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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 27 Feb 2016, 05:46
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hatemnag
it is quite confusing. get crazy or understand this idea. the question stem includes numbers and percents, then we say production is uncountable. what about 41 tons or 25 %.
please help to fix my mind to such idea. I studied MGMAT sc book more than twice.
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First: 25% of a countable noun is countable and 25% of uncountable noun is uncountable. This is true for all percent and fraction words.

Now the question is whether we are referring to 25% of production (uncountable) or 25% of tonnes (countable). The sentence conveys the meaning that the production is reduced rather tonnes are reduced. 25% of production is uncountable and thus less is used.
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 30 Apr 2016, 11:48
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.
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(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

(C) less than 1978 (compared with 1978)

(D) fewer than 1978

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 12 Jul 2017, 19:09
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hi GMATNinja GMATNinja2 Experts

what does pronoun those refer to ? India's rice production or 41 million tons.
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 20 Jul 2017, 03:04
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DmitryFarber
We only want to use "that of" or "those of" if we are comparing something *belonging* to something else:

The design of the new tablet is similar to that of its predecessor. (The design of one is similar to the design of the other.)
Jack wanted clothes similar to those of his friends. (He wants his clothes to be similar to his friends' clothes.)

In the above examples, it would be a big problem to get rid of the relative pronoun:

The design of the new tablet is similar to its predecessor. (The design is similar to the predecessor?)
Jack wanted clothes similar to his friends. (He wants his clothes to be similar to his friends?)

In B, we are correctly comparing the production in 1979 to the harvest in 1978. If we go with gmatfighter12's proposed phrasing, "less than that of," we have to ask what "that" stands for. If we say "less than that of the 1978 harvest," then "that" doesn't seem to stand for anything. If we say "less than that of 1978," the antecedent for "that" isn't entirely clear, although "production" seems like the most reasonable choice. E would then be clearer than the other wrong answer choices, but still not as clear as B.

Note that in my examples, it was very clear what "that" and "those" stood for. If we don't know what our pronouns stand for, we should probably replace them. In general, a specific noun is preferable to a vague pronoun (unless that specific noun is clearly wrong!).
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You says "In B, we are correctly comparing the production in 1979 to the harvest in 1978. " But I doubt whether production can be compared with Harvest . Production is something we can measure but harvest is "the process or period of gathering in crops."
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 10 Aug 2017, 23:46
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what is wrong with answer choice E
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 27 Aug 2017, 00:36
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hatemnag
it is quite confusing. get crazy or understand this idea. the question stem includes numbers and percents, then we say production is uncountable. what about 41 tons or 25 %.
please help to fix my mind to such idea. I studied MGMAT sc book more than twice.

First: 25% of a countable noun is countable and 25% of uncountable noun is uncountable. This is true for all percent and fraction words.

Now the question is whether we are referring to 25% of production (uncountable) or 25% of tonnes (countable). The sentence conveys the meaning that the production is reduced rather tonnes are reduced. 25% of production is uncountable and thus less is used.
Show more


Hello sayantanc2k

In one of the above posts, Dmitry has mentioned that measurements and weights are uncountable. But in your post you have mentioned that tonnes is countable. Is there some difference between the two that I am not able to spot here?

Is there some way that we can use to conclude what is countable and what is not?

Thanks
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 30 Aug 2017, 01:48
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Shiv2016, Sayantan and I are coming at the same idea in two different ways. When I said that weights and measures are typically uncountable, I meant that when we are talking about the measurement itself, we are not counting things. We are just referring to a number. For instance, we would say "I weigh 10 pounds less than my brother," not "10 pounds fewer," because we are simply comparing total weight. We are not counting individual pounds and seeing who has more. We'd say "I have 10 fewer dollars" or "I have 3 more children," but not "my height is 3 inches fewer."

So are pounds countable? Sure, and if we are looking at them directly, we use language that reflects that. For instance, we say "How many pounds of candy did you buy?" and not "How much pounds." However, usually when we talk about pounds or inches (or more civilized units, such as meters or kilograms ;) ), we are using them to compare one measurement to another. We are talking about weight or height or production, rather than counting individual things.

Correct:
How much does the job pay?
How many dollars do you have?
How much do you weigh?
How many pounds of vegetables do you need?
The production was 5 tons less than last year. (Comparing this year's production to last.)
I hauled 5 fewer tons this year than last year. (Comparing what I hauled this year to what I hauled last year.)
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 31 Aug 2017, 02:24
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gmat4varun


You says "In B, we are correctly comparing the production in 1979 to the harvest in 1978. " But I doubt whether production can be compared with Harvest . Production is something we can measure but harvest is "the process or period of gathering in crops."
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Hello gmat4varun,

I would just like to pitch in with my take on the usage of the word harvest.

This word is also used to mean produce or fruits or result. So technically, there is no issue in comparing production with harvest that has been used to mean produce.

Hope this helps. :-)
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 31 Aug 2017, 02:37
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Jabjagotabhisavera

Hi

I marked answer as "A" because I thought those refers to "tonnage/tons" of harvest. So the option "A" becomes "less than "tonnage/tons"of the 1978 harvest". Is it not correct?

Please clear my doubt.
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Hello Jabjagotabhisavera,

I will be glad to help you with this one. :-)

Let's focus on the meaning if those refers to 41 million tons in the original sentence.

The sentence would convey that in 1979, India produced nearly 25 percent less than 41 million tons of the 1978 harvest.

Does this information make sense? No because the sentence clearly says that India produced 41 million tons of rice in 1979. This production was 25 less than the production in 1978.

But per the above-mentioned sentence, India produces less than 41 million tons in 1979.

So you see the illogical meaning due to the incorrect reference of pronoun those.


Hope this helps. :-)
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 31 Aug 2017, 02:39
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adkikani
hi GMATNinja GMATNinja2 Experts

what does pronoun those refer to ? India's rice production or 41 million tons.
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Hello Arpit/ adkikani,

The plural pronoun those has no logical antecedent in the original sentence.

Just replace those with both the nouns you have suggested in your post. You will see that none of the nouns will convey the intended meaning.


Hope this helps. :-)
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Shraddha
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 31 Aug 2017, 02:45
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Saumya2403
what is wrong with answer choice E
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Hello Saumya2403,

I will be glad to help you out with this one. :-)

There are the following two errors in Choice E:

1. Using fewer to refer to rice production is incorrect. Less should be used to refer to quantities.

2. Since the pronoun that refers back to India’s rice production, use of India’s is redundant here.


Hope this helps. :-)
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 24 Dec 2017, 21:35
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Hi Experts,

Could you please tell what type of a modifier is "nearly 25 percent less.... harvest" is? It is placed at the end of the sentence after the comma, and is modifying a noun earlier in the substance (rice production). If this is an absolute phrase, then those are usually in the form (Noun + Noun modifier), but I am not able to understand the structure of this phrase? Please advise.

Thank you!
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 27 Dec 2017, 06:18
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Hi Experts,

Could you please tell what type of a modifier is "nearly 25 percent less.... harvest" is? It is placed at the end of the sentence after the comma, and is modifying a noun earlier in the substance (rice production). If this is an absolute phrase, then those are usually in the form (Noun + Noun modifier), but I am not able to understand the structure of this phrase? Please advise.

Thank you!
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It is not an absolute phrase. First note that adjectives (and adjective phrases) are noun modifiers. Now observe that, "25 percent less than the 1978 harvest" is an adjective phrase ["less" is the head (comparative) adjective of the phrase].
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 12 Sep 2018, 11:21
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Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, to get to the correct answer quickly! Before we dive in, here is the original question, with any differences between each option highlighted in orange:

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest
(B) less than the 1978 harvest
(C) less than 1978
(D) fewer than 1978
(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest

After a quick glance over each option, two major issues stand out:

1. less vs. fewer
2. parallel comparisons (1978 harvest/1978/that of India's 1978 harvest)

Since #1 on our list will rule out 2 or 3 answers right away, let's start there. Here is the general rule for less vs. fewer:

LESS = non-countable things; singular mass nouns (less patience, less of a percentage, less water, less grass)
FEWER = countable things (fewer books, fewer blades of grass, fewer dogs)

So which one do we choose? So what is shrinking by 25%? The rice production. Since rice production isn't a countable thing, we must use LESS. Let's see how each option stacks up:

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest
(B) less than the 1978 harvest
(C) less than 1978
(D) fewer than 1978
(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest

We can eliminate options D & E because they use the wrong comparison "fewer."

Now that we only have 3 options to choose from, let's tackle #2 on our list: parallel comparisons. First, we need to determine what two things are being compared in the sentence, so we can make sure they are parallel in wording, structure, or type. After reading it over, we can easily see that these two things are being compared:

The 1978 rice harvest vs. The 1979 rice harvest

Let's look at each remaining option carefully to make sure they are actually comparing harvest to harvest:

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest

This is INCORRECT because it's comparing the 1979 harvest to "those of" the 1978 harvest. It's not clear what "those of" is referring to - lack of rain? Rice production? It's not a parallel comparison, so it's wrong.

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

This is CORRECT! It compares the 1979 harvest to the 1978 harvest, and it's very clear that's the case!

(C) less than 1978

This is INCORRECT because it's comparing the harvest of 1979 to the year 1978. We're not comparing harvests to years - that's not parallel! Therefore, this cannot be the correct choice.


There you have it! Option B is the correct choice because it uses the correct comparison language (less) and creates a parallel comparison!


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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 26 Oct 2019, 08:43
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.


(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

(C) less than 1978

(D) fewer than 1978

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest

The production of rice in two different years is compared in the main sentence. As the production is singular, the use of those of in option A is incorrect.

In option B, India's rice production in 1979 is correctly compared with the 1978 harvest.

The production and a year are two different entities that cannot be compared together. So, option C is incorrect.

The options D and E are also incorrect because we use fewer for a countable entity, but the production is uncountable.
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 26 Feb 2020, 09:35
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Just out of curiosity, Should not phrase 'In 1979 lack..' be 'In 1979, lack...'?

Because first one seems to say, Sentence description is in 1979 whereas, in the next sentece,year1979 seems to have passed.

Please let me know, if my reasoning is incorrect

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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 27 Feb 2020, 00:21
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avinashiitp You're right that we would normally follow a time modifier of that sort with a comma, but I'm not seeing the effect on meaning that you describe. The meaning seems clear either way. Perhaps that's why the GMAT didn't bother with a comma on this one.
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 26 Jan 2021, 08:39
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GMATNinja DmitryFarber GMATNinjaTwo VeritasKarishma -- i picked option C because i thought perhaps ellipsis is going on with option C ?

Option C) less than (THAT OF) 1978

The antecedent of "THAT" would be Rice production (Rice production is singular)

That's why i chose C

Thoughts on where I am wrong ?
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 27 Jan 2021, 00:24
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GMATNinja DmitryFarber GMATNinjaTwo VeritasKarishma -- i picked option C because i thought perhaps ellipsis is going on with option C ?

Option C) less than (THAT OF) 1978

The antecedent of "THAT" would be Rice production (Rice production is singular)

That's why i chose C

Thoughts on where I am wrong ?
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You need to compare production in 1979 (41 mn tonnes) to production in 1978.

Option (C) compares production in 1979 to 1978 which doesn't make sense.

Something like this will work:
"In 1979 ... 41 mn tonnes, nearly 25% less than that in 1978"
"That" here takes the place of "India's rice production".

Option (B) correctly states:
"In 1979 ... 41 mn tonnes, nearly 25 percent less than the 1978 harvest.

Here "the 1978 harvest" would stand for "around 55 mn tonnes".
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In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli 27 Jan 2021, 07:19
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jabhatta2
GMATNinja DmitryFarber GMATNinjaTwo VeritasKarishma -- i picked option C because i thought perhaps ellipsis is going on with option C ?

Option C) less than (THAT OF) 1978

The antecedent of "THAT" would be Rice production (Rice production is singular)

That's why i chose C

Thoughts on where I am wrong ?

You need to compare production in 1979 (41 mn tonnes) to production in 1978.

Option (C) compares production in 1979 to 1978 which doesn't make sense.

Something like this will work:
"In 1979 ... 41 mn tonnes, nearly 25% less than (that in) 1978"
"That" here takes the place of "India's rice production".

Option (B) correctly states:
"In 1979 ... 41 mn tonnes, nearly 25 percent less than the 1978 harvest.

Here "the 1978 harvest" would stand for "around 55 mn tonnes".
Show more

Hi VeritasKarishma - Thank you for your response.

Per your highlight in yellow just above -- Just wondering, how are you so sure in option C that (that in) or (that of) is not ellipsed from option C ?

It certainly is possible that option C has verbs / pronouns that don't have to repeat itself and thus are ellipsed (Dropped)

If option C has (that in) or (that of) 1978 -- that would make option C accurate.

Thoughts ?

Thank you so much
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