect. Eliminate D and E.

The correct answer is A.

Answer choice A exhibits ellipsis, the omission of words in a comparison:

...more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than [were born to women] under it [the age of thirty].

The words were born to women are omitted, but their presence is understood.
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by atulmangal » Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:58 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:The SC posted seems to be an altered version of the following SC from GMATPrep:
According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than under it.
A. than
B. than born
C. than they were
D. than there had been
E. than had been born
In the SC above, it = the age of thirty.

In B, born implies that the babies were born under the age of thirty. Eliminate B.

In C, the antecedent of they is unclear. Eliminate C.

In D and E, since all the babies discussed in the sentence were born during the same time period (1998), the past perfect had been is incorrect. Eliminate D and E.

The correct answer is A.

Answer choice A exhibits ellipsis, the omission of words in a comparison:

...more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than [were born to women] under it [the age of thirty].

The words were born to women are omitted, but their presence is understood.
Thanks a lot Mitch, for this really nice explanation
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by EducationAisle » Mon Jun 06, 2011 4:12 am
confuse mind wrote:I feel the comparison must be done between women of characteristic1 and women of characteristic2 and not between the ages/years

Wonder why you think "women" should be repeated, if the only difference that is being compared is their "age".

Players below thirty than above thirty are likely to perform better.

If you are having problems comprehending this, then you consider "players" as "implied".

Players below thirty than (players) above thirty are likely to perform better.

In this case, the sentence is:

In 1990's, there are more babies born by women over thirty years old than (babies born by women) under it.

Btw, could you let me know the source of this question. I would have thought "there were more babies" would have been a better structure.
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by sameerballani » Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:13 am
Thanks Mitch!!
Really helpful
But could you also comment on original question. Please refer the second post from the top.

Thanks
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