kop18 wrote:
I believe that the main difference between D and E is what comparison between and hence, the usage of "did".
We are comparing the number of games played this year to those played the last year. The comparison here is between nouns - no of games.
We often see these comparisons on our quants word problems - "P has twice as many ice creams as Q". What is being compared here? - it is the no of ice creams. Since the comparison is between the nouns, I believe the usage of "did" is wrong. We use "did" when we compare two actions. For example - Team played twice as well as Team B did. We are comparing the act of playing here and hence the usage of "did" is correct.
Please can some analyze my explanation and let me know if I am thinking in the right way?
Hello,
kop18. Probably the best way to approach a comparison is to not tell it what it needs to be. Although your understanding of comparisons seems sound, I would urge you
not to think too rigidly. I see no fundamental problem with either comparison in answer choices (D) and (E).
(D)
the team has already won twice as many games this year as it won last year(E)
the team has already won twice as many games this year as [it won] last yearThe former comparison is explicit, the latter implied, nothing more. But (D) fails because it lacks the subject
it or
the team in the latter half of the comparison, and if a verb appears there, so too should the subject. By way of comparison, I could not write,
I worked as much this week as worked last week—there is a glaring hole in the latter part of the comparison—but I could truncate the comparison to
I worked as much this week as last. A more explicit version would include
I did or
I worked, as well as
week, but none are required to make the comparison meaningful.
Best of luck with your studies.
- Andrew
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