Comparison - Gprep1

[beater]

Over 75 percent of the energy produced in France derives from nuclear power, while in Germany it is just over 33 percent.

a. while in Germany it is just over 33 percent
b. compared to Germany, which uses just over 33 percent
c. whereas nuclear power accounts for just over 33 percent of the energy produced in Germany
d. whereas just over 33 percent of the energy comes from nuclear power in Germany
e. compared with the energy from nuclear power in Germany, where it is just over 33 percent

OA - C

[nasa]

A is right
B - compared to does not clearly refer to france
C - it should hav been: "whereas nuclear power in France"
D: whereas just over - unidiomatic
E- compared with energy should have been compared with % of energy

[TedCornell]

This is a tough one, but I would pick C.

The sentence tries to compare the percentage of energy produced that comes from nuclear power. The first part is:

"x% of the energy produced in France derives from nuclear power" Ideally, the 2nd part would be "x% of the energy produced in Germany comes from Nuclear Power". Since this is not present let's take the closest thing to it.

A - "in Germany, [nuclear power] is just over 33%"

• This is illogical because it describes nuclear power as a percentage.
  
  In addition, "it" may have no referent. One could argue that it stands for "nuclear power" as I did above, but another could argue that it stands for "the percentage" as in "the percentage of energy that comes from nuclear power". The problem is that "the percentage" is not in the question.

B - "Germany...uses just over 33%"

• This answer changes the meaning; the sentence isn't about what percentage of energy Germany uses, but rather what percentage of the energy produced comes from nuclear power.
  
  Additionally, this answer is not even close to what we expected: "x% of the energy produced in Germany comes from Nuclear Power"

C Correct answer in my opinion

D"33% of the energy comes from nuclear power in Germany"

• This answer changes the meaning. In the intended meaning, "in Germany" modifies "produced". The energiy produced in germany. In this answer choice, the concept of energy production is completely lost. Instead, "in Germany" modifiers "nuclear power" thus changing the meaning.

E"it" is ambiguous as it could refer to "energy" or "nuclear power". In either case, there would still be an error:

• "where energy from nuclear power is just over 33 percent" would be incorrect because in the original sentence, it is not the evergy that is 33% of something, but rather 33% of the energy produced is from nuclear power.
  
  "where nuclear power is just over 33 percent" would also be incorrect because it would beg the question: nuclear power is over 33% of what? The answer is absent, thus causing a parallelism problem.

I like C. Again, the ideal, most parallel structure would have been "x% of the energy produced in Germany comes from Nuclear Power".

Instead, C states: "nuclear power accounts for 33% of the energy produced in Germany".The meaning is maintained.

As a final note, "whereas" is the best option for tying up the two clauses because the comparison is actually a stark contrast between France (75%) and Germany (only 33%). I pick C

[karmayogi]

IMO C

a. while in Germany it is just over 33 percent - use of ‘it’ is ambiguous.
b. compared to Germany, which uses just over 33 percent – wrongly compares energy produced with energy used.
c. whereas nuclear power accounts for just over 33 percent of the energy produced in Germany – Correct option
d. whereas just over 33 percent of the energy comes from nuclear power in Germany – I was confused between C and D. Ruled out D because, I think, “just over 33 percent of the energy” means entire energy coming to Germany, including solar, wind, tidal energy etc.
e. compared with the energy from nuclear power in Germany, where it is just over 33 percent – again ambiguous use of ‘it’. Additionally, “where…33 percent” is really awkward.

[blackarrow]

IMO C

The only choice that compares correctly

[nervesofsteel]

IMO C

Over 75 percent of the energy produced in France derives from nuclear power, while in Germany it is just over 33 percent.


c. whereas nuclear power accounts for just over 33 percent of the energy produced in Germany <- correct

d. whereas just over 33 percent of the energy comes from nuclear power in Germany <- incorrect changes meaning....

this choice sounds like 33 percent of 75 % of the energy....

Whts the OA..??

[Stacey Koprince]

Tricky one.

Over <subject: 75%> <modifier: of the energy produced in France> <verb: derives> <object: from nuclear power>, while <modifier: in Germany> <subject: it> <verb: is>...

When there are multiple possible antecedents for the pronoun (in this case, multiple 3rd-person singular nouns), the one we expect to be correct is the noun that performs the same function in the first clause as the pronoun performs in the second. The pronoun is a subject pronoun, so the expected antecedent is the subject of the preceding clause.

The subject in this case is "75%." If you want, you can also include "of the energy produced in France" because that gives you context for the 75%.

So, try that out.
"while in Germany 75% is just over 33%..."
or how about:
"while in Germany "75% of the energy produced in France is just over 33%..."

Hmm. That doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? So A is no good.

B. Germany uses just over 33% of what? When making a comparison, we do actually have to specify what the two things are. No good - eliminate.

C. "whereas" indicates contrast - good. No pronoun ambiguities - good. And this choice actually does spell out what's going on in Germany - good.

D. changes the meaning! "33% of the energy comes from Germany" makes it sound like 33% of France's power comes from Germany... not what the original sentence intended.

E. "it" is still ambiguous. No good.

C it is, then!

[goelmohit2002]

Can someone please tell...

Can't we kick out B...since which is modifying Germany....

but for location we need to use "where"...

Moreover B is using "compared to".....which is used to show similarity between unlike things...

for comparison between similar things IMO we need to use "compared with"

[Stacey Koprince]

Germany is also a country (a thing) and that can take the modifier "which."

The US, which has a population of 300m people, ...

Also, the GMAT generally does not follow the traditional usage of "compared to" vs. "compared with." It uses them equally.

[goelmohit2002]

Thanks Stacey.

Regarding the "Compared To" Vs "Compared with". It looks that some other people are of different opinion....Has GMAT stopped making this distinction now a days ?

Please see the link below. Kindly tell which school of thought should we follow:

https://gmat-grammar.blocked/2006/0 ... -with.html

[Stacey Koprince]

That post is from 3 years ago.

So, the distinction still technically exists in the language, and grammar books will even talk about it. But the makers of this test don't really follow this rule (at least, at this point - they can always change their minds!).

Evidence: take a look at questions 23, 52, 85, 95, and 96 in OG11 or questions 23, 50, and 101 in the Verbal Supplement (OG). They use "compare to" in the "wrong" way, according to the official grammar rules. Some of the explanations even use "compare to" and "compare with" interchangeably!

Bottom line? There are a lot of other, more important things to study!

[goelmohit2002]

Bottom line? There are a lot of other, more important things to study!

Awesome Stacey. Thanks a ton!!!

[goelmohit2002]

Hi Stacey,

But all these no.s you mentioned for OG are in its explanations....there isn't it possible that GMAC might not have given that much attention.....because there are many CR/RC questions where GMAC does not follow its own SC rules.....

Is there a official problem that does not follow this disctinction...Can we go ahead based on the explanations only....

Kindly tell...

Thanks
Mohit

[Stacey Koprince]

All of those problems I cited are SC problems and all use "compare to" incorrectly according to the "official" rule.

The point is: they don't test us on this - they don't even follow the rule themselves.

[goelmohit2002]

Thanks a lot stacey.