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# Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts

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Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink]

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10 Dec 2010, 12:42
concept tested here is : S-V agreement +lower/less
subject is the direct costs so verb has to be singular..-a,b out
uncountables use less/more not lower so option C
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Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink]

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10 Dec 2010, 15:12
first of all the sentence is in past tense. So "amounted to" is right usage. this eliminates A and B.
"amounted to a lower sum" - redundant. eliminate E
"amounted to lower"- amounted is uncountable ,usage of "less" is correct.
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Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink]

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11 Dec 2010, 23:26
C.

A and B are incorrect: use amounts (singular) for direct costs (plural)
Quote:
C : less is used for countable nouns. lower than should be used for non countable nouns

Well, after posting the answer I went through my notes and reference material.
I found the reasoning that I used in the quoted part to be wrong.
less than is used for non countable nouns and lower than for countable nouns
In this sentence 1% of xx billion $= money. Money is uncountable -> fewer than some money - worng (fewer is used for countable nouns) lower than some money - wrong less than some money - correct The confusion is created as x$ is countable. But it is countable only if it refers to $bills (actual paper notes). Looking at the sentence (and 99% of the time in GMAT) x$ is referring to money and not actual $bills. hence it becomes uncountable. Manager Joined: 31 May 2010 Posts: 98 Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 31 [0], given: 25 Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink] ### Show Tags 13 Dec 2010, 19:02 Its C Redundacy - Amount & SUM so A and E out Parallelism lead 'amonted; with 'spent' As its uncountable - so 'Less' not 'Lower' _________________ Kudos if any of my post helps you !!! Manager Joined: 13 Jul 2010 Posts: 169 Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 48 [0], given: 7 Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink] ### Show Tags 13 Dec 2010, 19:17 Agreed with C. Amounted needs to be in the past tense to fit the setting of last year and money is uncountable so requires the descriptive less rather than lower. Senior Manager Joined: 19 Oct 2010 Posts: 271 Location: India GMAT 1: 560 Q36 V31 GPA: 3 Followers: 6 Kudos [?]: 56 [0], given: 27 Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink] ### Show Tags 22 Jan 2011, 02:20 USCTrojan2006 wrote: Should be less than, with amount in the past tense form. this is the simplest explanation why it's C _________________ petrifiedbutstanding Manager Joined: 04 Sep 2010 Posts: 84 Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 6 [0], given: 11 Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink] ### Show Tags 26 May 2011, 05:58 spriya wrote: Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts to a sum lower than one percent of the$541 billion the nation spent on health care last year, doctors say fear of lawsuits plays major role in health-care inflation.

(A) amounts to a sum lower
(B) amounts to less
(C) amounted to less
(D) amounted to lower
(E) amounted to a lower sum

costs is plural so A and B are out E has redundant "sum so it is also out

Between Less and Lower ;
I will go for Less as it is for Costs
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Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink]

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26 May 2011, 10:53
+1 C

"Lower" can be only an adjective.
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Re: sc- less than Vs lower than [#permalink]

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26 May 2011, 11:01
Note the difference in lower vs. less

i scored lower than my sister
vs.
i scored 1% less than my sister
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Re: Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts [#permalink]

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14 Dec 2012, 19:40
Percent is uncountable unless the clearly specified how much is the money it should be considered Countable but when percent is mentioned it requires uncountable usage i.e. less

B and C : B is eliminated since it is singular subject the costs is plural hene answer is C.
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Re: Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts [#permalink]

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04 Jan 2013, 00:31
I got the OA but not sure if my method was corrrect. Basically I substituted in the ellipsis-ed (!) word into the second half of the sentence:
" but (whom) were eventually discovered" --> wrong because they (not them) were eventually discovered
"but (who) were eventually discovered" --> great!
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Re: Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts [#permalink]

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25 Jan 2014, 07:41
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Re: Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts [#permalink]

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26 Aug 2015, 05:56
The direct costs - this is plural and needs a plural verb. Many things amount to something. One thing amounts to something.
This discrepancy of singular verb following a plural subject eliminated A and B.

(A) amounts to a sum lower
(B) amounts to less

C v/s D v/s E

(C) amounted to less
(D) amounted to lower
(E) amounted to a lower sum

When comparing with percentage, less is preffered to lower. Hence C is the answer. Somebody please let me know whether this reason is correct. Moreover, putting in place D and E sound awkward - but awkward is not a grammatical reason. Pls help.
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Re: Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts   [#permalink] 26 Aug 2015, 05:56

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