In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 milli

This is one of my least-favorite GMAT comparison questions ever… and that’s why we covered it on YouTube, in our 2nd webinar on comparisons. (Part I of that webinar can be found here.)


The thing that jumps out at me here is the word “those.” It’s a plural pronoun, and the only reasonable plural referent is “tons.” So we’d have “…lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than the tons of the 1978 harvest."

Wait.. what? “The tons of the 1978 harvest”?? That makes no sense. The tons of rice ARE the harvest, so why the heck would we ever say “the tons of the harvest”?

So (A) is out.


I’ll be honest: I don’t totally love this one, but I also can’t figure out why it’s definitely wrong. (And you’re always looking for answer choices that contain DEFINITE errors; see our beginner’s guide to SC for more on that.)

Here’s the heart of the comparison in (B): “…lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than the 1978 harvest.” This directly compares 41 million tons – which is exactly the same thing as the 1979 harvest – to the 1978 harvest. Fair enough, I guess. I suppose this would “feel” more obviously correct if the phrase compared “the 1979 harvest” directly to “the 1978 harvest”, but there’s nothing wrong with (B) in its current form. We’re still logically comparing an entire harvest (“41 million tons”) to another entire harvest.

I guess we can keep (B).


This one is very definitely wrong. It’s saying that the 1979 rice production of 41 million tons is less than the year 1978. We can’t logically compare the tons of rice to a year. (C) is out.


(D) has exactly the same problem as (C). The distinction between “less” and “fewer” means nothing to us here, since the comparison is completely illogical. So (D) is gone, too.


The pronoun “that” jumps out at me again here. It’s a singular pronoun, so it must refer to… “rice production”, I guess? But that makes no sense, since we’d have “fewer than the rice production of India’s 1978 harvest.” Huh? The “production of the harvest”? That’s nonsense: the harvest IS the production.

So (E) is out. (B) isn’t perfect, but it’s the best we can do.

Thangvietnam, we contrast "fewer" and "less" as I discussed above, but not "few" and "less." Let me show some usages:

Fewer = a smaller number of something (a comparative word)

We have fewer visitors this week than we did last week.
My wife has fewer papers on the desk than I do.
There are five fewer men than women at the party.

Less = a smaller measurement or quantity of something (a comparative word)

I have less money than my brother.
If I had taken less time on question 7, I might have done better on the exam.
Cycling requires less upper body strength than rock climbing.

Few = a small number of something (not a comparative word)

We have had few visitors this week.
Few of my friends enjoy spicy food.
A few of my friends enjoy spicy food.

Note that these last two have different implications. When I say "few of my friends," I mean "not very many of my friends." I am emphasizing the small number. When I say "a few of my friends," I mean "several of my friends." I am emphasizing the fact that some friends *do* like spicy food.

I hope this list helps. Let me know if you had something else in mind, or if you have other questions.

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest . Plural. Rice production is singular

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

(C) less than 1978. Illogical . 25% less than 1978.

(D) fewer than 1978

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest

With percent we use "less" not "fewer". Thus, D , E are out.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that the weight of 41 million tons is nearly 25 percent less than the 1978 rice harvest.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns + Comparison + Idioms

• A comparison must always be made between similar elements.
• “few”/”a few” are exclusively used to refer to plural nouns and countable nouns, and “less”/”a little” are exclusively used to refer to singular nouns and uncountable nouns; “any”, “none”, “all”, and “some” can be used to refer to plural and uncountable nouns and singular and countable nouns.

A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "those of the 1978 harvest"; as the only possible referent for "those" is "tons", the use of "those" incoherently implies that the weight of 41 million tons is nearly 25 percent less than the tons of the 1978 rice harvest; the intended meaning is that the weight of 41 million tons is nearly 25 percent less than the 1978 rice harvest, itself.

B: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "less than the 1978 harvest", conveying the intended meaning - that the intended meaning is that the weight of 41 million tons is nearly 25 percent less than the 1978 rice harvest, itself. Further, Option B correctly compares "rice production" with "the 1978 harvest". Additionally, Option B correctly refers to the uncountable noun "rice production" with the term "less". Besides, Option B is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

C: This answer choice incorrectly compares "41 million tons" to "1978"; please remember, a comparison can only be made between similar things.

D: This answer choice incorrectly compares "41 million tons" to "1978"; please remember, a comparison can only be made between similar things. Further, Option D incorrectly refers to the uncountable noun "rice production" with the term "fewer"; please remember, “few”/”a few” are exclusively used to refer to plural nouns and countable nouns, and “less”/”a little” are exclusively used to refer to singular nouns and uncountable nouns.

E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the uncountable noun "rice production" with the term "fewer"; please remember, “few”/”a few” are exclusively used to refer to plural nouns and countable nouns, and “less”/”a little” are exclusively used to refer to singular nouns and uncountable nouns. Further, Option E uses the needlessly wordy phrase "that (the rice production) of India's 1978 harvest", leading to awkwardness and redundancy; this usage is redundant, as in this sentence "harvest" is used to refer to the "rice production"; thus, Option E needlessly refers to "rice production" as a subset of a broader "1978 harvest".

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Less than in the start of phrase should be there so, D and E are out. however, after less than "that of" is required to make it parallel. "Those of" is wrong as it comes when noun is plural. "C' is also out.
But why "B" is right I dont know.

Anyone, please explain.

great, thank you, manhantan expert.

I am satisfied with oa but

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent //less than those of the 1978 harvest.//

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

(C) less than 1978

(D) fewer than 1978

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest


but "less than the 1978 harvest" modify "production" or " 41 million tons" pls, help

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest
Wrong.
- "production" is singular --> "those" is wrong.
- "production of the 1978 harvest" is redundant. "harvest" also means "production".

(B) less than the 1978 harvest
Correct.
"percent" is abstract number --> use "less", not "fewer". --> correct.

(C) less than 1978
Wrong.
- Comparison problem. "production" vs. "1978" <-- wrong.
- Should be "production" vs. "that in 1978" --OR-- "production" vs. "the 1978 harvest".

(D) fewer than 1978
Wrong.
- "percent" is abstract number --> Must use "less", not "fewer".
- Comparison problem: "production" vs. "1978"

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest
Wrong.
- "percent" is abstract number --> Must use "less", not "fewer".
- "that of the 1978 harvest" is redundant. "harvest" also means "production".

Hope it helps.

Hi,

We can count production as it is given, "production to about 41 millions"

few is used for countable things.
Few books, few stores.

Besides, little is used for uncountable things.
little water.

So, why can't we use few here as we can count the production in its unit?

Thanks,
Jai

Technically, few is used for countable noun, less is used for uncountable noun.

Abstract numbers such as percentage is considered uncountable noun. Why? Because "percentage" itself is not complete. Percentage of what? That's why we call percentage is abstract number --> uncountable noun --> "less" is correct.

Please see the non-underlined part, which says "25 percent" <-- we can't use "fewer" here. You can ONLY count one percent, two percent,..... BUT you can't count one percent of 1978 harvest. That is abstract number.

In short, "Less" is used for uncountable, usually abstract nouns:level, quantity, rate, figure, percentage, etc. ect...

Hope it helps.

we do not have the formal instruction of the use of less or fewer in the cases of measure/weight. and this is hard for us to obsorb/remember the usage in those cases.

in the book "advanced grammar in use by Martin", both less and fewer can be used with percentage. so, it is possible that both "less" and "fewer" are correct in this sc problem

another point

here the comparision is "amount of 41 tons" is 25 less than the 1978 havest. the sentence dose not compare "production" with the havest because "production" is general, not "production of 1979"

so the only reason why e is wrong is that "that" in e is wrong.

THANK YOU expert,
do you have any tips for "few " and "less" , pls help

it is quite confusing. get crazy or understand this idea. the question stem includes numbers and percents, then we say production is uncountable. what about 41 tons or 25 %.
please help to fix my mind to such idea. I studied MGMAT sc book more than twice.

I still have a question in Option B. Although it was bought up earlier in the thread, can someone address my concern Below.

If option B said less than that of 1978 Harvest or less than that of 1978

What exactly is wrong with this structure.

Explanation- Since it is a comparison question ask yourself what is being compared? Rice production in 1978 to rice production in 1979.Right!
Now can we count rice production?
1 rice production, 2 rice production doesn’t make sense
So rice production is uncountable thus we have to use less(not few)
(A) is wrong because of use of those for singular rice production
(C) is wrong because you cannot compare rice production in one year to another year(1978)
Hence (B) stands correct

That's a hard one to answer, because A as written doesn't make more sense. How can we say that the production is less than the tons?

In any case, we choose "less" or "fewer" based on what we're counting, so be careful about using "those" to make your decision. For instance, both of the following are correct:

Investors in Country X earn less money than those in Country Y.
His strategy produced less profit than that of his competitor.

Notice that here we choose "less" based on what we have less of (money, profit), not what produces less (those [investors], that [strategy]).

kongaharsha




Well think of what is the reference for the pronoun ‘that’. If you are meaning that it refers to the production or harvest, then you are saying that it is less than the production or harvest of 1978 harvest; Can you see the redundancy there?

But the second choice of yours is ok because now there is no redundancy since you have removed 'harvest'

Few:
used with countable things - the three forms are:
Few - fewer (comparative) - fewest (superlative)

Little:
used with uncountable things - the three forms are:
Little - less (comparative) - least (superlative)

Example:
You may use this check-out counter, if you have less than ten items...wrong , items are countable. (Frequently you see a sign less than 10 items in a supermarket... it is wrong !)
You may use this check-out counter, if you have fewer than ten items... right.

My sister takes fewer milk than I do. .. wrong, milk is uncountable.
My sister takes less milk than I do. .. right.