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rphardu
bharatemail
Just over 5% of road fatalities in 2009 have been caused by speeding vehicles – less than those caused by drunk drivers.

A. vehicles – less than those caused
B. vehicles - fewer than have been caused
C. vehicles, which is fewer than those
D. vehicles, a number that is lower than the fatalities
E. vehicles, fewer than the ones caused


In the OA, Do you think that word "that" is missing to have a parallel structure. Please comment ?

Hi bharatemail and sgupta0827,
Option A : Wrong because road fatalities is countable noun and we can not use less for that. Fewer is the correct option.
Option C : Which is modifying preceding noun "Vehicle", so vehicles is fewer than those... = Wrong and moreover vehicles are plural.
Option D : In "a number of X " is plural so can not be followed by "is" but here a number...........modifying vehicles so is wrong.
Option E : Usage of ones (there is nothing like ones, we have one and one's) is incorrect.

So only option B is best in all.


I hope my explanation helped, if indeed, please don't forget to give Kudos.

Thanks! I agree with your explanation. Yet somehow B doesn't sound right to my ears. I am not able to spot any error in B, however. Do you know how can we make B sound better? Just wanted to know out of curiosity. I hope it's not too much trouble for you. :-D
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sgupta0827
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bharatemail
Just over 5% of road fatalities in 2009 have been caused by speeding vehicles – less than those caused by drunk drivers.

A. vehicles – less than those caused
B. vehicles - fewer than have been caused
C. vehicles, which is fewer than those
D. vehicles, a number that is lower than the fatalities
E. vehicles, fewer than the ones caused


In the OA, Do you think that word "that" is missing to have a parallel structure. Please comment ?

Hi bharatemail and sgupta0827,
Option A : Wrong because road fatalities is countable noun and we can not use less for that. Fewer is the correct option.
Option C : Which is modifying preceding noun "Vehicle", so vehicles is fewer than those... = Wrong and moreover vehicles are plural.
Option D : In "a number of X " is plural so can not be followed by "is" but here a number...........modifying vehicles so is wrong.
Option E : Usage of ones (there is nothing like ones, we have one and one's) is incorrect.

So only option B is best in all.


I hope my explanation helped, if indeed, please don't forget to give Kudos.

Thanks! I agree with your explanation. Yet somehow B doesn't sound right to my ears. I am not able to spot any error in B, however. Do you know how can we make B sound better? Just wanted to know out of curiosity. I hope it's not too much trouble for you. :-D

Thanks sgupta0827, Kudos to you for further analyzing answer choices.
It seems that correct structure should be :vehicles - fewer than those/some pronoun have been caused by drunk drivers.
The problem with it is that pronoun can refer to either Vehicles or fatalities.

Giving kudos is a decent way to say "Thanks". Please use them, I need two to acess GMAT CLUB Test.
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Thanks sgupta0827, Kudos to you for further analyzing answer choices.
It seems that correct structure should be :vehicles - fewer than those/some pronoun have been caused by drunk drivers.
The problem with it is that pronoun can refer to either Vehicles or fatalities.

Thanks rphardu for your prompt response! In this question, I am more concerned about the use "have been" than really about missing pronoun. Isn't "have been" implicit even if we miss it in the appositive?

Isn't "fewer than caused by drunk drivers" enough for this appositive?
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sgupta0827
rphardu
Thanks sgupta0827, Kudos to you for further analyzing answer choices.
It seems that correct structure should be :vehicles - fewer than those/some pronoun have been caused by drunk drivers.
The problem with it is that pronoun can refer to either Vehicles or fatalities.

Thanks rphardu for your prompt response! In this question, I am more concerned about the use "have been" than really about missing pronoun. Isn't "have been" implicit even if we miss it in the appositive?

Isn't "fewer than caused by drunk drivers" enough for this appositive?

Sorry bro, but for me it does not look like appositive. Appositive are modifier here we have comparision.

Regarding removing of "have been", this concept has been illustrated very well on one of the mgmat post. I will post the link, once at home.
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rphardu
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Thanks sgupta0827, Kudos to you for further analyzing answer choices.
It seems that correct structure should be :vehicles - fewer than those/some pronoun have been caused by drunk drivers.
The problem with it is that pronoun can refer to either Vehicles or fatalities.

Thanks rphardu for your prompt response! In this question, I am more concerned about the use "have been" than really about missing pronoun. Isn't "have been" implicit even if we miss it in the appositive?

Isn't "fewer than caused by drunk drivers" enough for this appositive?

Sorry bro, but for me it does not look like appositive. Appositive are modifier here we have comparision.

Regarding removing of "have been", this concept has been illustrated very well on one of the mgmat post. I will post the link, once at home.

Sorry for so much trouble. The reason I am calling this appositive is that it is connected by a big dash(--). Since it is connected by a big dash, it can not be a main clause. It doesn't look like a subordinate clause either. Comparison by itself is not a segment fragment as far as I understand. It has to be something, so I think it's an appositive. Grammar experts can help us here.
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Sorry for so much trouble. The reason I am calling this appositive is that it is connected by a big dash(--). Since it is connected by a big dash, it can not be a main clause. It doesn't look like a subordinate clause either. Comparison by itself is not a segment fragment as far as I understand. It has to be something, so I think it's an appositive. Grammar experts can help us here.

I am no expert in Grammar. Here's what I think.

Although "--" can be used to list things, here it is not used as an appositive. It is just trying to give us additional information about the fatalities-- in this case comparative analysis.

I think "-fewer than the fatalities that have been caused", in spite of being wordy, would more clearly express what it intended to.

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What's the source?
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fluke
sgupta0827
Sorry for so much trouble. The reason I am calling this appositive is that it is connected by a big dash(--). Since it is connected by a big dash, it can not be a main clause. It doesn't look like a subordinate clause either. Comparison by itself is not a segment fragment as far as I understand. It has to be something, so I think it's an appositive. Grammar experts can help us here.

I am no expert in Grammar. Here's what I think.

Although "--" can be used to list things, here it is not used as an appositive. It is just trying to give us additional information about the fatalities-- in this case comparative analysis.

I think "-fewer than the fatalities that have been caused", in spite of being wordy, would more clearly express what it intended to.

Author:
What's the source?

This answers my question of "have been". So far I was thinking that the sentence fragment is used as an appositive. That's why I was doubting the use of "have been". If it is only used to fill the information, sentence should stand alone by itself. Hence, the verb "have been" is required. Simply having "Caused" would be a comma splice.
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Hi Fluke

I came across this question during one of tests in "e-gmat course". I am still confused why pronoun is not used in the latter portion of the sentence.
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rphardu
bharatemail
Just over 5% of road fatalities in 2009 have been caused by speeding vehicles – less than those caused by drunk drivers.

A. vehicles – less than those caused
B. vehicles - fewer than have been caused
C. vehicles, which is fewer than those
D. vehicles, a number that is lower than the fatalities
E. vehicles, fewer than the ones caused


In the OA, Do you think that word "that" is missing to have a parallel structure. Please comment ?

Hi bharatemail and sgupta0827,
Option A : Wrong because road fatalities is countable noun and we can not use less for that. Fewer is the correct option.
Option C : Which is modifying preceding noun "Vehicle", so vehicles is fewer than those... = Wrong and moreover vehicles are plural.
Option D : In "a number of X " is plural so can not be followed by "is" but here a number...........modifying vehicles so is wrong.
Option E : Usage of ones (there is nothing like ones, we have one and one's) is incorrect.

So only option B is best in all.


I hope my explanation helped, if indeed, please don't forget to give Kudos.

Option E : Usage of ones (there is nothing like ones, we have one and one's) is incorrect.

Sorry to disagree, but the expression “ones“ exists.

There are many kinds of sweets; I really like the chocolate ones.
Or The ones with chocolate frosting have cream fillings.
Or Are these the ones you want?
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B is the correct answer

Meaning is pretty clear. Let me put forth answer analysis.

- E has fewer just after comma. It modifies the entire clause which is wrong. It should modify only fatalities
- As number of fatalities is countable, fewer than should be used.
- B uses % of fatalities as subject directly without being stated
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B is the correct answer

Meaning is pretty clear. Let me put forth answer analysis.

- E has fewer just after comma. It modifies the entire clause which is wrong. It should modify only fatalities
- As number of fatalities is countable, fewer than should be used.
- B uses % of fatalities as subject directly without being stated


but the comparison here is between the percentage of fatalities caused by speeding vehicles in 2009 and percentage of fatalities caused by drunk drivers, rather between the number of fatalities. percentage is an uncountable noun so less is i guess more appropriate here.

Experts need your comment in this question.
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Can someone please explain why E is incorrect? rphardu said that "ones" doesn't exist, while "cledgard" said that it does exist. So I would request experts to intervene and post their answer and explanation on this. B somehow doesn't sound right to me.
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could someone please explain why is E incorrect?
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Ok, I think I now understand the OA. My thoughts on this...

A. vehicles – less than those caused --> WRONG; "those" refers back to "road fatalities", which is a countable noun, although "less" seems to have some kind of parallelism referring to the percentage... is a little bit ambiguous but is better to use "fewer"/b]
B. vehicles - fewer than have been caused --> [b]right

C. vehicles, which is fewer than those --> "which" modifies only vehicles so it is wrong
D. vehicles, a number that is lower than the fatalities --> wrong, a number that is lower is RIGHT, "a number" is singular. What is wrong in this answer is that ...fatalities by... is wrong, we need sthg like "fatalities caused by..."
E. vehicles, fewer than the ones caused --> "the ones" is an unnecesary pronoun and it is wrong, it creates an slight ambiguity
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Ok, I think I now understand the OA. My thoughts on this...

A. vehicles – less than those caused --> WRONG; "those" refers back to "road fatalities", which is a countable noun, although "less" seems to have some kind of parallelism referring to the percentage... is a little bit ambiguous but is better to use "fewer"/b]
B. vehicles - fewer than have been caused --> [b]right

C. vehicles, which is fewer than those --> "which" modifies only vehicles so it is wrong
D. vehicles, a number that is lower than the fatalities --> wrong, a number that is lower is RIGHT, "a number" is singular. What is wrong in this answer is that ...fatalities by... is wrong, we need sthg like "fatalities caused by..."
E. vehicles, fewer than the ones caused --> "the ones" is an unnecesary pronoun and it is wrong, it creates an slight ambiguity


HI a small correction "a number" in option D is plural ."The number" is a singular .here a number is followed by that .so option D can be avoided on this basis.
Hope it helps.
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For me, is there any error in the usage of the comma in Option E?
It seems that 'fewer' describes vehicles..
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Though the correct answer is B, many have said about the usage of "ones in option E.

Think about what the word "ones" means: you would only use it to refer to specific cases, right?

Silly example: "I eat hundreds of burritos every year, but I particularly enjoy the ones that are stuffed with avocado and carne asada."

"The ones" is NOT a generic pronoun: it refers to a specific subset of burritos. You could translate "the ones" as "the specific burritos" in this case.
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