imSKR wrote:
Quote:
Laos has a land area about the same as Great Britain but only four million in population, where many are members of hill tribes ensconced in the virtually inaccessible mountain valleys of the north.
(A) about the same as Great Britain but only four million in population, where many
(B) of about the same size as Great Britain is, but in Laos there is a population of only four million, and many
(C) that is about the same size as Great Britain's land area, but in Laos with a population of only four million people, many of them
(D) comparable to the size of Great Britain, but only four million in population, and many
(E) comparable to that of Great Britain but a population of only four million people, many of whom
Hi
AndrewN GMATNinjaThis question catches my attention once again.
A silly question :
Quote:
Laos has a land area comparable to that of Great Britain but a population of only four million people, many of whom are members of hill tribes ensconced in the virtually inaccessible mountain valleys of the north.
population of only four million people is not redudant?
Population means here people who inhabit a territory or state/lives there
we can say 4 million people or population of 4 million?
Please confirm .
Thanks!
Hello,
imSKR. Just because Laos is mentioned does not mean that we are necessarily talking about Laotians, and the same can be said for Great Britain and the British (or Britons, if you prefer). A different sentence could just as easily swap out
people for, I don't know, pigeons, and the comparison would be just as valid. Although the context of this particular sentence suggests that the part before the comma is referring to people, and the part after the comma definitely spells it out—I cannot imagine pigeons being described as
members of hill tribes—the meaning conveyed by the comparison would be unclear until the latter half of the sentence, and you probably know by now that clarity of meaning rests atop the GMAT™ SC pyramid. That is, since the first half of the sentence is lengthy, this might be a case in which it would be better to risk redundancy after the fact (once someone has read the entire sentence) than to delay the clear expression of vital meaning. In short, either spelling out the comparison or letting the context of the sentence fill in the gap can work, but it depends on the sentence you are examining.
I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me.
- Andrew
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