Dean Jones wrote:Dear Friends,

I'm having problems in answering the following question. Please help.

According to a 1996 survey by the National Association of College and University
Business Officers, more than three times as many independent institutions of higher
education charge tuition and fees of under $8,000 a year than those that charge over
$16,000.

A. than those that charge
B. than are charging
C. than to charge
D. as charge
E. as those charging

OA after some discussions.

Regards
Deano.

AS MANY ...AS construction is required. Only D/E
Another important aspect to note is COMPARISON is between institutions (simplified structure: three times as many institutions charge tuition of under $8,000 a year than those that charge over $16,000)

The 2nd part of comparison must contain some refernce to INSTITUIONS and therefore IMO E.

THOSE refers to INSTITUIONS. In D its not clear independent instituion charge 3 times more fees than WHAT?? It appears its comparing fees of independent institution with those of itself, making it non-sensical.

IMO E

Dean Jones wrote:Dear Friends,

I'm having problems in answering the following question. Please help.

According to a 1996 survey by the National Association of College and University
Business Officers, more than three times as many independent institutions of higher
education charge tuition and fees of under $8,000 a year than those that charge over
$16,000.

A. than those that charge
B. than are charging
C. than to charge
D. as charge
E. as those charging

OA after some discussions.

Regards
Deano.

IMO, it is a case of idiom and parallelism.
The correct idiom is As many X as Y (X and Y need to be parallel). We can eliminate A,B, and C.
Stuck between D and E. E seems to have an issue of parallelism.
Hence, i will go for D

OA is D

as many as .. and to maintain parallelism charge.

IMO D.

I posted an explanation here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/comparision- ... 79937.html