A. than
B. than born
C. than they were
D. than there had been
E. than had been born


This is tough one – twister. So, one way to resolve is to flip the sentence and check which one makes sense.

A: According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more women over the age of thirty delivered babies than under age of thirty.[Hold it]

B: According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more women over the age of thirty delivered babies than born under age of thirty.[This makes invalid – eliminate it]

C: According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more women over the age of thirty delivered babies than they were under age of thirty.[Same women delivered over age thirty and under thirty – changes the meaning of the sentence – eliminate it]

D: According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more women over the age of thirty delivered babies than there had been under age of thirty.[Implies women were delivering babies – eliminate it]

E: According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more women over the age of thirty delivered babies than had been under age of thirty.[Does not make sense – eliminate it]

Answer: A

I still don't get this one. Obviously, it falls under the comparison and parallelism categories, but it's so complex, and I just don't agree with E as the OA

Guys,

This question is a part of Brutal SC. The OA is A. You are right.

Cheers!
Leopard
_________________

Many people dream, but some wake up and work towards it.

I just came across this on my GMAT prep and selected E as well. Can anyone offer an explanation to this question?

Option E reads

According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than [babies] had been born under it

By introducing the verb, the meaning of the sentence changes, saying that more babies were born under the age of thirty. This doesn't make any sense.

Option A, relies on the ellipsis to make the right comparison


According to public health officials, in 1998 Massachusetts became the first state in which more babies were born to women over the age of thirty than [babies were born to women] under it [age of thirty]

OA is A. I just took a GMATPRep exam with this on it.