Sentence Correction

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

[spoiler]OA: Don't you guys think that option E is wrong because its using "to die of a heart attack" after "than those who are sedentary" but the same should have been like this "are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack"............please correct me if I am wrong......[/spoiler]

aspirant2011 wrote:OA: Don't you guys think that option E is wrong because its using "to die of a heart attack" after "than those who are sedentary" but the same should have been like this "are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack"............please correct me if I am wrong......

a,b,c - study result so need to use "are" not "have".
D.. "as" is wrong as sentence demands "than" to establish comparison.
So IMO E.
Yes E is really awkward but not sure if grammatically incorrect.

Agreed with Abhishek's explanation .

E is the best choice available.

E is the best bet among the choices available.


Thanks
Gautam

aspirant2011 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
(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

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Both option B and E appeared to be gramatically fine to me but option E I felt is stylistically better that option B. Thus, E.

OA: Don't you guys think that option E is wrong because its using "to die of a heart attack" after "than those who are sedentary" but the same should have been like this "are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack"............please correct me if I am wrong......

Exploring E;

Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise most actively are at least fifty percent less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack

This statement contains two relative clauses, that and who, nested within each other.

Several studies have found
that
the coronary patients
who
exercise most actively are
at least fifty percent less likely
than
those who are
sedentary to die of a heart attack

In the above breakup of the option E, the pronoun who always refers to coronary patients.
the word, than is properly used to compare two group of coronary patients who exercise and who are sedenitary.

However, I would like to know Abhishek's (Target2009) approach of eliminating A, B and C.

a,b,c - study result so need to use "are" not "have".

bubbliiiiiiii wrote: However, I would like to know Abhishek's (Target2009) approach of eliminating A, B and C.

a,b,c - study result so need to use "are" not "have".

@Pranay : Several studies have found that XYZ. In this case XYZ must be in Simple Present because studies usually represents FACT / generalization.

Here is my notes (From MasterGMAT):

Present Simple
Present Simple is used to describe the following actions:
1. Actions that occur at a certain frequency (e.g., usually, sometimes).
2. Facts and generalizations. For example, The Earth revolves around the sun.
The structure for Present Simple sentences is simple - the first (and often only) verb in the sentence must be in the present form (V1):
It rains here all the time.

Additionally : https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

Thanks Abhishek

thanks a lot guys and thanks target2009 for sharing interesting information