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Per capita consumption!

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by gmat_perfect » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:49 am
A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program, per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as in the nation as a whole.

(A) per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as
(B) annual per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as that
(C) California's annual per capita consumption of cigarettes declined from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as the drop
(D) California has seen per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs annually to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as that
(E) California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that

[spoiler]OA: D[/spoiler]

I have eliminated E on the basis of "per capita consumption per person" and "more than twice" needs "drop" because "Which is more than twice?" does NOT have any answer?

Am I right?

Thanks.
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by beatthegmatinsept » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:55 am
For some reason I was looking for an answer choice that said 'twice as much as' instead of 'twice as great as'.. Isn't 'twice as much as' the correct usage?
If I were to choose among the answer choices given, I would go for d, since the modifier correctly modifies California, and the reason stated above by you.
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by e-GMAT » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:12 am
You are correct gmat_perfect.

California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that in the nation as a whole

Simplifying this sentence we get:
California has seen XYZ decline from ### to **, more than twice as great as that in the nation as a whole.

Error 1 : Modifier Error = In this sentence, it is not clear what entity does the modifier "more than twice..." modifies. This is corrected in the correct choice by introducing "drop" which now refers to the quantitative drop specified "from ### to **.

Error 2 : Redundancy = "per capita" and "per person" are redundant

I hope this confirms your hypothesis!

Regards,

Payal
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by beatthegmatinsept » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:18 am
Payal,

Can you please explain if usage of "twice as great as" is correct per the GMAT?
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by reply2spg » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:30 am
Took me more than 2 minutes, but glad that I got correct answer

Approach 1 - We need something to compare. What is that? 'A drop'. We need this. So eliminate B, C and E. A is out because we are comparing 'A Drop' with 'in the nation'
D remains.

Approach 2 -

'Per Capita' and 'Per Person' is same. Remove A, C and E. B is wrong becuase annual is an adjective and we need adverb 'annually'.
D wins.
gmat_perfect wrote:A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program, per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as in the nation as a whole.

(A) per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as -
(B) annual per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as that
(C) California's annual per capita consumption of cigarettes declined from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as the drop
(D) California has seen per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs annually to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as that
(E) California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that

[spoiler]OA: D[/spoiler]

I have eliminated E on the basis of "per capita consumption per person" and "more than twice" needs "drop" because "Which is more than twice?" does NOT have any answer?

Am I right?

Thanks.
Sudhanshu
(have lot of things to learn from all of you)
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by madhukumar_v » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:40 am
Nice tip Payal: Per capita.. Per Person. Thank you.
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by e-GMAT » Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:54 am
beatthegmatinsept wrote:Payal,

Can you please explain if usage of "twice as great as" is correct per the GMAT?
IMO there is nothing wrong in using twice as great as. I have not come across any OG question that indicates that this expression is incorrect.

In this expression you are actually using as..as comparison idiom and you are using the word "great" to make that comparison.

It is idiomatically correct to say : The decline in California is greater than the decline in US.
And as..as is idiomatically correct expression for stating a comparison.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Payal
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by paddle_sweep » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:33 pm
Sorry guys,I am not clear as to what's the problem with 'A'. Could somebody explain pls?
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by kvcpk » Tue Aug 17, 2010 8:06 pm
paddle_sweep wrote:Sorry guys,I am not clear as to what's the problem with 'A'. Could somebody explain pls?
"A decade after initiating the nation's most ..."

Who has initiated? California.

So ABC out.

Hope this helps!!
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by paddle_sweep » Tue Aug 17, 2010 8:51 pm
kvcpk wrote:
paddle_sweep wrote:Sorry guys,I am not clear as to what's the problem with 'A'. Could somebody explain pls?
"A decade after initiating the nation's most ..."

Who has initiated? California.

So ABC out.

Hope this helps!!
Excellent! Have now understood.
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