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.

First of all, replacing "what" with the "the thing that" is not a foolproof strategy to rely on, as illustrated here . It's just a guideline for understanding the usage of "what" as a preposition. Take another look at this slightly stripped-down version of (D): "A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price of what the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient." This sentence refers to the price of something ... so what is it that has a price? In this case, it's whatever amount of money the drug's maker charges for the other product. (D) makes it sound like the new drug is being sold for three times the price of some other price, and that doesn't make any sense (a product has a price, but a product's price doesn't have a price). Now that we've thought about meaning in choice (D), let's trying applying that little test: Since we are talking about what the drug's maker charges for another product, it makes sense to use "the PRICE that" instead of "the THING that." (Notice that even in applying the test, we're thinking hard about context. If you find yourself lazily applying memorized rules, the GMAT will eat you alive!) So (D) becomes, "A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price of the price that the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient." As described above, this doesn't make any sense. On the other hand, the meaning makes perfect sense in (C): The new drug is being sold for three times as much as something else . In this case, the something else is "the price that the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient." In other words, the new drug's price is three times the other drug's price, and that's a perfectly logical comparison. I hope that helps!

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

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arirux92

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15 Nov 2016, 04:01

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lawiniecke

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

Hi lawiniecke

of what is redundant... focus on the part around the underlined part:

price of what the drugmaker charges

what -> refers to price itself

so price of price the drugmaker charges

contrast it to :

price that the drugmaker charges

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26 Nov 2019, 07:08

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burnttwinky

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.

The following reasons are a compilation of the responses from Manhattan forum:

(A) as
- Wrong
three times as ... --> when we are using such comparison we require the idiom "as much as"
Using a single "as" is incorrect

(B) than
- Wrong
Than requires a "comparative degree" such as "greater, more, less etc."

(C) that
- Correct
This is a from of inverted sentence.
Normal sentence - The drug maker charges three times the price
When we invert it - Three times the price "that" the drug maker charges

(D) of what
- Wrong
-unidiomatic.
Simply using "what" would have been correct.
A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price what the drug’s maker charges - Correct

(E) at which
- Wrong
- Here "which" refers to price.
So inserting which in the main sentence
A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price of price drug’s maker charges.
We are kind of repeating - prices and charges

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04 Aug 2020, 17:12

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Why is 'of what' wrong here. It makes perfect sense to me that new hair growth drug is being sold at 3 times the price of what the drug maker charges for another product.
Thank You for the help.

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aman2816

Why is 'of what' wrong here. It makes perfect sense to me that new hair growth drug is being sold at 3 times the price of what the drug maker charges for another product.
Thank You for the help.

"what the drug maker charges" is the price the drug maker charges.

So, that version conveys that the drug is being sold at three times the price of the price the drug maker charges for another product.

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26 Dec 2021, 05:39

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GMATNinja

Hope you re doing good. I remember your explanation in one of the comparison question in which you told about repacing "What" with the phrase "The thing that". If apply the same scenario here in option D, it kind of makes sense.

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

Can you help me with right replacement application of WHAT with THE THING THAT ?

Thanks in Advance. Your insights are always valuable.

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31 Dec 2021, 10:29

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CRACKGMATNUT

First of all, replacing "what" with the "the thing that" is not a foolproof strategy to rely on, as illustrated here. It's just a guideline for understanding the usage of "what" as a preposition.

Take another look at this slightly stripped-down version of (D):

of what

This sentence refers to the price of something... so what is it that has a price? In this case, it's whatever amount of money the drug's maker charges for the other product. (D) makes it sound like the new drug is being sold for three times the price of some other price, and that doesn't make any sense (a product has a price, but a product's price doesn't have a price).

Now that we've thought about meaning in choice (D), let's trying applying that little test:

Since we are talking about what the drug's maker charges for another product, it makes sense to use "the PRICE that" instead of "the THING that." (Notice that even in applying the test, we're thinking hard about context. If you find yourself lazily applying memorized rules, the GMAT will eat you alive!)
So (D) becomes, "A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price of the price that the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient." As described above, this doesn't make any sense.

On the other hand, the meaning makes perfect sense in (C):

The new drug is being sold for three times as much as something else.
In this case, the something else is "the price that the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient."
In other words, the new drug's price is three times the other drug's price, and that's a perfectly logical comparison.

I hope that helps!

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17 Jul 2022, 10:46

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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

as/than/that: relative pronoun question
1. as...as/such as/the same as/which>as
2.more than/-er than
3. N that

1. S+V as S+V: error
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 new drug is being sold for three times the price as the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient.
>>>the drug’s maker charges three times the price
2. X
3. ok

the price of what sb charges=the price of the price
charge the price for sth
for noun: It estimated the charge at $17 million after tax.

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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.

Option Elimination -

(A) as - "as" beautifully introduced a clause that is part of the confusion, but the idea here is not to compare the "act of charging" with "is being sold." On the contrary, we are comparing the price. We need a relative clause introduced by "that" to add more information about "the price." It says "three times the price." Three times in comparison to what? Ultimately, we are trying to say this: "A new hair-growth drug is being sold for three times the price, per milligram, compared to the price the drug’s maker charges for another product with the same active ingredient."

(B) than - no comparison marker to trigger "than."

(C) that - ok. it explains "the price." "that" introduces a relative clause that modifies "THE price."

(D) of what - The big problem here is that there is nothing grammatically wrong with this. E.g., The online store charges three times the price of what the local store offers for the same product. BUT a preferred construction is "The online store charges three times the price that the local store offers for the same product." Reason? Clarity and conciseness. Between C and D, C is preferred. I know this is not black vs white, but this is sufficient to eliminate D when we have 100% correct option D and somewhat okay option D.

(E) at which - "at which" can refer to a location. E.g., The party was held at John's house, at which we had a great time. That is not the intended purpose here. Moreover, even if "which" refers to "price" - price at price ....? Doesn't make sense

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