A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per mi

Question

A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per milligram,  as  the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

(A) as
(B) than
(C) that
(D) of what
(E) at which

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/20/business/new-baldness-drug-is-older-product-at-a-premium-price.html

In the week or so since Propecia arrived in America's pharmacies, thousands of men have rushed to doctors' offices for prescriptions. Once at the pharmacy, though, they get a dose of cold reality: Merck is selling Propecia for three times the price, per milligram,  that  it charges for another of its products that uses the same active ingredient, Proscar, a treatment for enlarged prostates.

whiplash2411 · Accepted Answer

Just try reading the sentence without the "per milligram" part. This will make things clearer to you.

A new hair-growing drug is being sold for three times the price that the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

A new hair-growing drug is being sold for three times the price oh what the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

You are comparing prices here. So when you say, the price of WHAT the drug maker charges, you are referring to a price for the action of the drug maker charging something. This is not true. You need to follow the parallelism closely to understand the direct comparison.

Hope this helps.

vivesomnium · Answer

as might imply while/because-- not correct here
Than is wrong because there is no comparative word form used here- like more or less or greater
If you use of what - the construction becomes- three times the price of what X charges..Here what stands for price..so, it seems to imply-three times the price of the price..that makes it wrong
And finally, 'charges at' is wrong idiom- you can say he sells at a price of.. but you cant say he charges at a price..simply, charges the price. Charges doesnt take at, therefore at which is wrong.
Left with D.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Option A:  The use of ‘as’ for comparing doesn’t make sense here. This is incorrect.  Eliminate.

Option B:  since there is no (greater/less/more/higher) 'than' usage here is unidiomatic.  Eliminate

Option C:   Correct Answer.  'that' refers to 'price' and it makes sense. 'that (price) the maker charges'. In other words, the maker charges price (that).

Option D:  "what the drug's maker charges for another product" is the same as price. So, the sentence essentially says "for more than three times the price of price".  Eliminate.  
 
Option E:  at which - at price won't make sense. 'maker charges at price' makes no sense. ‘which’ refers to price.  Eliminate.

Option C is the best choice.

Hope this helps!

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem: 
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the hair-growth drug is sold for three times the price its maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Comparison + Idioms

• “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.
• A comparison must always be made between similar elements.

A:  This answer choice incorrectly compares the noun “price” to the verb phrase “the drug’s maker charges”; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements.

B:  This answer choice incorrectly compares the noun “price” to the verb phrase “the drug’s maker charges”; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements.

C:   Correct.  This answer choice uses the phrase “three times...that”, conveying the intended meaning of the sentence –that the hair-growth drug is sold for three times the price its maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient. Further, Option C correctly compares the noun “price” to the pronoun phrase “the drug’s maker charges...ingredient”. Additionally, Option C correctly uses “that” to refer to information that is needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, namely that the price of the hair-growth drug is being compared against that of another product with the same active ingredient.

D:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “of what the drug’s maker charges...ingredient”; the use of “of what” leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that the hair-growth drug is sold for three times the price its maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

E:  This answer choice incorrectly uses “which” to refer to information that is needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, namely that the price of the hair-growth drug is being compared against that of another product with the same active ingredient; please remember, “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

serhio · Answer

look at the sentence from this point of view:

A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, ....................... the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

so we need a word that clearly connects two parts, modifying price. 
the correct answer here is that (C)

the price that the ....

RaviChandra · Answer

hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price  as  the drug’s maker charges (edited)

three times the price  as  the drug’s maker price

A&B has a similar prob......
is three time more or less than drug makers price?

E is out doesnt even match.

its between

C&D

ill choose C because three times the price of what drug makers are selling (would be more better and apt)

ANS:C

seekmba · Answer

I found some real good explanation on another forum. The OA is C.

The reason for why option D is wrong?

seekmba · Answer

A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per milligram, _______ the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

A.) as - if we put 'as' in the blank then we need another clause for comparing the price of hair-growth drug. A new drug is sold for 3 times the price,  as  the maker charges for another product.

B.) than - A new drug is sold for 3 times the price,  than  the maker charges for another product.

C.) that - A new drug is sold for 3 times the price,  that  the maker charges for another product.

D.) of what - A new drug is sold for 3 times the price,  of what  the maker charges for another product.

E.) at which - A new drug is sold for 3 times the price,  at which the maker charges for another product.

MICKEYXITIN · Answer

to see the struction more clearly, you can eliminate "per miligram" to see: 
A is being sold for 3 times the price  as  Mr.Drug charges for B with the same active ingredient.
If you replace "of what" in (D), the sentence is totally absurb: "the price of what", do you see it awkward?

metallicafan · Answer

+1 C
Using my ear.

Where could I read more about this type of mistake? Thanks!

parker · Answer

Metallicafan, the category that this falls into is comparison, but the skill necessary to identify the correct structure for that comparison is the skill exhibited by the above posters-- identifying which modifiers are used to clutter the sentence's structure, and ignoring those superfluous chunks to see the underlying grammar. The prep companies worth their salt have content work with comparisons and modifiers built into their curricula, and teach you how to identify those underlying structures.

An exercise I sometimes give to my students who struggle with this concept is to take any sentence and boil it down to its essential core--you can do this with newspaper articles, OG questions, or anything else densely written.

An exercise I sometimes give to my students who struggle with this concept is to take any sentence and boil it down to its essential core--you can do this with newspaper articles, OG questions, or anything else densely written.

DevilDoggNC · Answer

First off -- make sure you understand the meaning of the sentence. What is the author trying to convey?

In simple language ---> There is a new product. The manufacturer of this new product is selling it for 3 times the price of another product (also produced by the same manufacturer). Both these products contain the same ingredients.

Look at choice D closely --

"A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per milligram, of which the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient".

"Of which" here --> in a sense refers to a price of a price.

An easier approach would be to ignore the "per milligram" modifier.

"A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price OF WHICH the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient".

Choice D does not convey the intended meaning of the sentence.

narangvaibhav · Answer

Please visit the link https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/a-n ... t5504.html

kuttingchai · Answer

will vote for C because

A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per milligram, as the drug's maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

main clause
A new hair-growth drug is being sold  
subject: drug
verb: is being sold

subordinate clause
that the drug's maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.
that-refers to the Price

tedchou12 · Answer

Thanks for the explanation, but I would just like to confirm that "of what" in the problem would also be invalid for the reason above too (since you typed of WHICH).
Thanks,
Ted

egmat · Answer

Dear @tedchou12,

I will be glad to help clarify your doubt. I somehow believe that you are still doubtful about this question since you have not understood the crux behind what this question tests. Please do correct me if my supposition is wrong.

To answer your question directly - the explanation provided for "of which" is also applicable for "of what". Can you reason it out why? The reason has actually been presented very well in the explanation above. The key thing here is to understand the intended meaning that the sentence wants to communicate. Once you figure that out you will understand why "of which" or "of what" or "as" are incorrect in the context of this sentence.

Do let me know if you have any follow on questions.

Regards,

Payal

pradeepss · Answer

from meaning front:
new drug expensive in prices vs that company charges for another drug with same ingredient. so here THAT makes sense.

Answer: C

JarvisR · Answer

A  new hair-growth  drug is being sold for three times the price,  per milligram,   as  the drug's maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.

Something is being sold for the price that X charges for Y.

A) as
B) than
 C) that
 D) of what
E) at which

law258 · Answer

Just for clarification purposes, can one of the experts please elaborate as to why D is unacceptable? Your responses are greatly appreciated!!!

A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per mi

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per mi

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