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GMAT prep CR - reopening a Question

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GMAT prep CR - reopening a Question

by Pdgmat2010 » Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:23 am
Sorry guys, have to reopen this question due to lack of satisfactory explanations on the previous thread for this question

Providing initial evidence that airport are a larger source of pollution than they were
once believed to be, environmentalists in Chicago report that the total amount of
pollutant emitted annually by vehicles at O'Hare International Airport is twice as
much as that which is being emitted annually by all motor vehicles in the Chicago
metropolitan area.
A. as much as that which is being emitted annually by all
B. as much annually as is emitted by the
C. as much compared to what is annually emitted by all
D. that emitted annually by all
E. that emitted annually compared to the

Need a few explanations reg
1. is 'that which' a correct usage? [spoiler] ( even though A is a wrong choice here)[/spoiler]
2. i chose C but failed to spot any glaring mistake in it at first glance. Help pls!!
'what is ' - is that the incorrect part of choice C? of course , the 'as ' after 'as much' is also missing.
Need some pointers to spot mistakes in such sentences.
3. 'twice that' - didn't realise that this is a correct phrase.
some examples pls? ( just to register this concept thoroughly in my brain)

oh, and BTW, OA is D
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by Patrick_GMATFix » Sun Jul 25, 2010 11:27 am
Hi Pdgmat2010. I have tried to answer each of your questions:

1) "that which" is not inherently incorrect. It can be correct or incorrect depending on whether the reference is correct. In this construct, 'which' begins a noun (adjectival) modifier that targets to the antecedent of 'that'. For instance, "My shoe is better than that which we found in the box". this is a correct sentence. 'that' refers to 'shoe'. 'which we found in the box' is a modifier for 'that' (it identifies/describes which shoe is discussed)

In this construct, "that" is the pronoun, not the conjunction "that". "John told his employer that which...." will probably be an incorrect sentence because 'that' in this case is a conjunction that should introduce a subordinate clause. 'that' in this case is not a pronoun that is referring to a noun elsewhere in the sentence. That's why it makes no sense to follow it with a noun modifier (which...). Of course what completes the sentence can make a difference.

2) The first error in C is the incorrect use of the idiom: "as much as". To express equality in a comparison, the two as are needed. "as much compared to" is incorrect. "as much as" would have been better.

3) 'that' as used here is a singular pronoun. It stands for "the amount". "The amount emitted by these cars is twice that emitted by those cars" This is not a new rule that you don't know. It's just a singular pronoun referring to a specific noun and in doing so maintaining a parallel structure. So there isn't anything wrong. Another example might be: "The food sold at restaurant A is as pricey as that sold at B".

A full discussion of this question can be found at GMATPrep Question 2167. To test yourself with similar questions, create a drill and set topic='Parallelism, Comparison & Pronouns' and difficulty='600-700'

hope that helps,
-Patrick
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by Pdgmat2010 » Sun Jul 25, 2010 9:31 pm
Thanks a lot Patrick.
A few takeaways for me from your reply

1. 'that' is used as a pronoun in some cases where it replaces the antecedent that came in the first part of the sentence.

The race course in Pune is much better than that in Bombay. [that - race course]

2. 'that which' is a correct usage when 'that' refers to a noun in the beginning of the sentence and 'which ... ' acts as a modifier for 'that'.

3.To express equality in a comparison, the two as are needed.



4. twice that
The cost of coffee at Costa is twice that at Starbucks. ( is this usage of twice that correct?)



Patrick_GMATFix wrote:Hi Pdgmat2010. I have tried to answer each of your questions:

1) "that which" is not inherently incorrect. It can be correct or incorrect depending on whether the reference is correct. In this construct, 'which' begins a noun (adjectival) modifier that targets to the antecedent of 'that'. For instance, "My shoe is better than that which we found in the box". this is a correct sentence. 'that' refers to 'shoe'. 'which we found in the box' is a modifier for 'that' (it identifies/describes which shoe is discussed)

In this construct, "that" is the pronoun, not the conjunction "that". "John told his employer that which...." will probably be an incorrect sentence because 'that' in this case is a conjunction that should introduce a subordinate clause. 'that' in this case is not a pronoun that is referring to a noun elsewhere in the sentence. That's why it makes no sense to follow it with a noun modifier (which...). Of course what completes the sentence can make a difference.

2) The first error in C is the incorrect use of the idiom: "as much as". To express equality in a comparison, the two as are needed. "as much compared to" is incorrect. "as much as" would have been better.

3) 'that' as used here is a singular pronoun. It stands for "the amount". "The amount emitted by these cars is twice that emitted by those cars" This is not a new rule that you don't know. It's just a singular pronoun referring to a specific noun and in doing so maintaining a parallel structure. So there isn't anything wrong. Another example might be: "The food sold at restaurant A is as pricey as that sold at B".

A full discussion of this question can be found at GMATPrep Question 2167. To test yourself with similar questions, create a drill and set topic='Parallelism, Comparison & Pronouns' and difficulty='600-700'

hope that helps,
-Patrick
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by Patrick_GMATFix » Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:33 am
yes Pdgmat2010; the sentence you typed is correct because replacing 'that' with its antecedent does not introduce any error: "The cost of coffee at A is twice the cost of coffee at B."

-Patrick
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