Laboratory rats and mice live up to 40% longer than usual when fed a

I choose D for the sake of parallelism. diet that.... but that

But isnt it wrong to say ......'calories than they'???? isnt tht comparing calories with 'they'-the rats??

the simplest way to attack E is, on GMAT, "which" cannot be used without a COMMA. That's enf to ding answer choice E!

HTH

a)of at least 30% fewer calories than that which they would normally eat, but that otherwise
"That which" refers to the diet, whereas we're comparing the # of calories
b) with at least 30% fewer calories than what they would normally eat though otheriwse it
"diet with" is not a correct idiom. "What" seems unnecessary, too.
c) that has at least 30% fewer of the calories than they would normally eat, but otherwise it
Wrongly compares calories with "they" (mice).
d) that has at least 30% fewer calories than they would normally eat but that otherwise
1) ...."that"... "that" is in parallel
2) There is only one antecedent to "they". Although "calories" is closer, it doesn't make sense for "calories" to refer to "they".
e) that has at least 30% fewer calories than that which they normally eat, though that otherise
- just for fun, this one's solely wrong because "otherise" is misspelled

hey guys

I have a question about construction of "that which they" or "that which"

Is this construction fine to use?

Has there been any correct GMAT questions that have that and which next to each other? This structure seems a bit odd to me.

Thanks

Laboratory rats and mice live up to 40% longer than usual when fed a diet of at least 30% fewer calories than that which they would normally eat, but that otherwise contains all necessary vitamins and nutrients.
Why is A wrong?
Aren't they comparing two diets? In that case "than that" is required.
Am I wrong?

Option A:
Two relative pronouns ("that which") one after the other is awkward (though grammatically not incorrect).
"diet of 30% ..." is awkward - "diet of..." is generally used to specify particular foods - e.g., "diet of non-vegetarian foods", "diet of curd-rice" etc.

Option D:
Yes, ideally "than that" is to be used. However as has been frequently observed, GMAT allows omission of repeated words form the second element of a parallel structure.

The following post is more detailed:
laboratory-rats-and-mice-live-up-to-40-percent-longer-than-130331-20.html#p1703220

Hi sayantanc2k

Wanted to clarify one point - the omitted relative pronoun after "than" in the corrected sentence shouldn't be "that", but should be "those" as it is supposed to be referring to "calories", in keeping with the meaning? I have indicated this below:-

Laboratory rats and mice live up to 40% longer than usual when fed a diet that has at least 30% fewer calories than they would normally eat but that otherwise contains all necessary vitamins and nutrients.

Laboratory rats and mice live up to 40% longer than usual when fed a diet that has at least 30% fewer calories than those (the calories) they would normally eat but that otherwise contains all necessary vitamins and nutrients.

The antecedent of "that" is a diet, and the diet is the direct object of the phrase "they would normally eat." This construction is impressively confusing. I never thought you could remove a direct object but indeed, if the meaning remains intact, there ought to be no issue at all.

This construction is impressively clever. The test makers switched the transitive verb "fed" with the intransitive verb "eat", thereby switching the construction of the parallelism. I don't think there is anything but perhaps the food itself that could go there. Even "calories" is non-nonsensical. You eat food, not calories. Calories are the byproduct of your body breaking down the food into units of energy. I hope this helps. I'm sure sayantanc2k will have something to add.

sanghar 's point is also correct - the pronoun should be "those" since it refers to "calories". The comparison apparently becomes faulty otherwise. (Why I used "apparently" is discussed later in this post)

Wrong (apparently): The diet has 30% less calories than that (the diet) they would normally eat. (apparently wrong comparison "diet" with "calories")
Correct: The diet has 30% less calories than those (the calories) they would normally eat. (correct comparison "calories" with "calories").

Now, why I used "apparently" above:
Alternatively "diet" could be used in a different way to maintain parallelism:
The diet has 30% less calories than HAS that (the diet) they would normally eat.
But again by virtue of parallelism "has" can be omitted.
The diet has 30% less calories than has that (the diet) they would normally eat.

So, "that" and "those" both are correct, but the construction of the sentence changes (and since the construction is omitted it does not matter whether "that" or "those" is used).

Technically you are right, but in my opinion, it is acceptable to say: I eat so many calories in a day.
The grammatical implication of "this" and "those" is discussed in the post above.

Laboratory rats and mice live up to 40% longer than usual when fed a diet of at least 30% fewer calories than that which they would normally eat, but that otherwise contains all necessary vitamins and nutrients.

(A) of at least 30% fewer calories than that which they would normally eat, but that otherwise
- Uses 'that' twice to refer to different items
- Compares calories vs diet
- Eliminate

(B) with at least 30% fewer calories than what they would normally eat though otherwise it
- Compares calories vs (what = not calories)
- Eliminate

(C) that has at least 30% fewer of the calories that they would normally eat, but otherwise it
- Uses the word 'fewer' without using the word 'than'
- Eliminate

(D) that has at least 30% fewer calories than they would normally eat but that otherwise
- Keep

(E) that has at least 30% fewer calories than that which they normally eat, though that otherwise
- Uses 'that' twice to refer to two different items
- Compares calories vs a diet
- Eliminate

it is hard to find out why choice D is wrong. i can give you an example in which a pattern similar to choice D is right.

the diet they eat today has fewer calories than "that' they normally eat.

this sentence without "that" can be correct on gmat though we never have to choice between a sentence with "that" and another without "that".
what I want to say is that we do not need "that" in choice D if we have a paralel pattern to infer the cut off element.

in comparison , we need "that, those" or paralel pattern to infer the cut off part. this is main point.

so, choice D is clearly wrong because it has no "that" and has no paralel pattern.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/after-weeks- ... 17149.html

if above question is from 2019 og, we need to say that the rule of comparison is not absolute.

in OA for above sentence, we do not need "that" and we have no parallel pattern, but the sentence is still correct.

so, the comparison rule is not absolute

Laboratory rats and mice live up to 40% longer than usual when fed a diet of at least 30% fewer calories than that which they would normally eat, but that otherwise contains all necessary vitamins and nutrients.


(A) of at least 30% fewer calories than that which they would normally eat, but that otherwise - than THAT which they would normally eat
a diet...THAT otherwise contains all necessary nutrients
The first that refers to the DIET NORMALLY EATEN BY RATS.
The second that refers to the DIET THAT HAS FEWER CALORIES but otherwise contains all necessary nutrients.
Within the context of a single modifier, the same pronoun -- THAT -- cannot serve to replace two different referents (the two different diets).

(B) with at least 30% fewer calories than what they would normally eat though otherwise it - "Diet with" is unidiomatic ; the usage of what conveys that rats normally would eat something OTHER THAN CALORIES.
As a result, B illogically compares CALORIES to something OTHER THAN CALORIES

(C) that has at least 30% fewer of the calories than they would normally eat, but otherwise it - Option B and C seem to imply the following contrast:
Laboratory rats live longer, EVEN THOUGH their diet contains all necessary nutrients.
Not the intention.
The intended meaning is as follows:
Laboratory rats live longer when fed a diet THAT contains all necessary nutrients.

(D) that has at least 30% fewer calories than they would normally eat but that otherwise - Correct

(E) that has at least 30% fewer calories than that which they normally eat, though that otherwise - same as A

Answer D

Excellent. That is exactly what I am looking for. Can you please explain if there is any difference between:
Rats are fed a diet of at least 30% fewer calories than they would normally eat --> Compare sentences
and
Rats are fed a diet of at least 30% fewer calories than that which they would normally eat --> Compare DIET

I do not think that the 2nd sentence is wrong.