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 harvestAfter 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 harvestThis 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 harvestThis is
CORRECT! It compares the 1979 harvest to the 1978 harvest, and it's very clear that's the case!
(C) less than
1978This 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!Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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