Mammals are more effective at maintaining homeostasis than

Hello daagh sir,

Could you please help me how to deal with such comparison questions. I have always struggled in these helping verb, auxiliary verb, and ellipsis type constructions.

I would explain my understanding :-

, in regard to noun and noun :- This seems to be an adverbial modifier modifying how are the 2 types more effective at maintaining homeostasis. Hence I didn't think it was necessary to keep it close to homeostasis.

Secondly,
in A) I don't see any ambiguity :- Mammals are more effective at maintaining homeostasis than are reptiles.

If reptiles is treated as subject after than - Mammals are more effective at maintaining homeostasis than reptiles are at maintaining homeostasis -> Makes perfect sense

If reptiles is treated as object after than - Mammals are more effective at maintaining homeostasis than Mammals are effective at reptiles -> This just doesn't make sense at all

And hence I thought there was no ambiguity and was the correct answer.

It would really help if you could help me pinpoint where my understanding is flawed?

shamkeev

Comparisons are tricky affairs and form the toughest types of SC. Existing perceptions may turn to be wrong in concealed comparisons.

Please also remember that when stative or status verbs are involved eliding the stative verb in the second part is ok, while if it involves action verbs, the action should be explicitly repeated in both parts.

I believe that A and B also may mean that mammals are more effective at maintaining homeostasis than (mammals) are at maintaining reptiles.

The proof of this ambiguity is in the OA. It has ruled out A and B; We must abide by that wisdom, unless we can justify we can reason better than Institutions. I would suggest that you ask the institution how their perception is defensible.

By the way, this question seems to be inspired by the this official question.

Sometimes, meaning subtleties do get a bit lost in these kind of situations.

When we read the underlined portion of the sentence, we realize that the error is with the phrase ‘than are reptiles’ and the placement of the noun ‘reptiles’.

We can now scan the answer choices to see the differences.
We can eliminate Option A because of the error in Comparison. We see that Options D and Option E are not logical in their meaning or construction and therefore can be eliminated.

We can eliminate Option B since the noun ‘reptile’ is placed away from the other noun it is being compared with.

Thus, we are left with Option C – the right answer!

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-


Choice A: This answer choice incorrectly modifies the noun "reptile" with the phrase "in regard to consistent..."; this phrase must modify the noun "homeostasis" to convey the intended meaning of the sentence. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B: This answer choice incorrectly compares "homeostasis" to reptiles. This answer choice also repeats the error found in Option A. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice C: This answer choice correctly conveys the intended meaning of the sentence by comparing "mammals" and "reptiles" and correctly modifying the noun "homeostasis" with the phrase "in regard to consistent..." to convey what type of homeostasis is referred to in this sentence. Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Choice D: This answer choice omits the main verb acting upon the subject "mammals", the verb "are"; resultantly, the sentence is incomplete. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice E: This answer choice repeats the errors found in Options A and B. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team