Comparisons ....please confirm the OA

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Comparisons ....please confirm the OA

by evs.teja » Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:24 pm
The portion of the interest earned on the state university's endowment that is set aside to fund merit scholarships for outstanding high school seniors is more numerous than that set aside to fund the university's high-powered
athletic program.
"¢ is more numerous than
"¢ are more numerous than
"¢ is greater than
"¢ is greater
"¢ are greater than

The OA given for this question is A but something about this option doesn't seem right to me. I find D the best option for the above sentence. Would someone please clarify
Thanks
Teja[/spoiler]

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by MartyMurray » Mon Dec 21, 2015 7:28 pm
A is definitely not right.

The word numerous applies to things that have countable elements and means great in number or many. For instance, one might say that the GMAT has numerous question types or that numerous books have been written on a subject, the latter meaning something like many books have been written on the subject.

A portion is a single entity and as such cannot be numerous, or great in number. It's just one thing. So it does not make sense to say that a portion is more numerous.

A portion would be greater or smaller.

In this question, the proportion is greater than that set aside to fund the athletic program. So the correct answer is C.

(You could send a quick note to whomever is responsible for the quality of this question, telling them about the issue and the correct answer. Could even just link to this thread.)
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by evs.teja » Mon Dec 21, 2015 8:20 pm
Marty Murray wrote:A is definitely not right.

The word numerous applies to things that have countable elements and means great in number or many. For instance, one might say that the GMAT has numerous question types or that numerous books have been written on a subject, the latter meaning something like many books have been written on the subject.

A portion is a single entity and as such cannot be numerous, or great in number. It's just one thing. So it does not make sense to say that a portion is more numerous.

A portion would be greater or smaller.

In this question, the proportion is greater than that set aside to fund the athletic program. So the correct answer is C.

(You could send a quick note to whomever is responsible for the quality of this question, telling them about the issue and the correct answer. Could even just link to this thread.)
Thanks Marty that was exactly what I thought,
the potion of interest earned has to be a figure ,Logically it should either be greater than or be smaller than some other figure.

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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:06 pm
evs.teja wrote:The portion of the interest earned on the state university's endowment that is set aside to fund merit scholarships for outstanding high school seniors is more numerous than that set aside to fund the university's high-powered athletic program.
"¢ is more numerous than
"¢ are more numerous than
"¢ is greater than
"¢ is greater
"¢ are greater than
the + QUANTITY WORD is SINGULAR.
The number of people IS high.
The proportion of children HAS BEEN growing.
The percentage of men WAS lower.

In B and E, are (plural) does not agree with the portion (singular).
Eliminate B and E.

numerous -- which means VERY MANY -- must serve to modify a PLURAL NOUN.
In A, numerous cannot serve to modify the portion (singular).
Eliminate A.

D: The portion of the interest...is greater that set aside.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is C.

In the OA, that serves to stand in for the portion.
Implied comparison:
The portion...that is set aside to fund merit scholarships is greater than the portion set aside to fund the university's high-powered athletic program.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by evs.teja » Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:31 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:
evs.teja wrote:The portion of the interest earned on the state university's endowment that is set aside to fund merit scholarships for outstanding high school seniors is more numerous than that set aside to fund the university's high-powered athletic program.
"¢ is more numerous than
"¢ are more numerous than
"¢ is greater than
"¢ is greater
"¢ are greater than
the + QUANTITY WORD is SINGULAR.
The number of people IS high.
The proportion of children HAS BEEN growing.
The percentage of men WAS lower.

In B and E, are (plural) does not agree with the portion (singular).
Eliminate B and E.

numerous -- which means VERY MANY -- must serve to modify a PLURAL NOUN.
In A, numerous cannot serve to modify the portion (singular).
Eliminate A.

D: The portion of the interest...is greater that set aside.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is A.

In the OA, that serves to stand in for the portion.
Implied comparison:
The portion...that is set aside to fund merit scholarships is greater than the portion set aside to fund the university's high-powered athletic program.
I hope you meant correct ans is C ;)

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:59 am
evs.teja wrote: I hope you meant correct ans is C ;)
Yes.
The typo has been fixed.
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