gmatimothy wrote:
How is this question different from the one below that uses "as" + time correctly?
Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, "the same number as last year but" using larger planes that fly more efficiently.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/many-airline ... 62593.htmlHello,
gmatimothy. One thing you should not look to do is create a rule on the basis of a single question, unless you are quite comfortable revising any rule you might develop through such a method. Rather, you want to examine the heart of the comparison carefully on a case-by-case basis. In this question, you have
they were not nearly as high as _____. Since
they refers to
interest rates last year, the entire noun phrase, we want to see a rate + year-to-rate + year comparison, rather than a rate-to-time comparison. Consider the options just through the lens of the comparison:
(A) [interest rates last year] were not nearly as high as
the early 1980s(B) [interest rates last year] were not nearly as high as
interest rates in the early 1980s(C) [interest rates last year] were not nearly at the levels
[interest rates last year] were in the early 1980s(D) [interest rates last year] had not approached
the high levels of the early 1980s
(E)
the high levels of the early 1980s were not being approached
Although a rate-to-levels comparison is tenuous at best, if you wanted to be conservative, you could. There are other, non-comparative issues in (D) and (E), though, which I will refrain from discussing.
In the other question, there is a flights-to-flights comparison, not a flights-to-time comparison, although the second
flights is omitted as an understood element. The placement of the phrase
in terms of flights establishes what is being compared.
Quote:
... keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, an equal amount as last year, doing so by using larger planes that fly more efficiently.
Once again, we can examine the comparative elements one by one.
(A) [offering] an equal
amount [of flights] as last year
(B) [offering] the same
number [of flights] offered last year
(C) [offering] an equal
amount [of flights] offered last year
(D) the same
number [of flights] as last year
(E) an equal
number [of flights] as were offered last year
On the basis of the comparison alone, we need
number, since we can count
how many flights are offered in a given year. (
How much would pair with
amount.) There are other issues to discuss in answer choices (B) and (E), but the comparison in flights offered is at least appropriate.
Comparisons can be tricky, and they give many people headaches. I would recommend checking out
GMAT Ninja's Sentence Correction Resource Collection, section 8 in particular, for more information on how to handle comparisons.
Good luck with your studies.
- Andrew
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