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The books of Agatha Christie

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The books of Agatha Christie

by akhpad » Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:02 pm
Source: Veritas Prep SC-1

90 The books of Agatha Christie, a popular writer of crime novels, have had a greater audience than any fiction author in history.

A: than any fiction author in history
B: historically than any other fiction author
C: than have those of any fiction author in history
D: in history as any other fiction author has had
E: than those of any other fiction author in history

F: than have those of any other fiction author in history => What about this?

A, B, and D have obvious error.


I have one explanation in this way

Ellipses

INCORRECT: Dave was happier to visit his hometown than his childhood friend.

This sentence contains an improper ellipsis before his childhood friend. It's not clear whether Dave's isn't so happy to see his childhood friend or Dave's childhood friend isn't so happy to see his hometown.

CORRECT: Dave was happier to visit his hometown than his childhood friend was.
CORRECT: Dave was happier to visit his hometown than he was to visit his childhood friend.
Last edited by akhpad on Sat Sep 25, 2010 1:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:55 pm
here the popular writer is compared with whom?

ans is those of any other fiction author in history
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by gmat_perfect » Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:42 am
The books of Agatha Christie, a popular writer of crime novels, have had a greater audience than any fiction author in history.

A: than any fiction author in history
B: historically than any other fiction author
C: than have those of any fiction author in history
D: in history as any other fiction author has had
E: than those of any other fiction author in history

The splits:

1. Parallel elements MUST be compared.

The skull of the sentence:

The books have had a greater audience than any fiction author.

The problem in the sentence is "apple has been compared with orange". The books have been compared with the author.

--> This kills the options A, B, and D.

2. Let's have some examples:

I have more books than he. --Correct.
I have more books than he has. ----Correct.

My books have more audience than Karim's books.--correct.
My books have more audience than have karim's books. ----correct.
My books have more audience than those of Karim. --Correct.
--> The problem has followed this structure.

So, C is out.

Answer should be E.
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by shweta.kalra » Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:53 am
hi,
plz clarify, what "THOSE" REFERS TO?
BOOKS OR WRITER. I MEAN "than those( writerS or books) of any other fiction in hIstory?
AND WHY?
THANKS
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by mundasingh123 » Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:54 am
akhpad wrote:Source: Veritas Prep SC-1

90 The books of Agatha Christie, a popular writer of crime novels, have had a greater audience than any fiction author in history.

A: than any fiction author in history
B: historically than any other fiction author
C: than have those of any fiction author in history
D: in history as any other fiction author has had
E: than those of any other fiction author in history

A, B, and D have obvious error.

I selected C but OA is E. Why?



I have one explanation in this way

Ellipses

INCORRECT: Dave was happier to visit his hometown than his childhood friend.

This sentence contains an improper ellipsis before his childhood friend. It's not clear whether Dave's isn't so happy to see his childhood friend or Dave's childhood friend isn't so happy to see his hometown.

CORRECT: Dave was happier to visit his hometown than his childhood friend was.
CORRECT: Dave was happier to visit his hometown than he was to visit his childhood friend.
A good reason for eliminating C would be
The books of Agatha Christie, a popular writer of crime novels, have had a greater audience than any fiction author in history
C should have been
C: than those of any other fiction author in history have had
C is not completely parallel
C also does not have "other"
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by akhpad » Sat Sep 25, 2010 1:07 am
The books of Agatha Christie, a popular writer of crime novels, have had a greater audience than any fiction author in history.
A: than any fiction author in history

E: than those of any other fiction author in history
F: than have those of any other fiction author in history

Compare between E and F.
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by mundasingh123 » Sat Sep 25, 2010 1:23 am
akhpad wrote:The books of Agatha Christie, a popular writer of crime novels, have had a greater audience than any fiction author in history.
A: than any fiction author in history

E: than those of any other fiction author in history
F: than have those of any other fiction author in history

Compare between E and F.
In E , "have had" is implicit
F has the same problem that i mentioned in the previous post
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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:20 am
akhpad wrote:Source: Veritas Prep SC-1

90 The books of Agatha Christie, a popular writer of crime novels, have had a greater audience than any fiction author in history.

A: than any fiction author in history
B: historically than any other fiction author
C: than have those of any fiction author in history
D: in history as any other fiction author has had
E: than those of any other fiction author in history
Quickest approach:

A, B and D incorrectly compare books to author. Eliminate A, B and D.

C incorrectly compares the books of Agatha Christie to those of any fiction author. Since any fiction author would include Agatha Christie, this sentence makes no sense: we can't compare Agatha Christie's books to her own books. The intended meaning of the sentence is that the books of Agatha Christie have had a greater audience than those of any other author. Eliminate C.

The correct answer is E.

When a comparison is being made, make sure the sentence is comparing the right two things:

The books can have a greater audience than any other books.
The author can have a greater audience than any other author.
The books cannot have a greater audience than any other author.
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by akhpad » Sun Sep 26, 2010 9:57 am
Thanks for explanation.

E: than those of any other fiction author in history
F: than have those of any other fiction author in history

Can you please distinguish between E and F?
GMATGuruNY wrote:
The books can have a greater audience than any other books.
The author can have a greater audience than any other author.
The books cannot have a greater audience than any other author.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:53 am
akhpad wrote:Thanks for explanation.

E: than those of any other fiction author in history
F: than have those of any other fiction author in history

Can you please distinguish between E and F?
Each is grammatically correct. They both convey the same meaning. E is more concise, and -- all thing being equal -- shorter is better.
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My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

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