Balding is much more common among White males than males of other race

156. Balding is much more common among White males than males of other races.

(A) than
(B) than among
(C) than is so of
(D) compared to
(E) in comparison with


A - than does not seem correct due to presence of among

B - seems correct as among is required otherwise we can not use among to compare between two things or items

C - awkard and does not make sense

D - compared to is unidiomatic
E - does not parallel with the given sentence

Hope this helps and I am correct !

I think it's B.

Balding is much more common among White males than among males of other races.

A-Balding is much more common among White males than males of other races
Sentence can have two meanings-Balding is more common among White males than among males of other races OR In white males, males of other races are less common than balding-A is out because of ambiguity

B-Balding is much more common among White males than among males of other races
B solves the ambiguity problem of A

C-Balding is much more common among White males than is so of males of other races
Balding is...among A than is so of B; among and is so are not //.

D-Balding is much more common among White males compared to males of other races
compared to is used on its own without more or less,For eg : Sales were 60,000 compared to 30,000 last year.

E-same as D

Here's an example where "compared to" might work:

• "Compared to Iowa, Nebraska is a very exciting place."

We're not saying that Nebraska is, in a vacuum, a very exciting place. Instead, we're saying that Nebraska is very exciting RELATIVE to Iowa. In other words, Nebraska is very exciting ONLY WHEN compared to Iowa. That makes sense, and this sentence is fine.

• "Nebraska is more exciting than Iowa."

This simple "more/than" comparison is also fine.

• "Compared to Iowa, Nebraska is more exciting."

This isn't great. Like the first example above, this one seems to suggest that the main clause is only true when compared to Iowa. So Nebraska is more exciting ONLY WHEN compared to Iowa? That doesn't work because saying, "Nebraska is more exciting" doesn't mean anything unless we add a "than" part. This sentence leaves us wondering, "Nebraska is more exciting than what, compared to Iowa?

(D) and (E) have a similar issue. They leave the reader wondering, "Balding is more common than what compared to males of other races?"

That's an awfully subtle point, and this question is very old. So don't pull your hair out worrying about this one!

Yeah B in order to compare males with males. The original compares balding to males.
Hopefully the OA is not D.

Nice and Tricky one. This one belongs to the category of parellelism .
Correct Answer Is B . Maintain the parellel structure of the sentence by keeping among with than.

In A

--> Occurrence of Balding among white males
--> males of other races..

Occurrence of Balding among white males is compared with males


B sets the comparison right both grammtically and logically

egmat , could you please help me on this one! , Why is option A wrong ?

According to my reasoning -
If we say for example - 'Bob is more handsome than Jack'
It can only be interpreted in 1 way , i.e 'Bob is more handsome than Jack'
and the other way is wrong since it doesn't make sense to say - 'Bob is more handsome than Bob is more Jack'.

Similarly in option A- Balding is much more common among White males than males of other races.

If we interpret - Balding is more common among white males than males of other races are common among white males
, then it doesn't make sense?
The correct interpretation is - Balding is much more common among White males than males of other races..
(Isn't ellipses at play here? )

I suppose why option B is the correct answer is because the use of 'among' after 'than' maintains parallelism?
I don't think theres any ambiguity in the first place..

Also , when the comparison is clear, isn't repeating the helping verb/preposition optional ?

Would appreciate your help on this one!

A, C, D and E don't maintain parallelism of "among white males" "among males of other races"

B is correct for maintaining parallelism

I see no ambiguity without among.I didn't see any wrong comparison with option A. I felt option A is right. I know that when there is preposition in comparison we need to repeat the preposition or verb to remove ambiguity.For example: I am into videogames more than girls. Here sentence can have two meaning. One is I am more into videogames than girls are into videogames. Second is I am more into videogames than into girls(kind of less interested in girls). But in this question i think there is no ambiguity. Please some experts clear my doubt. And let me see how this question is wrongly compared with white males and males of other races.

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Yes there is no ambiguity , its just that option B is better since it maintains paralellism and GMAT prefers parallel elements a lot.
If there was no option B , then A would have been right.

I crossed B because I thought it will be redundant to write among again, if there is no ambiguity. Some experts please guide me here.

Dear experts,

Why is (A) wrong?
We cannot compare Balding and males. Thus, it can convey correct meaning even there is no "among".

Hello GMATNinja & GMATNinjaTwo,
Please tell why Opt D and E aren't correct.

I was confused between D and E and end up marking D.
Only to realise the ground slipping under my feet.

Thanks