A recent national study of the public schools shows that there are now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were four years ago.

A.there are now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were
B.there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were
C.there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many as there were
D.every thirty-two pupils now have one microcomputer, four times as many than there were
E.every thirty-two pupils now has one microcomputer, four times as many as

This question is from OG. The correct answer has ruffled a bit of my grammar sense.

C is the best I can think....will provide explanation after required research

C is my FA.

starting point: as many as the correct usage.

A.there are now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were

as many than...Wrong

B.there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were

as many than ...Wrong

C.there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many as there were

as many as ...Correct

D.every thirty-two pupils now have one microcomputer, four times as many than there were

as many than ...Wrong

E.every thirty-two pupils now has one microcomputer, four times as many as

When you placed this one into the sentence, here what it looks like:
A recent national study of the public schools shows that .every thirty-two pupils now has one microcomputer, four times as many as four years ago.

four times as many as four years ago... wrong..



So C is the answer..

agree with afife' reasoning, but the only doubt that I had was "one microcomputer"...and "there were", I think C is the better in the one-eyed land, but is the best?

"one microcomputer" is singular, so "there is" is justified.
A is out. ( it uses "there are" )

"as many as" is the correct idiom and not "as many than"
B is out.

D and E change the meaning. It seems as if 32 pupils are sharing a computer each. The grammar is wrong too.

C is the best answer.

C has the right structure

Yes OA is C. Obviously all other choices are incorrect. There are no close calls..but my concern is that in C, doesnt "four times as many as" immediately after comma seem to modify pupils rather than microrcomputer as desired by the meaning of sentence? What am I missing? What grammatical subtlelety is here.. can anybody elaborate with more examples? I know paul is on a vacation..

30s & C. Agree with Afife76's explanation

I see your point..you are quite right, it is indeed confusing....But don't you think that "four times ....." is a phrase that modifies whole sentence rather than the noun that the phrase follows ..

I am sure SC experts will articulate on this much better..I wanted to throw my 2 cents ..

Please read the post by Dwivedys in the link below. I think that should make things clear.

http://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... =summative

Once you've read that , here is the same example used in that post.

The indian team tried hard to overcome negative publicity from the betting scandal, an effort that drew immense kudos from the sporting world.

As you see, an effort is not "the scandal" but the "tried hard".

HTH

This is something that I got from the Princeton Review Verbal Workout (downloaded from http://64168.com/bbs)

The misplaced modifier rule applies to phrases, but not to clauses.

Fo the benefit of others (and to save my own time), I'm copy-pasting the OCRs version of the relevant text from the Workbook here

Most misplaced modifiers come down to making sure that the opening phrase, followed by a comma, modifies the subject of the sentence. There is a possible solution to other problems, however, that don't occur very often on the GMAT. As the Grammar Glossary will tell you, there is a fundamental difference between a phrase and a clause: A clause contains a subject and a verb, and a phrase lacks either a subject or a verb.

Clause: Although he looked for his glasses for hours,
Phrase: Having looked for his glasses for houfs,

See the difference? If you take away Although from the clause, you have a complete sentence: He lookedfor his glassesfor hours. The phrase, however, has no chance to stand by itself as a complete sentence. The misplaced modifier rule applies to phrases, but not to clauses. Therefore:

You can change a misplaced modifier into a legal sentence by changing a phrase into a clause.

Here's an example:

Wrong: While leaving the bank, Evelyn's purse was stolen.
Right: As she was leaving the bank, Evelyn's purse was stolen.

The opening phrase is now a clause (with the subject she and the verb was), so it's okay.

HTH

thanks!!

thanks abisurd!! for that constructive post
can you fix your link because it is not working!!

I go with answer C.

clearly between C and E.

E is out.. wrong comparision.
comparing "computer" with "four years ago"

Yeah, clear C

Cheers,
Unplugged

use PoE
A wrong
there is..there are..isssue...in A
as many as ...correct..so eliminate ..as many than.in B, D
now between C and E...
IMO C..right comparisons
four times as many as there were (microcomputer)four years ago..