The number of people who say in surveys that they have health insuranc

Responding to a pm:

The correct idiom in (B) and (C) will be "compared with". You are comparing two numbers - similar things - so you use "compared with".
"Compared to" is used when you are comparing different things such as Life compared to a battle.

Yey! I got this one correct.
Maybe we learnt a new idiom here.
So form the OA, we can say in parallel structures, we can omit the "the number of" in the succeeding element.



Cheers,
Gian

Hi,
Can u plz provide ur reasoning for each of the options.
Regards.

Two things Number of People should be compared to number of people and we have lower then, we should have than.

A. than the people reported -> The number of people is compared to people
B. compared to the number of people reported -> than is missing
C. compared to those reported -> than is missing
D. than is the reporting of people -> Completely wrong than is the reporting -> Doesn't even make sense
E. than the figures reported -> Not sure but this looks the least devil -> Number of people can be compared with/to figure I guess.

[/quote]
Hi,
Can u plz provide ur reasoning for each of the options.
Regards.[/quote]

The number of people who say in surveys that they have health insurance coverage is almost always lower than the people reported by federal and state agencies that administer the program.

A. than the people reported
B. compared to the number of people reported
C. compared to those reported
D. than is the reporting of people
E. than the figures reported

* Compare same identities. Compare apples with apples not oranges.
* Cant use two comparative terms in one sentence.

A : Compares Number with people
B : Correct comparision but uses both lower and compared to.

had there been LESS in place of lower then compared to would have been correct.

C : Same issue as B
D : Incorrect comparison.

E. it is..

karishma

Can we use compared to/with here? If I look at the last word before underlying portion

....lower -> Its already in comparative form and I believe we don't need compared to/with after comparative form. We only need the word "than".

I think "X is lower than Y" is better than "X is lower compared with/to Y". So, for me B and C are out. A is out as the number of people is compared with people reported.

D. than is the reporting of people - doesn't make sense.

Best option is E.

Yes, since we are comparing numbers, a simple "lower than" is more suitable. But those distinctions of brevity come in after all grammatical/usage errors are considered.

compared can not go with "er" or "than"

we use "er" ," than"
or
we use "compared"

we can not use both in a sentence. This is purely idiomatic.

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

In any comparison problem, you need to ask the questions: “What is being compared?” and “What is the goal of the comparison?” Here you are comparing the number of people and the goal is to show that the number in surveys is less than the actual number reported. (A) is incorrect because it improperly compares the number with the people itself – an apples to oranges comparison. In (B) and (C) the expression “compared to” is incorrect and redundant. When you use the word “lower”, it already implies a comparison – this is why you use “than” with words like “less,” “lower,” “more” etc. (D) is incorrect because it too has an apples to oranges comparison: number to reporting. Also, the word “is” is unnecessary and awkward. Only (E) makes a logical and concise comparison between the “number” and the “figures”. Answer is E.
_________________

The number of people is compared with the figures
Option E
All other options compare the number of people with people
In option B compared to is redundant

Posted from my mobile device