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american population

by sushanta57021 » Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:24 pm
In California today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
A. In California today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
B. Of the Californians under the age of eighteen, today more than 43 percent of them are Hispanic, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
C. Today, more than 43 percent of Californians under the age of eighteen are Hispanic, compared with about 35 percent a decade ago.
D. Today, compared to a decade ago, Californians who are Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, whereas it was about 35 percent.
E. Today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen in California account for more than 43 percent, unlike a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.

Ans:

Can some one please explain? In option C, is it not a misplaced modifier.
should not compared with about 35 percent a decade ago follow 43 percent immediately.

does not the present sentence sound like compared with about 35 percent a decade ago is modifying Hispanic
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by amitabhprasad » Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:58 pm
Other then "C"
most of the other answer choices are either have faulty comparison
Like
in "A" 'Hispanics ' are compared with time period
or have awkward sentence construction
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Re: american population

by annakool1009 » Sat Nov 01, 2008 2:34 am
sushanta57021 wrote:In California today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
A. In California today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
B. Of the Californians under the age of eighteen, today more than 43 percent of them are Hispanic, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
C. Today, more than 43 percent of Californians under the age of eighteen are Hispanic, compared with about 35 percent a decade ago.
D. Today, compared to a decade ago, Californians who are Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, whereas it was about 35 percent.
E. Today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen in California account for more than 43 percent, unlike a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.

Ans:

Can some one please explain? In option C, is it not a misplaced modifier.
should not compared with about 35 percent a decade ago follow 43 percent immediately.

does not the present sentence sound like compared with about 35 percent a decade ago is modifying Hispanic
---------------------------------------
Though i am a bit confused whether: Hispanics under the age of 18 (in original sentence) and Californians under the age of 18 (in other answer options) would mean the same. i.e i felt it changed the original meaning of the sentence. The following options get eliminated :

A has misplaced modifier
B wordy and misplaced modifier
D wordy and confusing

B/w C and E
C is more concise.
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Re: american population

by vivek.kapoor83 » Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:58 am
sushanta57021 wrote:In California today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
A. In California today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
B. Of the Californians under the age of eighteen, today more than 43 percent of them are Hispanic, compared with a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.
C. Today, more than 43 percent of Californians under the age of eighteen are Hispanic, compared with about 35 percent a decade ago.
D. Today, compared to a decade ago, Californians who are Hispanics under the age of eighteen account for more than 43 percent, whereas it was about 35 percent.
E. Today, Hispanics under the age of eighteen in California account for more than 43 percent, unlike a decade ago, when it was about 35 percent.

Ans:

Can some one please explain? In option C, is it not a misplaced modifier.
should not compared with about 35 percent a decade ago follow 43 percent immediately.

does not the present sentence sound like compared with about 35 percent a decade ago is modifying Hispanic

C is the best choice, read the sentence like this.

oday, more than 43 percent ........... compared with about 35 percent a decade ago.
here comparison is between % ,it is not modifying hispanic.So, C is the best choice.
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by lunarpower » Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:43 pm
NOTE:
if something appears on the correct answer to an official problem, then
* it's correct
* its usage makes sense
this renders redundant 2 of the questions you've asked below.

in general, you should not ask "is this correct?" if something appears in a correct answer, because ... you know it is.

so, if you're LOOKING AT A CORRECT ANSWER and asking
(a) is this incorrect?
vs.
(b) can this structure be used correctly in a way of which i wasn't previously aware?

the answer will always be (b).

or:
correct answers are correct.

thanks.
Though i am a bit confused whether: Hispanics under the age of 18 (in original sentence) and Californians under the age of 18 (in other answer options) would mean the same. i.e i felt it changed the original meaning of the sentence.
i see where you're coming from here.

but:

there's a big problem. namely, there is NO "original meaning"; i.e., the original sentence doesn't actually mean anything at all.
both (a) and (e) are wrong for the same reason: neither of them specifies what we're taking percentages of.

for the sentence to have any meaning, you need to say "43% of californians", or "43% of the population of california", or 43% of... something.
right now, choices (a) and (e) just name ONE group (i.e., hispanics under age 18), and don't say OF WHAT GROUP that group forms a percentage.
does not the present sentence sound like compared with about 35 percent a decade ago is modifying Hispanic
first: you know it can't, because that's the correct answer. if "hispanic" were erroneously compared to a percentage, then this couldn't be the correct answer.
apparently, "compared with"/"compared to" can be used to modify the statistic in the preceding clause, even if that statistic doesn't come right before the comma. this is a lesson that you can draw by yourself from looking at this problem, simply by noting what appears in the correct answer.
In my view, “compared” should modify “43%”.
well, sure. it must, for the sentence to make any sense at all.
so clearly the lesson you should learn here is that this particular type of modifier is more flexible than you had thought. you should obviously not conclude that the correct answer contains an ungrammatical modifier.
remember:
correct answers are correct.
don't question them!
learn from them!
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my take:

by brick2009 » Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:02 am
The original sentence:

In California today...blah blah..

If you look at the sentence.. you are supposed to be comparing population..or something like that.. so 43% and 35% are comparison of WHAT??? so A is out:

I always do first round elimination: A & B (gone) .;-) (helps you understand why u eliminated it and not look back)

2nd round:
E-- Same comparing what? 43% of what? is the question...
D & C - C is simple and less complex than D...

Also C: says : Today, xxx 43% of Californians xxxx are Hispanic, compared with 35%, a decade ago.

Today...43%...35%..a decade ago...
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