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Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, an equal amount as last year, doing so by using larger planes that fly more efficiently.

A. an equal amount as last year,doing so by -- usage of amount is incorrect
B. the same number offered last year -- changes meaning -- the same number offered last year using larger planes changes the meaning
C. an equal amount offered last year and -- usage of amount is incorrect
D. the same number as last year but
E. an equal number as were offered last year, - number is singular and were is plural

In OA - D , aren't we comparing the same number as last year ?
Also, for ellipsis , isn't it necessary that the elided part is present in verbatim form earlier in the sentence ?

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , egmat , sayantanc2k , DmitryFarber , MagooshExpert , RonPurewal , mikemcgarry , daagh -- please enlighten

Hi Skywalker18!

Here, the comparison is between the number of flights this year and the number of flights last year. Some of those words are omitted for clarity, but there is no problem with the construction :-) See victory47's post earlier for an explanation of the comparison here!

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Hello Skywalker18,

Thank you for the PM on this one. :-)


Let's take a look at the sentence with the correct answer choice: Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number as last year but using larger planes that fly more efficiently.

Pay attention to the phrase in terms of flights in the non-underlined portion of the sentence. This phrase already implies that the same number pertains to the same number of flights. The phrase of flights is already present in the sentence.

The same usage is applicable to the phrase last year that actually implies the number of flights lat year.

So you see all the words elided in Choice D is already present in the sentence.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Isnt comma + verb-ing modifier used to modify the action in the previous sentence? In this case, in option B, "using" would modify "are attemption", which is incorrect? Option D is better because "using" becomes a verb and takes on the subject "many airline carriers".
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Isnt comma + verb-ing modifier used to modify the action in the previous sentence? In this case, in option B, "using" would modify "are attemption", which is incorrect? Option D is better because "using" becomes a verb and takes on the subject "many airline carriers".
Option B doesn't have a comma before using.

Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number offered last year using larger planes that fly more efficiently.

Option D is:

Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number as last year but using larger planes that fly more efficiently.
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Revenge2014
Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, an equal amount as last year, doing so by using larger planes that fly more efficiently.


(A) an equal amount as last year, doing so by

(B) the same number offered last year

(C) an equal amount offered last year and

(D) the same number as last year but

(E) an equal number as were offered last year,

VeritasKarishma GMATNinja chetan2u

Can you please explain as to why option B is incorrect ?

Option B is like this :-

Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number offered last year using larger planes that fly more efficiently.


Now , there is no comma between 'last year' and ' using larger planes that fly more efficiently" . When there is no comma between the comma+verb-ing modifier and the preceding noun , the modifier modifies the preceding noun. So in this case , ' using larger planes that fly more efficiently" is the modifier and it will modify the preceding noun "year". It becomes nonsensical. So option B is incorrect.

Please let me know if my reasoning is correct.

VeritasKarishma , chetan2u , GMATNinja

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Revenge2014
Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, an equal amount as last year, doing so by using larger planes that fly more efficiently.


(A) an equal amount as last year, doing so by

(B) the same number offered last year

(C) an equal amount offered last year and

(D) the same number as last year but

(E) an equal number as were offered last year,

VeritasKarishma GMATNinja chetan2u

Can you please explain as to why option B is incorrect ?

Option B is like this :-

Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number offered last year using larger planes that fly more efficiently.


Now , there is no comma between 'last year' and ' using larger planes that fly more efficiently" . When there is no comma between the comma+verb-ing modifier and the preceding noun , the modifier modifies the preceding noun. So in this case , ' using larger planes that fly more efficiently" is the modifier and it will modify the preceding noun "year". It becomes nonsensical. So option B is incorrect.

Please let me know if my reasoning is correct.

VeritasKarishma , chetan2u , GMATNinja

egmat mikemcgarry
Yep - excellent explanation, sayan640!

The other thing to note is that the word "but" gives us a parallel construction in (D): "Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights the same number as last year but using larger planes that fly more efficiently."

Nice work!
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For D to make a comparison, don't we need a clause after "as"? "as" can only be used for comparison if it is a clause. This is satisfied by choice "E" where ellipses is on the noun but verb is present. Plus isn't verb-ing modifier "using" correct since it modifies the whole clause and the do-er of the action is the subject?

Thank you
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For D to make a comparison, don't we need a clause after "as"? "as" can only be used for comparison if it is a clause.
Hi! We absolutely do need a clause after as and the verb (was) is implied here.

This is actually quite common. For example, following would be a correct sentence:

Peter is as clever as his brother.

This is equivalent to:

Peter is as clever as his brother (is).

An official example:

Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization that flourished at the same time as the civilizations in the Nile Delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.

This is equivalent to:

Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization that flourished at the same time as the civilizations in the Nile Delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates (flourished).
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If D is the official answer, then this is a lousy question. Whatever manner one may try to justify D as the correct choice by ellipsis or otherwise, D is unfit to be the correct answer as Argha has correctly pointed out. D is the antithesis of proper comparison by matching the number of flights as last year.
To think of ellipsis, the elided part must be present in the verbatim form in the early part. Which is the part that is being elided herein in D is unclear. D is a blatant mis-comparison because of the unnecessary intrusion of the comparator ‘as’. One more potentially dubious meaning of D’s faulty comparison is that ‘the same number’ is compared with what last year offered. In that case, we are wrongly comparing the number of what the airlines are offering with what the last year offered. This is untenable.
B must be the correct answer; it avoids the mis-comparison of using ‘as’ and rightly using a past participle. Also, it may be noted that the comma plus present participle ‘using’ in B modifies the subject of the previous clause and the subject’s action namely the ‘many airlines and their efforts to increase profitability’ and not ‘last year’.
sir i think c is correct as it follow parallelism also overhead low by something and something. please help me!
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daagh
If D is the official answer, then this is a lousy question. Whatever manner one may try to justify D as the correct choice by ellipsis or otherwise, D is unfit to be the correct answer as Argha has correctly pointed out. D is the antithesis of proper comparison by matching the number of flights as last year.
To think of ellipsis, the elided part must be present in the verbatim form in the early part. Which is the part that is being elided herein in D is unclear. D is a blatant mis-comparison because of the unnecessary intrusion of the comparator ‘as’. One more potentially dubious meaning of D’s faulty comparison is that ‘the same number’ is compared with what last year offered. In that case, we are wrongly comparing the number of what the airlines are offering with what the last year offered. This is untenable.
B must be the correct answer; it avoids the mis-comparison of using ‘as’ and rightly using a past participle. Also, it may be noted that the comma plus present participle ‘using’ in B modifies the subject of the previous clause and the subject’s action namely the ‘many airlines and their efforts to increase profitability’ and not ‘last year’.
sir i think c is correct as it follow parallelism also overhead low by something and something. please help me!
First of all, (C) has to go because you can't use "amount" with "flights." "Flights" is a countable noun, so we want "number of flights", not "amount of flights".

Also, think about the meaning: how are airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low? By 1) offering the same number of flights as last year and 2) using larger planes that fly more efficiently? (C) seems to indicate that OFFERING the same number of flights as last year is an independent course of action that will somehow increase the airline's profitability. In reality, offering the same number of flights as last year, by itself, doesn't increase profitability.

Offering the same number of flights only helps if they use larger planes that fly more efficiently. That meaning is a bit more clear in (D).
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Dear GMATGuruNY,

I've read from some of your posts that AS is used to compare CLAUSE
Quote:
In D, as is used to compare actions, but it is not clear what action is being performed by the residents of all the other areas of the world. Eliminate D.
Quote:
There WERE as many boys on the football field as on the tennis court.

This sentence above compares VERBS:
There WERE as many boys on the football field [as there WERE} on the tennis court.
The second WERE is omitted, but its presence is understood.

In D, it is not clear what VERB is attributed to the residents of all the other areas.
Eliminate D.


Your second sentence -- The BOYS are...as many as the GIRLS -- does not make sense. We could say:

There ARE as many boys as girls.
The implied meaning would be: There ARE as many boys as there ARE girls.
Again, the VERBS are being compared.
How does the above principle apply to OA?
OA: Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number as last year but using larger planes that fly more efficiently.

What ACTION/VERB is performed by "last year"?
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Dear GMATGuruNY,

I've read from some of your posts that AS is used to compare CLAUSE from this post :
How does the above principle apply to OA?
OA: Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number as last year but using larger planes that fly more efficiently.

What ACTION/VERB is performed by "last year"?

Many carriers are attempting to increase profitability by offering the same number [as they were offering] last year.
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Dear GMATGuruNY,

I've found your explanation for choice E.
Quote:
E: an equal number as were offered
Here, were offered lacks a plural subject.
Eliminate E.
Why can't "flightS" be a plural subject for "WERE offered"?

Choice E: Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flightS, an equal number as WERE offered last year, using larger planes that fly more efficiently.

Moreover, compared to OA, choice E. contains ACTION/VERB, fitting perfectly with your explanation in the above post.

E: Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability by offering, in terms of flights, an equal number as were offered last year year.
The prepositional phrase in red is enclosed in commas and thus serves as a NONESSENTIAL modifier.
When a nonessential modifier is removed, the rest of the sentence should be able to stand on its own.
If we remove the red modifier from E, we get:
Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability by offering an equal number as were offered last year.
The resulting sentence does not contain a viable plural subject for were offered.
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varotkorn
Dear GMATGuruNY,

I've read from some of your posts that AS is used to compare CLAUSE from this post :
How does the above principle apply to OA?
OA: Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability while keeping overhead low by offering, in terms of flights, the same number as last year but using larger planes that fly more efficiently.

What ACTION/VERB is performed by "last year"?

Many carriers are attempting to increase profitability by offering the same number [as they were offering] last year.


Dear GMATGuruNY

In choice E, if we change it to be "an equal number as WAS offered last year":

1- Will it be correct? I understand it like follows: "an equal number as number WAS offered last year"
2- Does 'equal number' have same meaning as ' same number'? if not what is difference?

Thanks in advance
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In choice E, if we change it to be "an equal number as WAS offered last year":

1- Will it be correct? I understand it like follows: "an equal number as number WAS offered last year"
2- Does 'equal number' have same meaning as ' same number'? if not what is difference?

Thanks in advance

Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability by offering an equal number as was offered last year.
Here, the agent of was offered is unclear: who or what offered the flights last year?
Since no agent is specified, a reader might interpret as follows:
Many airline carriers are attempting to increase profitability by offering an equal number as was offered BY ALL AIRLINE CARRIERS last year.
Not the intended meaning.
Also, an equal number implies an equal number of FLIGHTS.
The phrase in red is plural and thus cannot take a singular verb such as was.
Finally, equal + as is considered unidiomatic.
For all these reasons, the proposed revision is not viable.

Please don't try to rewrite answer choices.
The goal in SC is not to rewrite answers but to eliminate incorrect answers.
In general, I will respectfully refrain from commenting on hypothetical answer choices.

X and Y are equal = X and Y have the same value.
X and Y are the same = X and Y are identical.

John and Mary sold an equal number of oranges.
John and Mary sold the same number of oranges.

There is virtually no difference between these two meanings.

All men are created equal.
Conveyed meaning:
All men have the SAME VALUE.
Here, the intention is not to convey that all men are IDENTICAL.
For this reason, it is not possible to replace equal with the same.
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I can understand how getting this question wrong can be frustrating, but I would strongly urge anyone thinking about ignoring this question on the basis of this post to reconsider that decision.

Here are some posts that could be helpful: 1, 2, 3, 4.
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Can somebody help explain why A isn't correct? Is it really just the fact that we are comparing AMOUNT vs. NUMBER? Nothing pertaining to doing so by?

A sounded so good to me (Despite the amount vs. number thing, which admittedly im not the sharpest on) - and I haven't seen a whole lot of explanation on this. I almost picked D but the but seemed so awkward... I want to make sure I dont make this mistake again!
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