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AjiteshArun
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GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
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saby1410
VeritasKarishma AjiteshArun can u explain the comparison in option A
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Hi saby1410,

Option A compares the number of rooms added by high-end hotel chains to something that the hotel industry average did. Clearly, the hotel industry average did not do anything, but there is another issue with did:

1. ... the average number of rooms added by high-end hotel chains was lower than what the hotel industry average did...

This is very vague, because added is not a verb (it's a participle). This means that the did after the hotel industry average doesn't have anything to refer to.

2. X added more ABC than Y did. ← Here added is a verb, and therefore this sentence is easy to understand ("X added more ABC than Y added").

3. The number of ABC added by X was more than what Y did. ← Y did something, but what it did isn't clear, as there is no verb that did can refer to (added is a participle).
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saby1410
VeritasKarishma AjiteshArun can u explain the comparison in option A

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Option (A)

..., the average number of rooms added by high-end hotel chains was lower than what the hotel industry average did for this period,

To say the least, this is awkward. Hotel industry average is ambiguous. What does it mean?
Does it mean the average hotel? Or does it mean "average number of rooms added by the hotel industry"?
In any case, neither works well.

but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than the average hotel.

This is certainly wrong. For the high end chain, the occupancy and room rates grew faster than the occupancy and rooms rates for the average hotel.
Occupancy and room rates did not grow faster than the average hotel.
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Hello expert,
somewhere i studied that options using "these" word should be discarded outright..as it is not of GMAT kind.. is it correct?

I don't think that's true at all. There's nothing wrong with using the word "these." "These" is just an article that indicates specificity: "These OG explanations drive me crazy sometimes." That's perfectly fine.

If you find the reference, let me know. It's possible that whatever you read was simply saying that you can't use "these" in some specific context. But "these" certainly isn't automatically wrong.
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Why are we not discarding options that say "these chains" for this question?
These would only make sense with the antecedent - "high end hotel chains" and not "high-end hotel", but now as soon as you plug these in option B and D then options look like this - ......"high end hotel chains chains than for" and ".......high end hotel chains chains grew faster than did".

Where am i going wrong? GMATNinja
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vinayakjjw
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Hello expert,
somewhere i studied that options using "these" word should be discarded outright..as it is not of GMAT kind.. is it correct?

I don't think that's true at all. There's nothing wrong with using the word "these." "These" is just an article that indicates specificity: "These OG explanations drive me crazy sometimes." That's perfectly fine.

If you find the reference, let me know. It's possible that whatever you read was simply saying that you can't use "these" in some specific context. But "these" certainly isn't automatically wrong.

Why are we not discarding options that say "these chains" for this question?
These would only make sense with the antecedent - "high end hotel chains" and not "high-end hotel", but now as soon as you plug these in option B and D then options look like this - ......"high end hotel chains chains than for" and ".......high end hotel chains chains grew faster than did".

Where am i going wrong? GMATNinja
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'these' is a demonstrative but it can be used as a pronoun or a determiner (before a noun as an adjective).

I will take these. (pronoun - replaces a noun)
I will take these apples. (determiner - describes the noun)

In these options, 'these chains' uses 'these' as a determiner. It doesn't replace the previous noun. It tells us that we are talking about the same chains.
Hence, the usage is correct.
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(E) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than they did for

I understand that 'their' refers to high-end hotel chains but why can't 'they' refer to the plural noun 'occupancy and room rates". Why is the usage of 'they' incorrect here?
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Vegita
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(E) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than they did for

I understand that 'their' refers to high-end hotel chains but why can't 'they' refer to the plural noun 'occupancy and room rates". Why is the usage of 'they' incorrect here?
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Hello Vegita,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, a pronoun, and its derivatives can only have one referent in a given sentence.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Hi ExpertsGlobal5

Could you please elaborate on "a pronoun, and its derivatives can only have one referent in a given sentence"? Sorry, but I don't think I understand.
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leanhdung
According to research covering the last decade, the average number of rooms added by high-end hotel chains was lower than what the hotel industry average did for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than the average hotel.

(A) than what the hotel industry average did for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than

(B) than the hotel industry average for this period, but occupancy and room rates grew faster for these chains than for

(C) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but occupancy and room rates for them grew faster than with

(D) as compared to what the hotel industry average had been for this period, but occupancy and room rates for these chains grew faster than did

(E) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than they did for
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Is it true that the phrase”as compared to…” is not preferred on the GMAT? Because i eliminated C,D,E citing this as a reason.
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Vegita
GMATNinja

(E) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than they did for

I understand that 'their' refers to high-end hotel chains but why can't 'they' refer to the plural noun 'occupancy and room rates". Why is the usage of 'they' incorrect here?
Show more
The first problem is straightforward: we have two plural pronouns (they and their) referring to two DIFFERENT plural nouns, and that's confusing. Is it a deal-breaker? Maybe not, but it's not great.

Also, there are some funky meaning issues created by the pronouns in (E). In (E), "their" refers to the "high-end hotel chains", and here's what that gives us:

Quote:
(E) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but high-end hotel chains' occupancy and room rates grew faster than they did for
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Here's where it gets funky: "they" seems to refer back to "THEIR occupancy and room rates," even though, logically, we want it to refer to "occupancy and room rates" only (without the "their"). Something like "those of the average hotel" probably would have been clearer.

(B) avoids that confusion entirely. Is (E) WRONG in a vacuum? Maybe not, but (B) is much better.
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leanhdung
According to research covering the last decade, the average number of rooms added by high-end hotel chains was lower than what the hotel industry average did for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than the average hotel.

(A) than what the hotel industry average did for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than

(B) than the hotel industry average for this period, but occupancy and room rates grew faster for these chains than for

(C) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but occupancy and room rates for them grew faster than with

(D) as compared to what the hotel industry average had been for this period, but occupancy and room rates for these chains grew faster than did

(E) as compared to the hotel industry average for this period, but their occupancy and room rates grew faster than they did for

Is it true that the phrase”as compared to…” is not preferred on the GMAT? Because i eliminated C,D,E citing this as a reason.
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In general, it's not a great strategy to create a list of "rules" about things that the GMAT likes (or doesn't like). There are very few absolute rules that will always work on the GMAT, and just when we think we've come up with such a "rule," the GMAT tends to give us an exception to that so-called rule. Also, if you're trying to memorize your way through SC, then you aren't practicing the important stuff: reading carefully and thinking about meaning.

The phrase "as compared to" is probably wrong, but rather than go on autopilot and eliminate those three without thinking, take the extra few seconds to read the rest of the sentence -- you'll almost certainly find other evidence to support eliminating those answer choices. Even if you don't, you'll develop better habits that will help you on test day.

I hope that helps a bit!
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