doubt 29

[aditya8062]

The incidence of rape in rural areas is equally high or more so than in urban areas.
(A) equally high or more so than in urban areas
(B) equal to or higher than in urban areas
(C) as high as in urban areas or more
(D) equal to, if not more, than in urban areas
(E) as high as it is in urban areas, if not higher

my doubt: i fail to understand as how E can be correct option? the "it" in E will stand for the same copy and hence will refer to "The incidence of rape in rural areas"

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Hi aditya8062,

This SC is based on a Comparison, which means we'll likely be dealing with Parallelism rules also. The GMAT often uses "2-part" phrases to present a comparison, so we should be on the lookout for the proper usage of a 2-part phrase.

1) Comparison: The first part of the sentence states "The incidence of rape IN rural areas is....", so the second part of the sentence should also describe the incidence of rape in some other area(s). It would be redundant to use the phrase "the incidence of rape" twice, so we'll probably end up with the pronoun "it" instead. Eliminate A, B, C and D (each of these answers comes "in urban areas" to "incidents of rape", which is not a valid comparison).

The correct answer also uses the common 2-part phrase "as....as...."

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

[aditya8062]

@rich : thanks
but how do u reconcile the fact that "it" stands for the same copy of noun with all the modifiers attached. by that logic "it" will stand for "The incidence of rape in rural areas"

[[email protected]]

Hi aditya8062,

It sounds like when you see the word "it", you think it means "the incidence of rape in rural areas." Here, the word "it" actually means "the incidence of rape", which is why the extra words IN URBAN AREAS have been included in the correct answer. It's a subtle difference, but an important one, since we have to compare LIKE things.

We can compare an incidence to another incidence.
We can compare an area to another area.
We CANNOT compare an incidence to an area.

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

[aditya8062]

thanks again

It sounds like when you see the word "it", you think it means "the incidence of rape in rural areas." Here, the word "it" actually means "the incidence of rape", which is why the extra words IN URBAN AREAS have been included in the correct answer. It's a subtle difference, but an important one, since we have to compare LIKE things.

if this is really the interpretation then please tell me as why the following sentence is wrong: the air quality of Las vagas in 2007 was higher than it was in 1997----->according to Ron this sentence is wrong for precisely the same reason. the pronoun "it" refers to "the air quality of Las vagas in 2007" and NOT to JUST "the air quality of Las vagas", although "in 1997" is mentioned in later part of the sentence.

BTW this sentence (the one in initial post) is from Manhattan review AND NOT from Manhattan gmat(the original company)

[GMATGuruNY]

my doubt: i fail to understand as how E can be correct option? the "it" in E will stand for the same copy and hence will refer to "The incidence of rape in rural areas"

E: The incidence of rape in rural areas is as high as it is in urban areas.
Here, it seems to be standing in for the incidence of rape in rural areas, implying the following comparison:
The incidence of rape in rural areas is as high as [the incidence of rape in rural areas] is in urban areas.
The implied comparison is not logical.
Eliminate E.

Ignore the SC above.
It does not have a correct answer.

[aditya8062]

Thanks Guru
please also tell me as what is wrong in option C. in a process of selecting best out of worst, I had selected C .

[sarthak.agarwal]

Another reason against E as the right answer is that it changes the meaning of the sentence.

The author wants to say that the incidence is equally high or more in rural areas as compared to urban areas. Whereas option E puts it partially.