A middleweight black hole weighs in at roughly 500 solar mas

This is a comparison question. Solving it relies on understanding how the prepositions 'than' and 'as' are used in comparisons.

Comparisons either compare two things that are equal or unequal in respect to a certain trait. We use 'than' for unequal comparisons, and 'as...as' for equal comparisons.

Unequal: London is more expensive than Liverpool.
Equal: London is as expensive as Paris.

As you can see in the question below, the comparison is an unequal comparison: lightweight black holes have less mass than middleweight black holes. The comparison must use than - this eliminates A and B.

What about C, D, and E - all of them use 'than'?

It is easy to see that of the remaining answer choices, C is the most concise. D and E are wordy and create more confusion by introducing the pronoun 'it' unnecessarily.

I think in C, the two phrases "hundreds of times more... " and " thousands or..." refer to subject of main clause and modify this clause.

is it right?

Yes, that is true. Both the clauses are modifying the subject of main clause.
_________________

hi abhi

here could you please tell me that after 2nd clause (,but) what is the subject here , means as you have told me that comma+SANAM pronoun is used when we have separate Independent clauses then what is the subject in that clause i think in the correct option C there should be subject .

please clarify , i am totally confused

thanks

Hi nks2611 ,

You got confused man. When we have two independent clauses, they must be joined with comma + SANAM. But it is not true the other way.

What I mean is : if you are saying "we have a comma + SANAM, it MUST have an independent clauses joined together" is not correct.

Let's talk about this question:

IC: A middleweight black hole weighs in at roughly 500 solar masses,

DC 1 : hundreds of times more massive than the lightweight black holes produced by the collapse of individual stars
DC 2 : thousands or even millions of times less massive than the heavyweight giants that lurk in the centers of galaxies.

The two Dependent clauses here are showing the contrast by using the word "but".

Both these Dependent clauses are modifying a middleweight black hole.

I hope that makes sense.
_________________

I think you meant usage of comma + FANBOYS(coordinating conjunctions ) for joining 2 independent clauses.
_________________

Yeah, I meant the same. Got confused. Thanks Skywalker18
_________________

Here is a sub 500 level question from GPREP.
One doesn't even have to look at the stimulus, and one can say A and B are out for indulging in the comparison blunder of 'less…as'.

'But and yet' together in D and E are brazenly redundant, surprising missed, leaving C alone.
Can SC be simpler be than this?
_________________

in choice D and E, "it is..." is parallel grammatically with the main clause but not with 'hundreds of times...' this is not logical.

This question is based on Comparison.

The sentence draws a comparison between a middleweight black hole and lightweight and heavyweight black holes on the basis of their weight.

In Option A, the comparison is not parallel as the comparative word ‘as’ cannot follow the adverb ‘more’. Furthermore, the phrase ‘less in its mass’ is wordy and awkward. So, Option A can be eliminated.

Option B also contains the same error as Option A. The adverb ‘more’ cannot be followed by the conjunction ‘as’. So, Option B can be eliminated.

Option D contains the redundant conjunction ‘yet’. Since the conjunction ‘but’ is already present, the conjunction ‘yet’, which conveys the same meaning, is unnecessary. The phrase “it is” is also unnecessary as the subject “a middleweight black hole applies to this phrase also. So, Option D can be eliminated.

Option E repeats the errors in Option D and Option A. So, Option E can also be eliminated.

Option C contains the appropriate conjunction ‘than’ and is concise. Therefore, C is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
_________________