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As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a

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As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 03 Jan 2023, 06:20
(A) Comparisons (as opposed to)
(B) CORRECT
(C) Comparisons (Unlike); Meaning (an adult… children)
(D) Comparisons (Unlike); Meaning (will)
(E) Meaning (children compared to adults will)

First glance

There are several comparison markers at the beginning of the sentence: as opposed to, compared, and unlike. Read to find what is being compared.

Issues

(1) Comparisons: as opposed to; unlike

The logical meaning of this sentence is that while both children and adults consume the same things, children require significantly more of them. The comparison phrases as opposed to and unlike are inappropriate for this meaning because they indicate one group does something another does not do, not that one group does it less than the other. Eliminate choices (A), (C), and (D).

(2) Meaning: an adult… children; will; children compared to adults

Several differences among the answer choices change the meaning of the sentence, often to something nonsensical.

Choice (C) compares an adult to children, illogically saying that a single adult is being compared to a group of children.

Answer (D) uses the future tense will. Because children’s higher consumption rate is a current and ever-present state of being, rather than a theoretical future possibility, will is unnecessary.

Answer choice (E) both uses the future tense will and the phrase children compared to adults.

This [Verb-ed phrase] seems to imply that only those children who are compared to adults will consume more, but a typical, non-compared child might consume only the standard amount. Eliminate (C), (D), and (E).

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (B) fixes the comparison and meaning problems by using the phrase compared… with and directly compares children to adults in the present.

Originally posted by jabhatta2 on 12 Nov 2021, 18:58.
Last edited by jabhatta2 on 03 Jan 2023, 06:20, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   09 Aug 2022, 09:43
Dear Experts,

As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice as much air, drink two and a half times as much water, eat three to four times as much food, and have more skin surface area.

A) As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children

B) Compared pound for pound with adults, children

C) Unlike an adult, pound for pound, children

D) Pound for pound, a child, unlike an adult, will

E) Pound for pound, children compared to adults will

I can only eliminate (C) [compare Singular to Plural Noun].
I cannot eliminate others.
I don't understand the role of "Pound for Pound". Is it adjective/adverb or noun modifier?

Also, in (C) Compared pound for pound with adults... Is it ok to compare pound with adults?
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As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   09 Aug 2022, 15:16
generis wrote:
As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice as much air, drink two and a half times as much water, eat three to four times as much food, and have more skin surface area.

A) As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children

B) Compared pound for pound with adults, children

C) Unlike an adult, pound for pound, children

D) Pound for pound, a child, unlike an adult, will

E) Pound for pound, children compared to adults will


SC34740.02


I was between A and B but eliminate A for 3 reasons, first, nothing is opposed, the phrase is comparing 2 things; second,pound for pound is an essential modifier so must not be in between commas; and thirdly, when having 2 modifiers in a phrase, one way to make it less awkward is to transform one modifier as part of the sentence and that is what b mades
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   11 Aug 2022, 04:38
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Tanchat wrote:

I can only eliminate (C) [compare Singular to Plural Noun].
I cannot eliminate others.


All the choices that say "unlike" or "opposed to" can be eliminated, because this sentence doesn't mention any opposite observations ("adults do this, but children don't").

That's good enough to get rid of A, C, and D.

The problem in E is "children compared to adults". The use of "compared to adults" directly after "children" without a comma implies that "compared to adults" modifies the noun "children". The resulting meaning—that the comparison is only valid for specific children whom somebody is comparing with adults— is nonsense.

Quote:
I don't understand the role of "Pound for Pound". Is it adjective/adverb or noun modifier?


It's an adverbial modifier. "Pound for pound"—which means the same thing as "per pound" or "on a per-pound basis"—specifies, mathematically, what type of comparison is being made.

Accordingly, this modifier can be attached to "compared" itself], or else to the entire clause that makes the comparison (e.g., Pound for pound, children breathe twice as much air as adults).
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   12 Aug 2022, 23:33
Experts, can we eliminate options D and E for using the future tense to present general facts?
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   14 Aug 2022, 11:03
from choices C & D, is it a general rule that we can't compare a singular to a plural?
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As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 17 Aug 2022, 08:57
Hi RonTargetTestPrep GMATNinja avigutman -

Per my understanding - the initial modifer has to make sense with the overall clause (Subject and Verb)

Doesnt (B) suggest that children breathe twice as much air ONLY WHEN COMPARED pound for pound with adults
o So children DONT BREATHE twice as much air when the comparison (pound for pound with adults) IS NOT TAKING PLACE ?
o That also didn’t make sense to me
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Originally posted by jabhatta2 on 15 Aug 2022, 08:01.
Last edited by jabhatta2 on 17 Aug 2022, 08:57, edited 13 times in total.
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   15 Aug 2022, 10:07
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AhmedMoharam89 wrote:
from choices C & D, is it a general rule that we can't compare a singular to a plural?


It's generally a good thing to write the two parts of a comparison in forms that are as parallel as possible.

There are, however, some contexts in which it just won't be possible to write a comparison as singular||singular or plural||plural.
E.g.,
Unlike the Biblical character Methuselah, who lived for 969 years, the vast majority of humans live for less than a centutry.
Methuselah is one character, so we can't make Methuselah plural—nor can we make "the majority of people" singular. This comparison, therefore, is stuck as singular vs. plural.

To sum up: No, that's not a 'general rule'. Just lean on your ordinary common sense to figure out how these things can or can't work, and don't waste your time considering anything that isn't actually in at least one of the answer choices.
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   17 Aug 2022, 18:45
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jabhatta2 wrote:
Hi RonTargetTestPrep GMATNinja avigutman -

Per my understanding - the initial modifer has to make sense with the overall clause (Subject and Verb)

Doesnt (B) suggest that children breathe twice as much air ONLY WHEN COMPARED pound for pound with adults
o So children DONT BREATHE twice as much air when the comparison (pound for pound with adults) IS NOT TAKING PLACE ?
o That also didn’t make sense to me

I wonder if this analogy will help, jabhatta2 (please do let me know):
Quote:
Compared on a per capita basis with China, Israel has quadruple the GDP.

Of course the actual GDP of China is way more than that of Israel!
So, yeah, the comparison is only valid on a per capita basis.

Going back to the children: of course they don't actually breath twice as much air as adults! That's only true if you compare pound for pound (e.g. a child weighs half as much as me but breaths the same amount of air as I do).
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   18 Aug 2022, 05:56
avigutman wrote:
Quote:
Compared on a per capita basis with China, Israel has quadruple the GDP.

Of course the actual GDP of China is way more than that of Israel!
So, yeah, the comparison is only valid on a per capita basis.

Going back to the children: of course they don't actually breath twice as much air as adults! That's only true if you compare pound for pound (e.g. a child weighs half as much as me but breaths the same amount of air as I do).


@Avigtuamn - yes it does thank you
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As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   02 Jan 2023, 18:39
Hi RonPurewal RonTargetTestPrep , Happy New Year! I am sorry for bothering you, but I've read all the comments and I am still confused. I have several questions and I hope you would kindly help me. :cry:

1\You mentioned that there is no opposite observations here, but i think that "children breathe twice as much air as adults do" and "adults do not breathe twice as much air as adults do" (sorry for the redundancy here ) are TWO OPPOSITE FACTS. Could you please tell me what's wrong here?

RonTargetTestPrep wrote:

All the choices that say "unlike" or "opposed to" can be eliminated, because this sentence doesn't mention any opposite observations ("adults do this, but children don't").

That's good enough to get rid of A, C, and D.



2\I am confused about the ellipsis here. Why is the omitted word "[as adults do]" accepted here ?
I know that there is no need to consider the ellipsis in this question since no options offer "as much as",but i really want to know more about the omitted words. Could you explain more about the ellipsis? I thought that this sentence lacked fragments when I first glanced at it.
Quote:
children breathe twice as much air [as adults do]

Thanks for your answers in advance! :thumbsup:
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   03 Jan 2023, 02:21
Expert Reply
Hey Everyone,

Here’s the detailed solution to this very interesting question on Modifier Errors.

Let's begin with an analysis of the Sentence Structure of the original sentence:

As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice as much air, drink two and a half times as much water, eat three to four times as much food, and have more skin surface area.

Sentence Structure:

  • As opposed to adults,
        • pound for pound,
    • children
      • breathe twice as much air,
      • drink two and a half times as much water,
      • eat three to four times as much food, and
      • have more skin surface area.


Aspects of Meaning:

  • If we compare, pound for pound, a child with an adult, we will see that a child breathes, drinks, and eats two to four times as much as an adult. Let’s understand this with examples:
    • Let’s say a 70 kg (150 pound) adult eats 250 gm of food per day. So, an adult consumes 250/150 = 1.66 gm of food per pound body weight per day.
    • Now, let’s say a 10 kg (22 pound) child eats 100 gm of food per day. So, a child consumes 100/22 = 4.54 gm of food per pound body weight per day.
    • So, a child consumes 3 to 4 times as much food per pound of body weight as an adult.
  • The same (or similar) applies to how much a child breathes and drinks, and even to how much skin surface area a child has.
  • The sentence does not wish to say that children consume 2 to 4 times more (air, fluids, and food) or have more skin surface area than adults do in absolute terms.



Error Analysis:

  • Choice A: Incorrect
    • The principal error here is that of the incorrect placement of the modifier “pound for pound”.
      • When inserted between commas, the phrase “pound for pound” becomes ambiguous in meaning.
      • It appears to modify the verbs “breathe, drink, eat, and have” as an adverbial modifier.
      • In its original form, the sentence implies that children eat, drink, and breathe more than adults do, in absolute terms. That is, if adults eat 250 gm of food per day, then children eat 750 to 1000 gm of food per day. This is absurd and not the intended meaning.
      • As per our meaning analysis, this difference is observed when we compare children and adults pound for pound of body weight.
    • The idiom “as opposed to” means “in contrast to”, “rather than”, or “instead of”. This sentence employs the meaning “in contrast to”, and hence is not incorrect. However, with this idiom we cannot attach the phrase “pound for pound” to imply “a pound for pound comparison”.

  • Choice B: Correct
    • This choice properly implies that the comparison is pound for pound by using the phrase “compared pound for pound”.

  • Choices C, D, and E: Incorrect
    • These choices repeat the modifier error in choice A: the placement of “pound for pound”.
    • In each of these choices, “pound for pound” modifies the verbs in the main clause and not the “comparison”, rendering these choices illogical.
    • Also, in choices D and E, the use of the simple future tense "will" is incorrect.
      • We use the Simple Present to convey a universal/general truth.


I hope this helps improve your understanding of the importance of the placement of modifiers in sentences.

Happy Learning!


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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink] New post   25 Oct 2023, 18:42
A) As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children - pound for pound is an essential phrase

B) Compared pound for pound with adults, children

C) Unlike an adult, pound for pound, children - adult to children comparison

D) Pound for pound, a child, unlike an adult, will - use of future tense is unwarranted

E) Pound for pound, children compared to adults will- use of future tense is unwarranted
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Re: As opposed to adults, pound for pound, children breathe twice a [#permalink]
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