According to research covering the last decade, the average number of

'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.

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?

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!
Experts' Global Team

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.

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.

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:


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.

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!