Bunuel wrote:
Just forty years ago, the idea of any planets outside our Solar System was purely speculative, but by now astrophysicists have confirmed the discovery of over 3000 exoplanets throughout the galaxy, although
much less of these fall in the “habitable zone,” where Life is thought to be possible.
A. much less of these fall
B. much less of these had fallen
C. many less of these fall
D. many fewer of these fall
E. many fewer of these had fallen
Magoosh Official Explanation:
Split #1: countable vs. uncountableCountable items (people, cars, days, ideas, etc.) are items for which we would say “how many?” Uncountable items (water, air, time, space, etc.) are items for which we say “how much?” When the number or amount is decreasing, we still stick with the “many”/”much” split; for uncountable items we use “less” and “much less”; for countable items, we use “fewer” and “many fewer.”
These latter constructions may sound unfamiliar to native English speakers, because this is one of the most misused diction rules in colloquial American English.
Planets and exoplanets are countable, so we need the construction “many fewer.” The constructions “much less” and “many less” are incorrect, so choices (A) & (B) & (C) are all incorrect.
Split #2: verb tenseThe context reports current scientific facts, so the present tense is the appropriate verb. The past perfect “had fallen” is completely inappropriate here. Choices (B) & (E) are incorrect.
The only possible choice is (D).