Thedevils88 wrote:
95. Although some officials noted that using machines for farming in China costs more than traditional hand cultivation, the mechanization of farming in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield while the previous year’s costs were cut in half.
(A) mechanization of farming in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield while the previous year’s costs were cut in half
(B) mechanization of farming in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield while cutting costs to half those of the previous year
(C) mechanization of farming in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield as cost were cut to half of the previous year’s
(D) farming mechanization in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield as it cut in half the previous year’s costs
(E) farming mechanization in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield while costs were cut to half that of the previous year
I know which answer is correct, however i do not understand the underlying principle. Please explain it to me. Help is much appreciated. Thanks
I`m stronger on quant than I am on verbal, but see my comments in red below for my take on it. (B) is the only sentence that does not require correction.
(A) mechanization of farming in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield while the previous year’s costs were cut
to half
(B) mechanization of farming in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield while cutting costs to half those of the previous year
(C) mechanization of farming in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield
while cost
s were cut to half of the previous year’s
(D) farming mechanization in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield
while it cut in half the previous year’s costs
(bad sentence structure)(E) farming mechanization in the village of Long Bow doubled the corn yield while costs were cut to half
those of the previous year
Another note is that "as" creates dependency. The cost is not dependent on the yield, it is dependent on the mechanization of farming.