Many

[j_shreyans]

According to the National Science Foundation, in 2003 there were 198,113 female science and engineering graduate students, almost 42% of the graduate students in those fields, twice as much as 1981.


A)twice as much as 1981

B)twice as many as 1981

C)double the figure for 1981

D)double what it was in 1981

E)a number double that of 1981's

Why OAD why not B

HEre we are talking about the students and students are countable so "MANY" is correct. So i can easily eliminate option A and D, E is wordy and unclear.

Please suggest me and correct me if i am wrong.

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Hi j_shreyans,

You ARE correct that graduate students are countable (so you would use the word "many" to refer back to them). However, there's a Parallelism issue with this sentence - the first part of the sentence uses the phrase "in 2003", so we have to make sure that the second part of the sentences matches. To parallel "in 2003", we need to use "in 1981." Only one answer matches (the correct one).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[Uva@90]

Hi j_shreyans,

You ARE correct that graduate students are countable (so you would use the word "many" to refer back to them). However, there's a Parallelism issue with this sentence - the first part of the sentence uses the phrase "in 2003", so we have to make sure that the second part of the sentences matches. To parallel "in 2003", we need to use "in 1981." Only one answer matches (the correct one).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Rich,

So you are saying that Option D is the correct one. But what does 'IT' in that sentence refers to ?

Regards,
Uva.

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Hi Uva,

As a general rule, the GMAT almost always puts modifiers (and modifying phrases) as close to what they're supposed to modify as possible. The prior phrase in the sentence is "almost 42% of the graduate students in those fields"....so "it" refers to the percentage.

There's further evidence that "it" MUST refer to the percentage. The answer choices all include the idea of "double" or "twice", which CANNOT be a reference to 198,113 students; that number CANNOT be twice another number of students (you can't have .5 of a student).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[Uva@90]

Hi Uva,

As a general rule, the GMAT almost always puts modifiers (and modifying phrases) as close to what they're supposed to modify as possible. The prior phrase in the sentence is "almost 42% of the graduate students in those fields"....so "it" refers to the percentage.

There's further evidence that "it" MUST refer to the percentage. The answer choices all include the idea of "double" or "twice", which CANNOT be a reference to 198,113 students; that number CANNOT be twice another number of students (you can't have .5 of a student).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Rich,
Thanks a ton for your explanation.
Still i have confusion. As you said 'IT' cannot refer to 113( it cant be in fraction) I agree, but why not 198 ?

And also could you please explain me what is wrong with option C ?