avohden wrote:
The weight of the average American male today is roughly fifteen percent greater than fifty years ago.
A. The weight of the average American male today is roughly fifteen percent greater than fifty years ago.
B. The weight of the average American male is roughly fifteen percent greater today than fifty years ago.
C. Today, the weight of the average American male is roughly fifteen percent greater than fifty years ago.
D. The average American male weighs roughly fifteen percent more today than fifty years ago.
E. The weight of the average American male today is roughly fifteen percent greater than it was fifty years ago.
Dear
avohdenI'm happy to help.
This is a funny question.
The comparative form "
fifteen percent more .. than" is not correct. That's why
(D) is wrong.
Choices
(A) -
(C) just slide the word "
today" around. I don't think there's a problem with any of the three locations for this word.
The only other split is that
(E) includes a subject & verb after "
than" for clarity. Certainly
(E) is impeccable, but we are allowed to omit all words in parallel & comparison, as long as ambiguity doesn't arise, and I don't believe
(A)-
(C) are ambiguous in their comparisons. Sometimes omitting the verb after "
than" produces gigantic ambiguities, but that's simply not the case here. For example
correct:
I like lasagne more than John does.
ambiguous:
I like lasagne more than John. This could mean the same as the first, or it could mean that I prefer lasagne to John!
Here, I don't believe any ambiguity arises, because it's clear that "
fifty years ago" is a time reference, not a possible term in the comparison. Therefore, four of the five choices would be correct.
I don't find this a very GMAT-like question. The whole sentence is underlined, but despite that, there's exceedingly little difference among the answer choices. A good SC question has one very clear correct answer, and four choices that can be eliminated for absolutely unambiguous reasons.
That's my take.
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)