Check whether the noun is countable or not - Numbers are countable, so use greater. More is used for uncountable nouns.

IMO A.

C and D can be eliminated for using a plural pronoun to refer to the singular noun "gyrfalcon".

E makes it sound like extinction has numbers five times greater, which is nonsensical.

This gets us down to A and B, and now we have to choose between "more" and "greater". As Sam said, we should use "greater", so we go with A. You can always try the options in your own words if you forget the rule:

"The gyrfalcon now appears in more numbers" vs. "The gyrfalcon now appears in greater numbers"

but what do we use for

density is more than....
or
density is greater than...

It is more than as it is uncountable.

IMO: A)

I differ from the above posts on the reasoning.

"More than" can be used for both countable and uncountable nouns. Ex : More hats (countable) and more patience (uncountable).

The split between A) and B)is the use of a semicolon( ; ) and colon ( : ). A colon is used when a sentence explains the preceding sentence before the colon( : ). A semicolon, however, connects two independent clauses with the second not necessarily explaining the first.

Since the statement"its numbers are now five-times greater than.." does not explain how the gyrfalcon avoided extinction. Hence, a colon( : ) cannot be used. The use of ; is apt and thus between A and B, A is correct.

Good reasoning above. I din't notice the punctuation while solving, but the actual question has semi colon in all A,B and E choices. So I think we have to count on greater/more than to eliminate in this case. Check these links for the right question.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-gyrfalcon ... 83884.html
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/the ... t1926.html

heymayank08 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) extinctionï¼›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]i was able to narrow the options down to A and B
but not sure about the usage of more/greater here..
can somebdy pls explain the same..
thanks[/spoiler]

Mayank,

Greater than is used when we compare numbers only. For example, 5 is greater than 4 OR Today, there are greater number of birds than there were yesterday.

More than is used when we compare quantities. For example, Today, birds are more than yesterday. OR density of water is more than oil is correct.

Hope it helps.

Gaurav 2013-fall wrote:

heymayank08 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) extinctionï¼›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]i was able to narrow the options down to A and B
but not sure about the usage of more/greater here..
can somebdy pls explain the same..
thanks[/spoiler]

Mayank,

Greater than is used when we compare numbers only. For example, 5 is greater than 4 OR Today, there are greater number of birds than there were yesterday.

More than is used when we compare quantities. For example, Today, birds are more than yesterday. OR density of water is more than oil is correct.

Hope it helps.

Tendulkar is a greater batsman than Gavaskar! We are using greater than to compare uncountable nouns.