A survey of private schools shows that [u]there are now one teacher fo

Question

A survey of private schools shows that  there are now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were  five years ago.

A. there are now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were
B. there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were
C. there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many as there were
D. every eight students now have one teacher, twice as many than there were
E. every eight students now has one teacher, twice as many as

OA  C 
My question is  is it right that "were" in the answer choice should be was?

daagh · Answer

C. there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many as there were

The full expansion of this clause is: there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many (teachers) as there were; thus, it may be seen that -- twice as many (teachers) as there was- would lead to S-V error.

Kurtosis · Answer

A. there are now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were - Incorrect. Subject verb agreement error.

B. there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were - Incorrect. Idiom error.

C. there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many as there were - Correct. 'many' must be followed by a plural verb.

D. every eight students now have one teacher, twice as many than there were - Incorrect. Idiom error.

E. every eight students now has one teacher, twice as many as - Incorrect. Comparison error.

Answer: C

trangphamthuy91 · Answer

Thank you for your reply!
This might be a very basic grammatical misunderstanding but i thought "there is one teacher ..., twice as many as there was 1/2 teacher (in other words, one teacher every 4 students) would be an singular since its smaller than one. Could you help to clarify?
Thanks a lot!

daagh · Answer

trangphamthuy91

That is not how it should be interpreted. Previously there was one teacher for every 16 students. Now there is one teacher for every eight students, effectively implying that there are now two teachers for the same number of 16 students previously. This is what 'twice as many' means. This is perhaps more arithmetic than grammar.

AR15J · Answer

However, I selected the right choice, but I am confused why there is "were" instead of "was" in the second part of the sentence. 
I read all the explanation, but still if we see what "there" refers to in the second part of the sentence, it refers to 1/2 teacher for every 8 students-- singular form.

Please help !

tanubarsainyan · Answer

twice as many as there were...compares number of teachers...not to one teacher... therefore were

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techiesam · Answer

daagh 
Sir,
I have one question.In option E it is written as " twice as many as " five years ago.Is that a wrong comparison?? because five years ago is a state of time.I mean,can't we say I have 16 tshirts,twice as many as I had five years ago.

Please help

daagh · Answer

E. every eight students now has one teacher, twice as many as - Incorrect. Comparison error.
Certainly, it is a wrong comparison. Because what choice E will mean is that every eight students now has one teacher, twice as many as five years ago. What does the phrase 'twice as many as' stand for? Is it for the students, for the teachers, or for the years? Therefore, there seems to be no valid comparison between like things. Normally we must take that the comparison markers refer to the immediately following factor. 
Coming to your example, yours is different from the one under question since you have clearly said that 'twice as many as I had five years ago. The phrase I had makes the comparison legal between the t-shirts you had five years ago and the t-shirts you have now.

techiesam · Answer

Sir,

Thank you very much.

Inten21 · Answer

A survey of private schools shows that  there are now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were  five years ago.

A. there are now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were
B. there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many than there were
C. there is now one teacher for every eight students, twice as many as there were
D. every eight students now have one teacher, twice as many than there were
E. every eight students now has one teacher, twice as many as

SOURCE: PREP4GMAT APP
I had seen a very similar question in OG some time ago. Thought I would share this as it helps to clear at least two concepts if you get it right.

niks18 · Answer

The use of  "are"  and idiom  "as many than"  are incorrect in the original sentence.
we need a singular  "is"  and the correct idiom  "as many as"

Option  C

VerbalBot · Answer

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A survey of private schools shows that [u]there are now one teacher fo

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A survey of private schools shows that [u]there are now one teacher fo

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