Last visit was: 19 Nov 2025, 06:02 It is currently 19 Nov 2025, 06:02
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2   3   4   5   
User avatar
Vivek1707
User avatar
Joined: 22 May 2020
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 20
Own Kudos:
2
Given Kudos: 105
Posts: 20
Kudos: 2
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 31 Jul 2021, 11:01
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATNinja
For some reason, a large percentage of my students hate this question with the fury of a thousand suns. But you’ll love it… right?

Quote:
(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
I don’t really see any problems with (A). The “which” jumps out at me, but that seems fine, since “which holds 20% of the world’s fresh water” logically modifies “Siberia’s Lake Baikal.” That last modifier seems fine, too: “more than all the North American Great Lakes combined” describes “20% of the world’s fresh water.”

So I guess we’ll keep (A), and hope that the other four answer choices have problems.

Quote:
(B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.
I’m not sure that anything is WRONG with (B), but there are three or four things that are spectacularly crappy about (B). (Craptacular? That’s not a word, but it should be.)

For starters, “with 20% of the world’s fresh water” is a lousy way to modify “Siberia’s Lake Baikal.” The preposition “with” generally suggests accompaniment of some sort (“I eat burritos with green chile” or “I went to the movies with my daughter”), and I can’t understand why we would use “with” in this context. Plus, it’s a long way from the thing it modifies. Again, I can’t prove that it’s WRONG, but it’s not great.

I also can’t make sense of the middle modifier, “that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.” For starters, I can’t figure out why we’re using a modifier beginning with “that” immediately after a comma. More importantly, the comparison doesn’t work: it’s basically saying that 20% of the world’s fresh water is more than the Great Lakes. You could say that the amount of water in Lake Baikal is greater than the amount of water in the Great Lakes, but it isn’t awesome to say that the amount of water is greater than the lakes themselves.

Finally, there’s no reason to write “…Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it” when we could use a more active construction (“more than 300 rivers drain into Lake Baikal”). The version in (B) isn’t WRONG, exactly, but it’s pretty craptacular compared to (A).

So we can ditch (B).

Quote:
(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
The most straightforward problem with (B) is that the subject is basically repeated twice: “Siberia’s Lake Baikal, (blah blah modifier), it holds…” That’s definitely not cool.

For bonus points, the modifier beginning with “with” still doesn’t seem quite right (see the explanation to (B) for more on that issue), and the comparison isn’t quite right, either: “Lake Baikal… holds more of the world’s fresh water than all that of the… Great Lakes…” “That” presumably refers to water, so that gives us “Lake Baikal… holds more of the world’s fresh water than [all the water of] the… Great Lakes.” And that’s wildly unnecessary: it’s better just to say that Lake Baikal holds more water than the Great Lakes.

But even if you ignore that last paragraph, the “Lake Baikal… it holds…” thing is a huge problem. So (C) is out.

Quote:
(D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
The “which” jumps out at me first. The phrase “which is more than… the Great Lakes…” seems to modify “20% of the world’s fresh water”, and that doesn’t quite work: it’s illogical to say that a quantity of water is “more than… the Great Lakes.” It might be more than the water in the Great Lakes, but not “more than” the Great Lakes themselves.

Plus, “while” is essentially a synonym for “although” in this case, and that doesn’t make sense: “[Although] more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia’s Lake Baikal…[is large].” “Although” suggests some sort of contrast, and there’s definitely no contrast between those two phrases.

So (D) is out.

Quote:
(E) More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.
That opening modifier, “more than all the… Great Lakes combined”, still isn’t great: it’s literally suggesting that Lake Baikal is “more than the Great Lakes”, and that doesn’t make sense. Maybe the amount of water in Lake Baikal is more than the amount in all of the Great Lakes, but Lake Baikal itself isn’t “more than” the Great Lakes.

I’m also not crazy about the use of “with” as a modifier in (E). For more on this issue, see the explanation for (B) above.

(E) isn’t a complete disaster, but (A) does a better job of conveying the meaning of the sentence, so (A) is our answer.
Show more

Hi GMATNinja

In option, it seems like the world's fresh water is being compared to North American Great Lakes in option A aswell, could you please help me understand what am I missing.
User avatar
GMATNinja
User avatar
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 7,443
Own Kudos:
69,783
 [1]
Given Kudos: 2,060
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Products:
GMAT Club Tests Forum Quiz
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Posts: 7,443
Kudos: 69,783
 [1]
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 07 Aug 2021, 08:50
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Vivek1707

Hi GMATNinja

In option, it seems like the world's fresh water is being compared to North American Great Lakes in option A aswell, could you please help me understand what am I missing.
Show more
Take another look at (A):

Quote:
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
Show more
Notice that the sentence ends with the modifier in red, which appears to be describing the phrase in blue. It seems logical to say that the quantity "20% of the world's fresh water" is more than the other Great Lakes combined, right?

In order to interpret that last phrase as referring to "Lake Baikal," we'd have to ignore the portion in blue. But there's no reason to do that. The nice thing about well-placed modifiers is that they tend to be very close to whatever they describe!

The takeaway: in general, if a noun modifier is right next to something it could logically describe, it's probably fine, and you'll want to move on to other issues. :)

I hope that helps!
User avatar
S567k
User avatar
Joined: 13 May 2020
Last visit: 02 Mar 2022
Posts: 17
Own Kudos:
12
Given Kudos: 21
Location: India
Schools: ISB '23 (I)
GMAT 1: 680 Q48 V35
GPA: 4
Schools: ISB '23 (I)
GMAT 1: 680 Q48 V35
Posts: 17
Kudos: 12
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 26 Nov 2021, 03:54
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
What is the verb for Siberia's Lake Baikal in option A?
avatar
AndrewN
avatar
Volunteer Expert
Joined: 16 May 2019
Last visit: 29 Mar 2025
Posts: 3,502
Own Kudos:
7,511
 [1]
Given Kudos: 500
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 3,502
Kudos: 7,511
 [1]
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 26 Nov 2021, 04:55
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Sk567
What is the verb for Siberia's Lake Baikal in option A?
Show more
Hello, Sk567. You may find this post by GMATNinja helpful, in which he addresses this exact concern. Happy reading.

- Andrew
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,195
Own Kudos:
4,765
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,195
Kudos: 4,765
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 26 Nov 2021, 07:11
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Sk567
What is the verb for Siberia's Lake Baikal in option A?
Show more

Hello Sk567,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe that we can resolve your doubt.

In this sentence, "Siberia's Lake Baikal" is not acted upon by an active verb; it is modified by the phrase "which holds...". "Siberia's Lake Baikal" lacking an active verb is not an error, as this noun is not the subject of the sentence; the subject is "More than 300 rivers", which is acted upon by the active verb "drain" to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
thakurarun85
User avatar
Joined: 10 Jul 2021
Last visit: 21 Sep 2022
Posts: 224
Own Kudos:
53
Given Kudos: 29
Posts: 224
Kudos: 53
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 28 Nov 2021, 03:29
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
can someone explain between A and C

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.

in A "20 % of the world's fresh water" is compared with " all the north American lakes"

while in C "world's fresh water" is compared with " that of the north American lakes"

Looks like that in A water is compared with lakes.
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,195
Own Kudos:
4,765
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,195
Kudos: 4,765
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 28 Nov 2021, 06:15
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
thakurarun85
can someone explain between A and C

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.

in A "20 % of the world's fresh water" is compared with " all the north American lakes"

while in C "world's fresh water" is compared with " that of the north American lakes"

Looks like that in A water is compared with lakes.
Show more

Hello thakurarun85,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

In Option A, the verb "hold" is implied in the phrase "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined"; this is known as the rule of ellipses - a verb that has already been mentioned in the sentence may be omitted from a parallel context, for the sake of brevity.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
thakurarun85
User avatar
Joined: 10 Jul 2021
Last visit: 21 Sep 2022
Posts: 224
Own Kudos:
53
Given Kudos: 29
Posts: 224
Kudos: 53
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 07 Dec 2021, 06:21
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
ExpertsGlobal5
thakurarun85
can someone explain between A and C

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.

in A "20 % of the world's fresh water" is compared with " all the north American lakes"

while in C "world's fresh water" is compared with " that of the north American lakes"

Looks like that in A water is compared with lakes.

Hello thakurarun85,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

In Option A, the verb "hold" is implied in the phrase "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined"; this is known as the rule of ellipses - a verb that has already been mentioned in the sentence may be omitted from a parallel context, for the sake of brevity.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
Show more

Ok. That makes sense.

So if I am not wrong hold will be placed after "more than all the North American Great Lakes" and before " combined"

more than all the North American Great Lakes holds combined
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,195
Own Kudos:
4,765
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,195
Kudos: 4,765
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 07 Dec 2021, 06:59
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
thakurarun85
ExpertsGlobal5
thakurarun85
can someone explain between A and C

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.

in A "20 % of the world's fresh water" is compared with " all the north American lakes"

while in C "world's fresh water" is compared with " that of the north American lakes"

Looks like that in A water is compared with lakes.

Hello thakurarun85,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

In Option A, the verb "hold" is implied in the phrase "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined"; this is known as the rule of ellipses - a verb that has already been mentioned in the sentence may be omitted from a parallel context, for the sake of brevity.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Ok. That makes sense.

So if I am not wrong hold will be placed after "more than all the North American Great Lakes" and before " combined"

more than all the North American Great Lakes holds combined
Show more


Hello thakurarun85,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your question, yes; you have correctly identified the appropriate placement of the omitted verb "hold".

All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
Vubar
User avatar
Joined: 03 Sep 2021
Last visit: 13 Feb 2025
Posts: 96
Own Kudos:
153
Given Kudos: 16
Location: Australia
Schools: Harvard '24 LBS '24 Sloan '24 Stanford '24 Yale '24
GMAT 1: 690 Q42 V42
GMAT 2: 760 Q49 V42
GMAT 3: 770 Q49 V47
GMAT 4: 750 Q49 V44
Schools: Harvard '24 LBS '24 Sloan '24 Stanford '24 Yale '24
GMAT 4: 750 Q49 V44
Posts: 96
Kudos: 153
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 11 Feb 2022, 03:09
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATNinja or mikemcgarry or anyone in a position to respond!

Is it fair to say that all the answer choices in this question have an error in common - that is, they all make a bad comparison?

Looking at the correct answer choice: "More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined."

For this comparison to be correct, this would need to be "more than what all the Great Lakes combined hold", or some equivalent use of a determiner?

To clarify: my question isn't regarding the omission of "hold" as I recognise it can be implied based on the parallel structure. I'm wondering if the determiner is required? To my ear (reliable of course!), the determiner is necessary?
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,195
Own Kudos:
4,765
 [1]
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,195
Kudos: 4,765
 [1]
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 11 Feb 2022, 06:02
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Vubar
GMATNinja or mikemcgarry or anyone in a position to respond!

Is it fair to say that all the answer choices in this question have an error in common - that is, they all make a bad comparison?

Looking at the correct answer choice: "More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined."

For this comparison to be correct, this would need to be "more than what all the Great Lakes combined hold", or some equivalent use of a determiner?

To clarify: my question isn't regarding the omission of "hold" as I recognise it can be implied based on the parallel structure. I'm wondering if the determiner is required? To my ear (reliable of course!), the determiner is necessary?
Show more

Hello Vubar,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the determiner is not necessary here because the sentence is actually comparing the act of "holding", as done by Lake Baikal and "all the North American Great Lakes combined".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
Namangupta1997
User avatar
Joined: 23 Oct 2020
Last visit: 05 Apr 2025
Posts: 145
Own Kudos:
8
Given Kudos: 63
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38
Posts: 145
Kudos: 8
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 28 Feb 2022, 10:40
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi ExpertsGlobal5

In the correct option A, "More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal" is an independent clause. Shouldn't it be followed by a semi colon ?
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
 [1]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
 [1]
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 28 Feb 2022, 21:26
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Namangupta1997
Hi ExpertsGlobal5

In the correct option A, "More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal" is an independent clause. Shouldn't it be followed by a semi colon ?
Show more
Hi Namangupta1997,

One way to use a semicolon is as a "big comma", but there's no need for such a semicolon here. Another way to use a semicolon is to join two related independent clauses. However, although more than 300 rivers drain... is an independent clause, there is no other independent clause to which it is connected.

1. More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal ← This is an independent clause. It can stand alone as a sentence.
2. , which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, ← This is a modifier. It can't stand alone as a sentence.
3. more than all the North American Great Lakes combined. ← This is also a modifier. It can't stand alone as a sentence. Keep in mind that even combined is a modifier here. That is, it's not a "complete" verb that combines with a subject to create a clause.

Effectively, this sentence is {independent clause} + {modifier} + {modifier}. As there is only independent clause here, there's no need to use a semicolon.
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,195
Own Kudos:
4,765
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,195
Kudos: 4,765
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 01 Mar 2022, 06:23
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Namangupta1997
Hi ExpertsGlobal5

In the correct option A, "More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal" is an independent clause. Shouldn't it be followed by a semi colon ?
Show more

Hello Namangupta1997,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, as AjiteshArun has written, the semicolon is used to join one independent clause to another independent clause; since Option A only includes one independent clause, the semicolon is not needed.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
GraceSCKao
User avatar
Joined: 02 Jul 2021
Last visit: 18 Dec 2022
Posts: 124
Own Kudos:
54
Given Kudos: 1,247
Location: Taiwan
Schools: Columbia CBS '24 Darden '24 LBS '24 Wharton '24
GMAT 1: 730 Q50 V39
Schools: Columbia CBS '24 Darden '24 LBS '24 Wharton '24
GMAT 1: 730 Q50 V39
Posts: 124
Kudos: 54
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 24 May 2022, 08:31
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
likar
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.

(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.

(D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(E) More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.
Show more

Though I am not an expert, I would like to share some of my thoughts.
This question reminds me of another question https://reurl.cc/1ZX7Km.
I personally think that these two questions show how versatile the two words "more" and "less" can be used in written English and exploit this fact.

To be honest, I have to say that I did not like the correct option (A), since initially it seemed to have two problems to me.

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

I kept thinking what the main point should be--the fact that more than 300 rivers flow into a lake? or the fact that this lake holds more fresh water than some other lakes together? The latter seemed to be more important to me, but in (A), it is expressed via a modifier, which is less important than the main sentence. That is my first problem with (A).

Secondly, I was not sure how the final part "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined" plays in this sentence. If the word "more" is used as an adjective, what is more than all the Great Lakes? The preceding noun "20 percent of the world's fresh water"? These two are so close that I thought of this possibility first. But, how can a ratio (20 percent) or some amount of water (20 percent of fresh water) be compared with some lakes? This type of comparison may work in daily conversation, but GMAT is famous for rejecting this type of comparison.

In the GMAT world, we might want to say either "the 20 percent of fresh water is more than the water held by the Great Lakes combined, or "the 20 percent is higher/greater than the share of the (fresh water of) Great Lakes."

So, I do not think that it is the 20 percent of fresh water that is more than all the Great Lakes combined. But, "more" can also be used as an adverb, and we have a verb "hold," so let's check whether they fit.

...Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

The comparison structure is clear: the Lake Baikal vs all the North American Great Lakes. They are compared in terms of the amount of water held.

Other options all have concrete issues and experts have pointed them out. Some issues are loose comparison. For example:

(D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

Since "which" refers to the preceding noun, it can refer back to "20 percent" or "20 percent of the world's fresh water". Now the option (D) says the ratio or some amount of water is more than some lakes. The type of companion is not workable in GMAT.

(B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.

The option (B) has a similar problem.

*
My takeaway from this question is: I might use "more" as a pronoun or an adjective so often that I sometimes forget that "more" could also be a nice and simple adverb modifying the verb. The word "less" is the same, as shown by this question.

(If you have not practiced this one, maybe you want to skip the following part.)

pi10t
Officials at the United States Mint believe that the Sacagawea dollar coin will be used more as a substitute for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than four quarters, which weigh 5.67 grams each.

(A) more as a substitute for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than

(C) as a substitute for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than
Show more

The word "less" is used as an adjective in the option (A). Even if we accept that it is okay to say a weight (8.1 grams) is less than another weight, (A) literally says that a weight is less than some coins, creating a wrong comparison.

On the other hand, the correct option (C) reads:

Officials at the United States Mint believe that the Sacagawea dollar coin will be used as a substitute for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than four quarters, which weigh 5.67 grams each.
avatar
lovikansal
avatar
Joined: 23 Apr 2021
Last visit: 24 Jun 2024
Posts: 24
Own Kudos:
16
Given Kudos: 40
Location: Australia
Concentration: Finance, General Management
GPA: 2.96
WE:Marketing (Retail: E-commerce)
Posts: 24
Kudos: 16
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 07 Jul 2022, 23:24
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
likar
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.


(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.

(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.

(D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(E) More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.
Show more


Even after reading all of the answers, I am confused. How is the modifier "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined" different in A and B?
From what I understand, both of them are modifying "20 percent of the world's fresh water". So, why is the modifier in B wrong (other than the reason relative pronouns should not be followed by a comma)?
avatar
RiyaJain69
avatar
Joined: 30 Dec 2020
Last visit: 16 Nov 2025
Posts: 117
Own Kudos:
68
Given Kudos: 112
Location: India
Schools: IIMC '25 (WA) IIMB '25 (D) IIMA PGPX'25 (D)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V39
Schools: IIMC '25 (WA) IIMB '25 (D) IIMA PGPX'25 (D)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V39
Posts: 117
Kudos: 68
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 08 Jul 2022, 05:16
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
mikemcgarry

More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

One way to think about it is: exactly what is "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined"? The Great Lakes, as lakes, are fresh water, so we are comparing them to another quantity of fresh water ---
Show more

Hi. Please help! I'm unable to wrap my head around the argument that "more than all the... Great Lakes combined" is freshwater.

My take: Lakes aren't water. Lakes hold/contain water. Isn't it? The way I'm seeing it, A says 20% freshwater is more than Great Lakes (not water in Great Lakes). It should read 20% freshwater > WATER IN Great Lakes.

What am I missing? 🤔
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
 [1]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
 [1]
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 08 Jul 2022, 19:09
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
RiyaJain69
Hi. Please help! I'm unable to wrap my head around the argument that "more than all the... Great Lakes combined" is freshwater.

My take: Lakes aren't water. Lakes hold/contain water. Isn't it? The way I'm seeing it, A says 20% freshwater is more than Great Lakes (not water in Great Lakes). It should read 20% freshwater > WATER IN Great Lakes.

What am I missing? 🤔
Show more
Hi RiyaJain69,

You could try to read that option like this:
1. ... which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more (fresh water) than all the North American Great Lakes combined (hold).

Here's another example.
User avatar
vv65
User avatar
Joined: 01 Mar 2015
Last visit: 10 Nov 2025
Posts: 534
Own Kudos:
395
Given Kudos: 774
Location: India
GMAT 1: 740 Q47 V44
GMAT 1: 740 Q47 V44
Posts: 534
Kudos: 395
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 08 Jul 2022, 22:35
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
lovikansal
Even after reading all of the answers, I am confused. How is the modifier "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined" different in A and B?
From what I understand, both of them are modifying "20 percent of the world's fresh water". So, why is the modifier in B wrong (other than the reason relative pronouns should not be followed by a comma)?
Show more
Don't focus only on that one difference. A and B have other differences too.

Here is one other difference:
Core sentence in A: More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal.
Core sentence in B: Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.
A is a better sentence than B, right? For one, it's shorter. Secondly, it's sort of odd to say that a lake has rivers.

Another problem in B is the non-essential modifier that opens with THAT.
With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined,...
Such modifiers usually open with WHICH, not with THAT.

Posted from my mobile device
avatar
RiyaJain69
avatar
Joined: 30 Dec 2020
Last visit: 16 Nov 2025
Posts: 117
Own Kudos:
68
Given Kudos: 112
Location: India
Schools: IIMC '25 (WA) IIMB '25 (D) IIMA PGPX'25 (D)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V39
Schools: IIMC '25 (WA) IIMB '25 (D) IIMA PGPX'25 (D)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V39
Posts: 117
Kudos: 68
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 10 Jul 2022, 04:19
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun
RiyaJain69
Hi. Please help! I'm unable to wrap my head around the argument that "more than all the... Great Lakes combined" is freshwater.

My take: Lakes aren't water. Lakes hold/contain water. Isn't it? The way I'm seeing it, A says 20% freshwater is more than Great Lakes (not water in Great Lakes). It should read 20% freshwater > WATER IN Great Lakes.

What am I missing? 🤔
Hi RiyaJain69,

You could try to read that option like this:
1. ... which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more (fresh water) than all the North American Great Lakes combined (hold).

Here's another example.
Show more

Thank you! I went through the link you gave here. But my query persists, prominently because of the following stuff I read in Wren & Martin:

In a compound sentence, a single verb can be made to do duty for two subjects only when the form of the verb is such as to permit of it; as
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note (was heard).

But the following sentence is incorrect, because the subjects are not in the same number:
His diet was abstemious, his prayers long and fervent.

We should rewrite it as follows: His diet was abstemious, his prayers were long and fervent.

Going by this rule, Option A in this SC question would be incorrect. Isn't it? That's the reason this question with 45% difficulty level is throwing me off.

I understand why this sentence is correct: Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams, more than any other player in the tournament. Here, the principal verb "has won" fits in the modifier, so it's implied.

But this sentence is incorrect: Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams, more than all the other players in the tournament combined. Here, the principal verb "has won" does not agree with the subject of the modifer, hence the sentence is, strictly speaking, incorrect (from what I understand).

This SC question has shaken my confidence. Wren & Martin is incorrect?! Gmat Ninja mikemcgarry, would love your inputs too, if possible. Thank you to everyone who answers this.
   1   2   3   4   5   
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7443 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
231 posts
miag
188 posts