Chicago, where industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more ra

Question

Chicago,  where industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than any other American city , was plagued by labor troubles like the Pullman Strikes of 1894.

(A) where industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than any other American city

(B) which had industrial growth in the nineteenth century more rapid than that of other American cities

(C) which had growth industrially more rapid than any other American city in the nineteenth century

(D) whose industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than any other American city

(E) whose industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than that of any other American city

Please explain your answers.....
A,C and D are incorrect coz they are comparing growth with cities.
Pls explain choices B & E?

GMATBootcamp · Accepted Answer

This is a tricky problem.

Most people would think that between "which" and "whose," the correct pronoun to use is "which" because we are referring to an inanimate object.

However, there is a GMAT precedence for the use of "whose" to reference inanimate objects. The rule is that the pronoun "whose" should be used for a possessive antecedent.

eg.

"The play, whose stye is formal, is typical of that period."

Also, the sentence in solution B uses the incorrect superlative form to compare the growth of Chicago and other cities. When we are comparing growth in multiple cities, the comparative form should be something along the lines of"...most rapid," not "...more rapid."

Answer E doesn't have this issue because we are only comparing growth between Chicago and any  other  city (singular).

The answer should be E

HTH!

diogoguitarrista · Answer

papillon, please do not mark the answers at first. It would bias people. Let them try to get the answer without any guide. If you want, you could put the answer in a later post. This is also a way of studying for other people cheers

nikhilsamuel89 · Answer

IMO E 
In option B, more than two cities are compared.i.e.,chicago's X is compared to X of other american cities. Hence, we need to use superlative form of comparison here. In option E comparative form is correctly used to compare Chicago's X to any other city's X(just one city).

crashVcrush · Answer

A: Chicago"s growth was more rapid.............. THAN...............Any other American city : THAN what? = Eliminate

the intent : X's growth was more rapid THAn the growth ( implies a usage of THAT ) of Y

B : Chicago had more rapid growth................THAN................THAT OF other American cities : THAT OF = doesn't make sense = Eliminate

Correct usage should be : Chicago Had more growth.........THAN..........America HAD = Introduction of HAD makes it logical .

C : ........growth Industrially more rapid = who is modifying what ? = Eliminate

D : Chicago"s growth was more rapid.............. THAN...............Any other American city : THAN what? = Eliminate

the intent : X's growth was more rapid THAn the growth ( implies a usage of THAT ) of Y

E : Chicago"s growth was more rapid.............. THAN THAT OF Any other American city : Perfect

X's growth was more rapid.......... THAn............. the growth of Y = X's growth was more rapid.......... THAn............. THAT (the growth) of Y : THAT = The Growth

Leading to E , my take

sarphant123 · Answer

Chicago, where industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than any other American city, was plagued by labor troubles like the Pullman Strikes of 1894.

We can clearly see the use of comparison marker “than” here. So, Let’s leverage that – 
Industrial growth needs to be compared with industrial growth.
In the original sentence, Industrial growth is being compared to “any other American city”.- Incorrect

(A) where industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than any other American city
Incorrect – Comparison Issue

(B) which had industrial growth in the nineteenth century more rapid than that of other American cities
City has been changed to cities – We really don’t do that in SC.
Usage of “that of ” is incorrect here as the initial clause is using “Had industrial growth”.

(C) which had growth industrially more rapid than any other American city in the nineteenth century
Incorrect – Comparison Issue

(D) whose industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than any other American city
Incorrect – Comparison Issue

(E) whose industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more rapid than that of any other American city

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Chicago, where industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more ra

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Chicago, where industrial growth in the nineteenth century was more ra

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards