Pack 6 Q1: According to a Swedish study...

Question

Pack 6, Question 1 of 5:

According to a Swedish study,  it is sixty times as likely that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they are  from skydiving.

A. it is sixty times as likely that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they are
B. it is sixty times more likely for parachutists who participate in extreme sports to die from a BASE jump than they are
C. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times more likely to die from a BASE jump as
D. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times as likely to die from a BASE jump as it is for them
E. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times more likely to die from a BASE jump than

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suchithra · Answer

According to a Swedish study, it is sixty times as likely that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they are from skydiving.

The correct idiom is as likely X as Y or X more than Y.

A.  it  is sixty times as likely that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they  are 
GMAT does not prefer a sentence starting with it. Pronouns like "it" are usually placeholders for nouns.

B.  it  is sixty times more likely for parachutists who participate in extreme sports to die from a BASE jump than they are
Same as A

C. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times more likely to die from a BASE jump  as 
More should be followed by than

D. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times as likely to die from a BASE jump as  it  is for them
Same issue as A & B, it is usually a placeholder for noun.

E. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times more likely to die from a BASE jump than
This is the correct answer. 
Rewriting the complete comparison, 
 parachutists who participate in extreme sports are  sixty times more  likely to die  from a BASE jump than <parachutists who participate in extreme sports are likely to die> from skydiving. 
If the subject/doer and verb phrase are same on both sides of comparison , we don't have to repeat them in the second half of comparison for simplicity

E is the answer IMO

Raxit85 · Answer

According to a Swedish study, it is sixty times as likely that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they are from skydiving.

Meaning: According to some study, the death ratio of parachutists who participate in extreme sports from BASE jump is sixty times as compared to skydiving.

A. it is sixty times as likely that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they are - pronoun reference error; usage of they is nonsensical. as likely is unidiomatic expression.
B. it is sixty times more likely for parachutists who participate in extreme sports to die from a BASE jump than they are - Incorrect connector error. ...more ...than... is correct one.
C. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times more likely to die from a BASE jump as - more ...as... unidiomatic expression.
D. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times as likely to die from a BASE jump as it is for them - usage of as likely....as distorts the meaning as. ...it is for them is distorting the meaning due to pronoun error.
E. parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times more likely to die from a BASE jump than - correct elegant structure and conveys the meaning clearly.

P.S. Minimize the usage of pronouns on the right side of second comparison words e.g. more...than  pronoun  though it's not hard and fast rule.

Tushrgupta · Answer

You must focus as likely as or more likely than form which is perfectly followed only in the last option.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

According to a Swedish study,  it is sixty times as likely that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they are  from skydiving.

it  is sixty times  as likely  that parachutists who participate in extreme sports will die from a BASE jump as they are 
  it  is sixty times  more likely  for parachutists who participate in extreme sports to die from a BASE jump than they are 
  parachutists  who participate in extreme sports are sixty times  more likely  to die from a BASE jump as 
  parachutists  who participate in extreme sports are sixty times  as likely  to die from a BASE jump as it is for them 
  parachutists  who participate in extreme sports are sixty times  more likely  to die from a BASE jump than

A quick glance at our answer choices reveal two different splits. One is how the clause is started—either with the noun “parachutists” or the pronoun “it.” The other split is choosing between “as likely” and “more likely.”

Let’s consider the pronoun first. If we start the clause with “it,” our sentence would read, “According to a Swedish study, it is sixty times as likely . . .” Who or what is it? Before using a pronoun, a clear antecedent (the noun the pronoun is standing in for) must be established. We have no antecedent in this situation, so starting with the pronoun means our sentence lacks clarity. Clarity is key.  Options A and B cannot be the best answers.

Now, let’s consider the as likely/more likely issue. By themselves, as likely and more likely are both correct, but where the idiom comes into play is how these comparisons are closed. “More likely” is always paired with “than” and is never paired with “as.” “More likely than” is correct. “More likely as” is incorrect. “As likely” is always paired with “as” and is never paired with “than.” “As likely as” is correct. “As likely than” is incorrect.  Option C cannot be the correct answer.

Now we have to choose between options “as likely as” and “more likely than.” Typically, the GMAT prefers that a phrase such as “sixty times” be paired with “as likely,” but don’t automatically assume that is correct. Review both answer choices thoroughly.

Option D would read “parachutists who participate in extreme sports are sixty times as likely to die from a BASE jump as it is for them from skydiving.” That’s nonsensical. So even though this option uses the preferred “as likely” with “times,”  Option D cannot be the best answer. The best option will make sense!

Option E correctly uses “more likely” with “than,” and the sentence is clear and makes sense.  Option E is the best answer.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  suchithra ! You cracked the code on this one, and I enjoyed your explanations for each option.

There isn't anything wrong with using pronoun "it" on the GMAT as long as you can clearly tie the pronoun back to a previous noun. For this sentence, the pronoun "it" isn't really clear enough to be there, so we chose sentences that used "parachutists" instead. Good catch!

Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  Raxit85 ! Another great breakdown of how to answer the GMAT SC questions!

Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Thanks for the breakdown,  Tushrgupta !

Keep in mind that if you'd like to participate in our contest, you'll have to give an explanation why each option is correct/incorrect. Looking forward to seeing more great explanations from you on the rest of our questions!

VerbalBot · Answer

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