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Number of trucks

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Number of trucks

by amysky_0205 » Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:06 am
In 1914 a total of 469,000 cars and trucks were produced in the United States, but in 1929 almost twice the numbers of tucks alone came off the assembly lines.

A. the numbers of tucks alone
B. that number of trucks alone
C. the number of trucks by themselves
D. as many trucks themselves
E. as many trucks by themselves

OA: B

I chose A instead of B..
can someone explain why we have to use THAT here? thank u!
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by sana.noor » Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:59 am
it should be B
The original sentence says "twice the numbers of trukcs alone" twice of which number? the sentence compares the production of cars and trucks in two different years. It should be Twice THAT number (that number = 469,000).
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by viveksingh222 » Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:26 am
I heard some where in these posts the numbers of is not preferable in
GMAT instead use twice the number of
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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:29 am
"That" is needed to refer back to the 1914 trucks. Otherwise we're left wondering, "what number of trucks?"

Another major issue here is the difference between "number" and "numbers," which have different meanings. Consider these two sentences:

The number of license plates produced was high.

The numbers of licence plates produced were high.

The first sentence implies that there were a lot of license plates produced. In the second, we don't know how many were produced, but we know that the numbers printed on them were high numbers.

When you're talking about counting things, the correct word to use is the singular: the number of things.
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by spradhan123 » Sat Jan 19, 2013 5:47 pm
Why not the option D ?
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by sana.noor » Sat Jan 19, 2013 10:14 pm
Spradhan123 what "themselves" is refering to? Is it possible that trucks came out themselves of assembly line? therefore, option D is wrong.
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