A recent study indicates that inner-city children who participated in

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 core meaning of this sentence is that children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970s have achieved markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have children who were not part of such programs.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Tenses + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• "greater A than B" is the correct, idiomatic comparison; A and B must be comparable and parallel.
• "when" is used to refer to a point in time.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "greater A ("rates of success in school and later in the job market") as B ("children who were not part of such programs")"; remember, "greater A than B" is the correct, idiomatic comparison; A and B must be comparable and parallel.

B: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "greater A ("rates of success in school and later in the job market") as compared to B ("children who were not part of such programs")"; remember, "greater A than B" is the correct, idiomatic comparison; A and B must be comparable and parallel. Further, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "as compared to", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "when compared to"; the use of "when" incorrectly implies that the rates of success achieved by children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970s are greater than those achieved by children who were not part of such programs, specifically at the time when the two rates are compared; the intended meaning is that the rates of success achieved by children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970s are greater than those achieved by children who were not part of such programs; remember, "when" is used to refer to a point in time. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "are" to refer to an action that concluded in the past; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Additionally, Option C uses the needlessly wordy phrase "that are markedly greater", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "did" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past. Further, Option D uses the needlessly wordy phrase "that were markedly greater", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "greater...than", conveying the intended meaning - that the rates of success achieved by children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970s are greater than those achieved by children who were not part of such programs. Further, Option E avoids the tense error seen in Option E, as it uses the phrase "markedly greater" rather than "that are markedly greater". Moreover, Option E correctly uses the simple present tense verb "have ("achieved") to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present. Additionally, Option E correctly uses the idiomatic construction "greater A ("rates of success in school and later in the job market") than B ("children who were not part of such programs")". Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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A, B, & C are incorrect because with greater we need "than". So the use of "as" makes the options incorrect. The construction in option D is awkward and too wordy. Hence, option E is the correct choice as it fixes the idiom error by using " greater than".

A recent study indicates that inner-city children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970's have achieved markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as children who were not part of such programs.


A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as
-->Incorrect: the correct idiom is : greater rates of xyz than

B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to
-->Incorrect: the correct idiom is : greater rates of xyz than

C. rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to
-->Incorrect: the correct idiom is : greater in xyz than

D. rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did
-->Incorrect: Okay so idiom usage seems fine. However, the clause is in past tense. However, the sentence intends to convey a situation whose cause(early education programs) started in the past and the effect is seen in the present(usage of have achieved). However, this clause does not convey so.

E. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have
-->Correct: the correct idiom: greater rates of xyz than is utilized here. Moreover, the sentence does in fact convey a situation whose cause(early education programs) started in the past and effect is seen in the present(usage of have achieved).

If you go by idiom usage and meaning , answers from (A) to (D) can be eliminated.

A recent study indicates that inner-city children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970's have achieved markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as children who were not part of such programs.

As we know the correct comparison is given by greater....than
So, A,B, and C are out.
In D, verb were is wrongly used for singular noun success
Ans-E


A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as

B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to

C. rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to

D. rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did

E. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have

A recent study indicates that inner-city children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970's have achieved markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as children who were not part of such programs.

Note: There is comparator "greater rates" here and that should be followed up with "than". Thus, A, B and C are out right-off-the-bat.


A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as -- fore reason mentioned above

B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to -- same as A

C. rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to -- same as A

D. rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did -- Small issue with the tense parallelism here (have achieved... did achieve)

E. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have -- CORRECT, fixed the tense parallelism issue in E

So, the answer is E

E

Correct Comparison: greater ...than..

A,B, C gone
D. distorts meaning from the original sentence.
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Correct answer E

A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as
We need to use a comparison X greater than Y, but here "as" is not used as a comparison. Hence eliminate

B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to
as compared to - is not correct idiom usage - Hence eliminate

C. rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to
when compared to - is not correct idiom usage - Hence eliminate

D. rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did
Comparison is wrong - Hence eliminate

E. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have
Here the sentence correctly compares the children with preschool education and children without preschool education

Comparison, correct use of comparative greater.

A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as : " as" is incorrect, greater should be followed by than.INCORRECT.

B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to : same as in option a , we need "than".INCORRECT.

C.rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to : "rates of success that are markedly greater" is passive and not as good as " markedly greater rates of success", also we need "than".INCORRECT.

D.rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did: same as in c additionally"did" is inappropriate here. INCORRECT.

E.markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have : Here "markedly greater rates of success " is in active voice, also " greater " is followed by " than" additionally " have " is parallel with earlier use of have. CORRECT
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A recent study indicates that inner-city children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970's have achieved markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as children who were not part of such programs.

In the above sentence , all the subject verb pair exists, used the correct tense form, no pronoun ambiguity & no modifier error.
Only Idiomatic usage " greater than" & comparison error are there.

A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as

1. The idiomatic phase " greater than" is missing
2. using "as" is not appropriate , so comparison error.

- Incorrect


B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to

1. The idiomatic phase " greater than" is missing

- Incorrect

C. rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to

1. The idiomatic phase " greater than" is missing
2. "when compared to" is incorrect usage.

- Incorrect

D. rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did

- usage of " did" is inappropriate - Incorrect


E. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have

1. usage of "greater than " removes the idiomatic error.
2. " have " removes the comparison error.

- Correct


IMO(E)

I just want to add that

" As compared to" is correct idiomatic usage
"when compared to" is incorrect


CORRECT USAGE : -
1. In comparison/Contrast With/To
2. Compared / Contrasted With/To
3. As compared/Contrasted To


INCORRECT USAGE :-

1. When Compared /Contrasted To
2. When Compared/Contrasted With
3. As Compared/Contrasted With


If any further queries, please let me know.
Thank you

IMO E.

A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as
'Greater .... than' is the correct usage, 'Greater... as' is wrong

B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to
'Compared to' is used to compare two dissimilar object. 'Compared with' is the right usage.

C. rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to
'Compared to' is used to compare two dissimilar object. 'Compared with' is the right usage.

D. rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did
tense error, the uage of 'have' in the non underline portion and then 'did' in the underline portion is wrong.

E. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have
Correct option, 'greater.... than' , 'have' are correct.

first, I talke about "have done".
for a durative verb, (the action last over a period), present perfect shows an action which began in the past and last until present.
I have learned gmat since last year.

for terminate verb, (the action is a point of time), present perfect shows an action which finished in the past but is relevant to present

I have closed the door.

in our problem, "achieved " is terminate verb. so, this case is that the action finished in the past and is relevant to present.

we do have to know above point to be confident in dealing with present perfect.

another point.
we dont change tense of the verb if doing so is not neccessary. this is reason why "did" in choice D is wrong.

one point about comparison
we should focus on the verb of the second side of comparison. most of errors happen with this verb. "did" in choice D is wrong because we dont need two tenses.

finally
"rate of success " should touch " in school...". separating them is bad.

Here's the official explanation provided by the GMAC for this question:

The sentence discusses the career and employment outcomes of children raised in certain urban settings. The children who participated in preschool education programs fared better in school and career than did those who did not participate in the programs. In answer choice A, the comparison is erroneously expressed using as instead of than. Errors in some of the other answer choices make the sentence seem to compare the participating children's rates of success with the non-participating children rather than with the non-participating children’s rates of success.

Option A: As explained, the use of as instead of than disqualifies this answer choice and makes the intended comparison unclear. Since as can mean in the role of, this wording confusingly suggests that the children participating in the programs achieved greater success in the role of children who did not participate.

Option B: This answer choice could be misread as comparing rates of success with children. Furthermore, the construction greater … as compared to is wordy, unidiomatic, and unclear.

Option C: This answer choice errs by seeming to compare rates of success with children. Furthermore, the construction greater … when compared to is wordy, unidiomatic, and unclear. It confusingly suggests that the rates are greater only while they are being compared with the children, and not at other times.

Option D: This answer choice correctly uses than instead of as to indicate the comparison, though this version is flawed in at least two ways. The relative clause that … market modifying rates of success is unnecessarily wordy and awkward compared with the formulation in answer choice E.

Option E: Correct. </strong>Note the use of than to express the comparison. Also note that the inverted order of verb and subject following than. The verb have [achieved] rather than did [achieve] correctly parallels the occurrence of the verb have achieved in the first part of the comparison.

<strong>The correct answer is E.</strong></span>

Please note that I'm not the author of this explanation. I'm just posting it here since I believe it can help the community.

A recent study indicates that inner-city children who participated in preschool education programs during the early 1970's have achieved markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as children who were not part of such programs.

We need 'greater rates than' here.

A. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as

B. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market as compared to

C. rates of success that are markedly greater in school and later in the job market when compared to

D. rates of success that were markedly greater in school and later in the job market than did

-- 'did' is not correct here.

E. markedly greater rates of success in school and later in the job market than have
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Got it correct but thinking about "later" for parallelism. Can we skip "later" and jump to "in" to check parallelism?

Hi lakshya14

later in this example is not in radar but expempted.
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