GMAT Club Around The World!!! Many people are outraged because most

Question

Many people are outraged because most cities that have replaced their lead water pipes with  copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have less citizens receiving social services as compared to  cities that have not replaced their lead water pipes.

(A) copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have less citizens receiving social services as compared to

(B) either copper or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than

(C) copper pipes or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens receiving social services as compared to

(D) either copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than do

(E) copper or with galvanized steel have less citizens who receive social services than do

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Bunuel · Accepted Answer

Manhattan Prep Official Explanation

First Glance:  Differences in the answer choices provide clues about what a problem might be testing. Before reading the sentence, glance at the beginning of the underline and down the beginning (just the beginning!) of the five answer choices to look for one early clue as to what this sentence is testing. In this problem, some answer choices begin with  either copper  while others start with simply  copper . Parallelism may be an issue in this problem.

Issues:

(1) Parallelism and Meaning 
There is a lot of variety in the beginning of these answer choices. These changes are related to parallelism, so which have correct parallel structures?

(A) (with) copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes
(B) (with) either copper or with galvanized steel pipes
(C) (with) copper pipes or with galvanized steel pipes
(D) (with) either copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes
(E) (with) copper or with galvanized steel

It’s fine to exclude the  either , as the parallel structure could be  either X or Y  or plain  X or Y . Both convey the same meaning. In answer choices (A), (C), and (D), the cities are replacing  lead water pipes  with  copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes . This parallel structure correctly indicates that the lead water pipes were replaced by pipes made of other materials. Choice (E) omits the word  pipes  from both elements, but it’s acceptable to assume that the word pipes, used earlier in the sentence for  lead pipes , is implied for both of the later elements.

However, answer choice (B) has two issues. It says  with either X (copper) or Y (with galvanized steel pipes) . The X element is a plain noun ( copper ) but the Y element is a prepositional phrase ( with … ); these can’t be made parallel. Further, this choice omits the word pipes after copper but includes it after  galvanized steel . With this either/or construction, you need to include pipes in both the X and Y elements. As written in (B), it sounds like the cities replaced some pipes with copper in general, not necessarily copper in pipe form.

Eliminate (B) for faulty parallelism and meaning.

(2) Comparison 
Some answer choices state that there are  less citizens  while others state that there are  fewer. Less  is used to compare uncountable quantities, as in  I have less water than you. Fewer  is used to compare individual, countable items, as in  I have fewer marbles than you . In this sentence, the noun is  citizens . This is countable (one citizen, two citizens, …), so use  fewer . Eliminate (A) and (E) for incorrectly using less to modify a countable quantity.

Additionally, when using  fewer  in a comparison of countable quantities, the correct structure is  fewer X than Y . Choices (B) and (D) correctly use that structure, but (C) incorrectly uses fewer X as compared to Y. Eliminate (C) for that reason.

The Correct Answer: Answer (D)  fixes the original comparison error (less citizens … as compared to) by employing the structure  fewer X than Y . This choice also does not introduce any other new issues, such as the incorrect parallelism structure seen in (B). The end of the comparison can correctly end with either  than  or  than do , as this choice does. It may sound strange to your ear, because it uses an inverted structure that places the verb before the subject.  Do  refers back to the verb  have :  cities that have replaced their lead water pipes … have fewer citizens who receive social services than   cities that have not replaced their lead water pipes .

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

Using "With" with Galvanised Steel/Steel Pipes is wordy. There is a "with" mentioned before copper pipes term, using again is only adding more words. Eliminate B, C, and E.

Between A and D.
Less vs Fewer (less is used for uncountable nouns. People are countable)

Answer is D

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ElninoEffect · Answer

(A) copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have  less  citizens receiving social services as compared to
 Citizens are countable so use of less is wrong.

(B) either copper or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than
 Comparison is wrong citizens have been compared to cities.

(C) copper pipes or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens receiving social services as compared to
 Right construction will be either X or Y

(D) either copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than do
 Seems Correct.

(E) copper or with galvanized steel have less citizens who receive social services than do
 Copper pipes or with steel pipes.

abuc0112 · Answer

(A) copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have  less citizens  receiving social services as compared to  use of less with countable noun is wrong

(B) either copper or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than  missing the do

(C) copper pipes or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens receiving social services  as  compared to use of as is wrong. it should be than

(D) either copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than do  correct

(E) copper or with galvanized steel have  less citizens  who receive social services than do use of less with countable noun is wrong

behlmanmeet · Answer

Many people are outraged because most cities that have replaced their lead water pipes with  copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have less citizens receiving social services as compared to  cities that have not replaced their lead water pipes.

Solution:

(A) copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have less citizens receiving social services as compared to :  Citizens is a countable noun, we should use fewer.

(B) either copper or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than :  Either X or Y, X and Y should be parallel. Here X is copper(noun) whereas Y is with galvanized steel pipes(preposition+noun). Hence, X and Y are not parallel.

(C) copper pipes or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens receiving social services as compared to :  fewer is a comparison marker that goes with than. fewer....than, higher....than, lesser....than, etc. Also with after "or" is redundant but not a deterministic issue. 
 
(D) either copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than do:  Correct.

(E) copper or with galvanized steel have less citizens who receive social services than do :  Citizens is a countable noun, we should use fewer.

RICHA1189 · Answer

Many people are outraged because most cities that have replaced their lead water pipes with copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have less citizens receiving social services as compared to cities that have not replaced their lead water pipes.

Split 1 .. parallelism.. with already present in non underlined part.. no with required in front of galvanised pipes, eliminate B C and E

Split 2 .. citizens are countable noun.. hence fewer must be used .. eliminate A

OPTION D is correct because , correct usage of fewer and correct parallelism

(A) copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have less citizens receiving social services as compared to

(B) either copper or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than

(C) copper pipes or with galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens receiving social services as compared to

(D) either copper pipes or galvanized steel pipes have fewer citizens who receive social services than do

(E) copper or with galvanized steel have less citizens who receive social services than do

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GMAT Club Around The World!!! Many people are outraged because most

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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My Rewards