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by AnjaliOberoi » Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:10 pm
Today's technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any
time in their production history.

A. small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their
B. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
C. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
D. more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
E. more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in

OA C
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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 02, 2014 1:34 pm
Hi AnjaliOberoi,

This SC is based on Comparison rules: you must compare "like" things.

The beginning and end of the sentence provide some context: we're comparing something from "today" with something from "history", so there's clearly a comparison taking place. After reading through the entire prompt, it's clear that we're comparing CARS to.....OTHER cars...., so we need specific words to show that comparison.

1) The sentence describes how today's cars are more fuel-efficient, so we have to be sure to put that "description" in the proper place...after the noun. Eliminate D and E.

2) The Comparison: Among answers A, B and C, two of the answers use vague plural pronouns ("they" and "their") to refer back to "cars." Unfortunately, there's another plural noun that the plural pronouns could be referring to: "manufacturers." We need an answer that doesn't use vague pronouns. Eliminate A and B.

Final Answer: C

It's the only answer of those 3 that makes a clear comparison ("Today's....cars....." vs. "those at any other time....").

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by VivianKerr » Mon Feb 10, 2014 10:53 am
It's interesting, even without looking at the Comparison, you could get to the correct answer by considering Style and Meaning.

The first error I spot is redundancy -- "today" obviously means "now," so A and E are incorrect.

Moving on to B, we have a Meaning error. It can't be than they were at "any time" because "any time' presumably includes "today." They can't be MORE efficient today than they are today. D has the same confused meaning.

The correct choice is (C).
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