Sentence Correction

The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.

(A) doubling the increase of
(B) doubling that of the increase in
(C) double as much as the increase of
(D) twice as many as the increase in
(E) twice as many as the increase of

[spoiler]OA: Will be posted later. Plz discuss each answer choice in detail[/spoiler]

IMO A

(A) doubling the increase of
participial phrase refers back to the subject of the main verb "number of people..." and indicates simultaneous state/action

(B) doubling that of the increase in
"that of" does not have a clear antecedent.

(C) double as much as the increase of
"twice as much as" is the correct comparative form

(D) twice as many as the increase in
"many" cannot be used as comparative for the subject "number", needs to be "much". A non-restrictive adjective attempts to modify "people", but is ambiguous because it's separated by the predicate of main clause "rose sharply in 1990"

(E) twice as many as the increase of
same as the comment for answer choice D.

aspirant2011 wrote:The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.

(A) doubling the increase of
(B) doubling that of the increase in
(C) double as much as the increase of
(D) twice as many as the increase in
(E) twice as many as the increase of

[spoiler]OA: Will be posted later. Plz discuss each answer choice in detail[/spoiler]

twice as many as discusses countable thing increase doesnt so D E is out...

here increase is being talked about.
Hence A fits the bill.

goalevan wrote:IMO A

(D) twice as many as the increase in
"many" cannot be used as comparative for the subject "number", needs to be "much". A non-restrictive adjective attempts to modify "people", but is ambiguous because it's separated by the predicate of main clause "rose sharply in 1990"
.

Hi goalsevan,

I didn't get your explanation for option D ......many is used for countable items if I am correct and the subject in the sentence is the number of people, so shouldn't many be used to refer to the number of people????

Please clarify onnthe same......

Can you count the "number of apples" or the "apples"

how many apples do you have? or how many number of apples do you have?

My take on ans is A

All other option just does not sound correct !

The Explanation:

Here there is no Comparison.

The part after the comma is modifying "rose sharply"

(A) is the answer

OA A.

The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.

(A) doubling the increase of
(B) doubling that of the increase in
(C) double as much as the increase of
(D) twice as many as the increase in
(E) twice as many as the increase of


I came down to the options A and C. I chose C as it suits best. 'Doubling'sounds awkard in a sentence. what is the OA by the way - aspirant2011.

Well spidey's notes says that 'twice' cannot be used in the object of the sentence.
Hence options D and E get cancelled out. Also 'the number of' can be singular as well as plural based on the noun being used. So no fixed rule is set for it.

Further any of the experts could help as this type of a question does come many times in the GMAT.

I aggree A is best

but

if A is correct
A means
the rising of 1990 doubles the increase of previous year.
This makes no sense. the rising of 1990 can not change the increase of the previous year. The logic meaning is that the increase of 1990 doubles the increase of the previous year.

pls, comment.

e-GMAT wrote:@duongthang, Your understanding of Choice A is not correct. Here is what choice A means:

The number of people who flew in certain manner increased in 1990. This increase resulted in doubling the increase that was experienced in some other year (previous year - 1989).
So here the verb-ing modifier presents the result of the preceding clause.

Hope this helps.

-Payal

Thank you e gmat expert.I am clear now.

A means the rising is twice
A dose not means the rising make the previous increase 2 times bigger.

Thank a ton

I eliminated D and E on basis of Countable and non-countable rules.

Please somebody explain me why A,B and C are out.

Thanks in advance.