gmat_perfect wrote:The gyrfalcon, an Arctic bird of prey, has survived a close brush with extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than when the use of DDT was sharply restricted in the early 1970's.

(A) extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than
(B) extinction; its numbers are now five times more than
(C) extinction, their numbers now fivefold what they were
(D) extinction, now with fivefold the numbers they had
(E) extinction, now with numbers five times greater than

[spoiler]OA: A[/spoiler]

dream700 wrote:Ans: A (took 1:37 min)

Eliminated C, D and E first.

The gyrfalcon, an Arctic bird of prey, has survived a close brush with extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than when the use of DDT was sharply restricted in the early 1970's.


(A) extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than >> Correct. See the expln below.
(B) extinction; its numbers are now five times more than >> We are referring to numbers, hence more is INCORRECT.
(C) extinction, their numbers now fivefold what they were >> their - gyrfalcon, don't match.
(D) extinction, now with fivefold the numbers they had >> same as C
(E) extinction, now with numbers five times greater than >> AWKWARD.


@ Neha,

more than and greater than both are correct and both have different conceptual meaning. Following is taken from BTG flash cards. (A must read)

"Greater than, More than"

"Greater than" is appropriate when describing numbers alone.
CORRECT: "Greater than 100..."

"More than" should be used when describing the numbers of objects or when making comparisons.
CORRECT: "More than 100 fish."

Hope this helps!

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