macjas wrote:
Manufacturers rate batteries in watt-hours; if they rate the watt-hour higher, the longer the battery can be expected to last.
A if they rate the watt-hour higher, the longer
B rating the watt-hour higher, it is that much longer
C the higher the watt-hour rating, the longer
D the higher the watt-hour rating, it is that much longer that
E when the watt-hour rating is higher, the longer it is
The answers appear to vary significantly, signaling likely Structure, Meaning, Modifier, or Parallelism issues.Issues(1) Meaning / Pronoun: theyThe pronoun
they must be referring to
manufacturers (before the semicolon) because batteries cannot rate things. The second
half, then, says:
if manufacturers rate [batteries] higher, then the battery will last longer.The manufacturers could make longer-lasting batteries,
but answer (A) implies that simply changing the rating given to a
battery will cause it to last longer. That doesn't make any sense; the actual battery would have to first last longer in order to
deserve the higher rating. Eliminate answer (A).
(2) Parallelism: higher X, longer Y
The sentence contains a cause-effect structure that needs to be parallel.(A) if they rate
X higher the longer the
Y(B) rating
X higher it is that much longer the
Y(C) the higher the
X the longer the
Y(D) the higher the
X it is that much longer that the
Y(E) when the
X is higher the longer it is the
YAnswers (A), (B), (D), and (E) are all wrong; not one offers a parallel structure for
X and Y. Eliminate answers (A), (B), (D),
and (E).
The Correct Answer (C) offers the only parallel option: the higher the X, the longer the Y.
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