Soaring TV costs

[rohangupta83]

Soaring television costs accounted for more than half the spending in the presidential campaign of 1992, a greater proportion than it was in any previous election.

A. a greater proportion than it was
B. a greater proportion than
C. a greater proportion than they have been
D. which is greater than was so
E. which is greater than it has been

[karmayogi]

IMO B

A. 'it' is ambiguous.
B. correctly compares proportion in 1992 to proportion in previous years.
C. proportion can't be referred by 'they'. Improper use of present perfect tense
D. & E. 'which' must refer to noun immediately before which. That means, here 'which' is referring to year 1992.

[iamcste]

Soaring television costs accounted for more than half the spending in the presidential campaign of 1992, a greater proportion than it was in any previous election.

A. a greater proportion than it was
B. a greater proportion than
C. a greater proportion than they have been
D. which is greater than was so
E. which is greater than it has been

A


D and E- I didnt find any refferrent for which it could modify
C-They is ambiguous., Incorrect tense..are they still spending
B-Illogical comparsion "half the spending" is compared with "in any previous election"

A- "Half the spending" is a proportion, Pronoun "it" unambigously refers to singular antecedent and sets rigth comparison

Note: "The spending" is a gerund or a noun and "Half " is a quantifier.

[jsl]

Hmm - I would have gone for B actually. Isn't "television costs " plural?

[iamcste]

Hmm - I would have gone for B actually. Isn't "television costs " plural?

Is "televsion costs" the subject for connecting clause?

[rohangupta83]

I agree with you iamcste

But see, the issue is

OA is C and I don't see how..

[tanviet]

C is wrong because "A propotion" sigular can not compare with "they" even when "have" is replaced with "had"

[iamcste]

I agree with you iamcste

But see, the issue is

OA is C and I don't see how..

could I know source pls. Also, I have stopped believing OAs to be right.
Last 2 days, I could find errors in GMAT Prep qtn-OA

[dmateer25]

I agree with you iamcste

But see, the issue is

OA is C and I don't see how..

could I know source pls. Also, I have stopped believing OAs to be right.
Last 2 days, I could find errors in GMAT Prep qtn-OA

I agree!

Is this a GMAT prep question???


If it is C then "they" must be referring to costs.

costs account for more than they have in any previous election

[skyline77]

I agree with you iamcste

But see, the issue is

OA is C and I don't see how..

could I know source pls. Also, I have stopped believing OAs to be right.
Last 2 days, I could find errors in GMAT Prep qtn-OA

I agree!

Is this a GMAT prep question???


If it is C then "they" must be referring to costs.

costs account for more than they have in any previous election

I think this is a GMATprep question. Think OA is B. But I choose C as well.

[iamcste]

I agree with you iamcste

But see, the issue is

OA is C and I don't see how..

could I know source pls. Also, I have stopped believing OAs to be right.
Last 2 days, I could find errors in GMAT Prep qtn-OA

I agree!

Is this a GMAT prep question???


If it is C then "they" must be referring to costs.

costs account for more than they have in any previous election

hey dude

What abut tense..Have been ? are they still spending the money

Also, If "they" are costs , "a greater proportion" modifes costs

which is incorrect as costs are not proportions, "Half " are

[iamcste]

[

I think this is a GMATprep question. Think OA is B. But I choose C as well.

Rohan-why difference in OA and then subsequent discussions. As per you OA is C

[rohangupta83]

[

I think this is a GMATprep question. Think OA is B. But I choose C as well.

Rohan-why difference in OA and then subsequent discussions. As per you OA is C

Source: Test Prep

Dude,

If I knew why OA is C, I wouldn't be having a discussion here.

dmateer might be right in assuming that 'they' refer to costs. THere are certain rules related to when 'costs' is singular and when 'costs' is considered plural. But right now my thoughts are more channelled toward trying to make C correct than anything else.

But even if 'they' correctly refers to costs and costs is the subject of the first clause, one cannot ignore the tense 'have been', which should be set in past.

Any way - from this discussion I have a couple more questions.

1st - Isn't 'Soaring TV Costs' the subject of the first clause?

2nd - If 1st is true then doesn't the second clause correctly modifies the subject of the first clause (which is Soaring TV Costs in this case)?

Thus making B the correct choice?

[iamcste]

[

I think this is a GMATprep question. Think OA is B. But I choose C as well.

Rohan-why difference in OA and then subsequent discussions. As per you OA is C

Source: Test Prep

Dude,

If I knew why OA is C,

I meant as per skyline 77, OA is B and as per you OA is C. Why is this difference there

[dmateer25]

wouldn't there need to be a present participle of the verb (with an -ing ending) after have been for this to be a present perfect progressive??