Pack 7 Q5: During holidays, people tend to save calories by not...

Question

Pack 7, Question 5 of 5:

During holidays, people tend to save calories by not eating until the big meal in the afternoon, but current research suggests that people who wait to eat consume  as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of  the meal.

A. as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of
B. as many as 30 percent more calories as people who maintain normal eating patterns on the day of
C. more calories, as much as 30 percent, than people who maintain normal eating patterns during
D. as many as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns the day of
E. as much as 30 percent more calories as people with normal eating patterns the day of

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DinoPen · Answer

I said C. This choice has parallel 'who'. Correct use of 'as much as'.
A percent of something is not countable. Therefore, the use of 'as many' is incorrect. I eliminated B and D.
C: I eliminated this answer choice because the use of 'during the meal' makes no sense. You can't conserve calories when you are eating the 'big meal'.
E: I eliminated this answer choice due to the misuse of 'as'. This is a misuse of comparisons. Also, the 'day of the meal' sounds awkward. 'during the day of' sounds better.

shameekv1989 · Answer

During holidays, people tend to save calories by not eating until the big meal in the afternoon, but current research suggests that people who wait to eat consume as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of the meal.

A. as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of
B. as many as 30 percent more calories as people who maintain normal eating patterns on the day of
C. more calories, as much as 30 percent, than people who maintain normal eating patterns during
D. as many as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns the day of
E. as much as 30 percent more calories as people with normal eating patterns the day of

Answer - B
Following is my analysis :- 
1) Calories are being compared - Countable noun - hence as many should be used instead of as much - Eliminated A, C and E
2) In D "who maintain normal eating  patterns the day of " doesn't make sense, needs a preposition after patterns
3) B clears this " as many as  30 percent more calories as people who maintain normal eating patterns  on the day of " on the day is in line with during holidays

NandishSS · Answer

Carefully scan as many as & as much as : testing the countable & uncountable noun

Calories are countable hence prefer as many as.

First of all, for percents, the rule is very easy. A percent of something countable is countable, and a percent of something uncountable is uncountable.

as much as refers to uncountable noun but here calories is countable noun - Incorrect

Correct

You cannot consume the calories itself . Nonsensical and as much as refers to uncountable noun but here calories is countable noun - Incorrect

we require patterns on

as much as refers to uncountable noun but here calories is countable noun - more should be followed by than Incorrect

Raxit85 · Answer

During holidays, people tend to save calories by not eating until the big meal in the afternoon, but current research suggests that people who wait to eat consume as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of the meal.

Clearly, the concept of countable & uncountable nouns eliminates three incorrect options, A, C & E. 30 %,numerical, always takes fewer or many. Except the case of money and some others.

A. as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of - As mentioned above.
B. as many as 30 percent more calories as people who maintain normal eating patterns on the day of - correct. Here, calories are countable, 1 calory, 2 calory etc. Hence usage of many is correct. Correct comparison made for people who eat more with people who eat normal.
C. more calories, as much as 30 percent, than people who maintain normal eating patterns during - incorrect because of same reason of A
D. as many as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns the day of - removal of preposition, on, before the time period makes meaning nonsensical.
E. as much as 30 percent more calories as people with normal eating patterns the day of -incorrect because of same reason of A

Imo. B

Posted from my mobile device

mykrasovski · Answer

Quick read-through reveals that we have a sentence that tests two things: (1) much vs many and (2) comparison between the two groups of people. Clearly, calories can be counted, so we need to use "many". Let's look at the answer choices and eliminate erroneous options. A. as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of We need "many". Out for the reason discussed above. B. as many as 30 percent more calories as people who maintain normal eating patterns on the day of Keep. C. more calories, as much as 30 percent, than people who maintain normal eating patterns during We need "many". Out for the reason discussed above. D. as many as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns the day of Keep. E. as much as 30 percent more calories as people with normal eating patterns the day of We need "many". Out for the reason discussed above. The difference between option (B) and (D) is subtle. We have a preposition "on" in (B). Also, we have "as" in (B) vs "than" in (D). Let's look at what is compared. Group B (who waits) eats as many as 30 percent more calories as opposed to group A that eats normally. So, usage of "than" in (D) is ambiguous. Group B eats more calories than people ??

OR Group B eats more calories than people in group A do?

Option (B) is the winner.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

During holidays, people tend to save calories by not eating until the big meal in the afternoon, but current research suggests that people who wait to eat consume  as much as 30 percent more calories than people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of  the meal.

A.  as much as  30 percent  more calories than  people who maintain normal eating patterns during the day of 
 B.  as many as  30 percent  more calories as  people who maintain normal eating patterns on the day of 
 C.  more  calories,  as much as  30 percent,  than  people who maintain normal eating patterns during 
 D.  as many as  30 percent  more calories than  people who maintain normal eating patterns the day of 
 E.  as much as  30 percent  more calories as  people with normal eating patterns the day of

A review of our answer choices shows that the most prominent split is between “as much as” and “as many as.” Both of these are idioms that have specific rules for when they are used.

“As much as” is used for percentages and non-countable nouns. “As many as” is used with countable nouns. Time cannot be counted but hours can be. Coffee cannot be counted but coffee grounds can be. When a percentage is combined with something that is countable, like in our sentence (30 percent more calories), then it used with “as many as.”

Options A, C, and E all use “as much as,” which is not the correct idiom for countable nouns (calories). They cannot be the best answers.

There is another idiom hidden in our answer choices. We use “more than” not “more as” in a comparison.  Option B uses “more as,” which is not correct. It cannot be the best answers.

Option D correctly uses “as many as” and “more than.”  Option D is the best answer.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You were close,  DinoPen ! When you combine a percentage with something that is countable (30 percent more calories), you can use "as many as." When the percentage stands alone, you would use "as much as."

I'm also unsure which choice you went with, since you say that you chose C, but you say below that you eliminated it??

Check out the official explanation in the comments to see how we tackled this one!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You were so close,  shameekv1989 !

In option D, there isn't anything wrong with saying "the day of." It's a more concise way of saying "during the day of" or "on the day of."
In option B, the problem lies with the comparison "30 percent more calories  as  people who maintain." We don't say that "X is more  as  Y." We say "X is more  than  Y."

You are also welcome to check out the official explanation in the comments for more details!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

NandishSS  you were so close!

In option D, there is nothing wrong with saying "the day of" instead of "on the day of." They both mean the same thing, and are both okay to use.
In option B, the problem lies with the wrong idiom usage. Option B says "30 percent more calories  as  people who maintain," which is wrong. It should be "30 percent more calories  than  people who maintain." Remember: X is more  than  Y, NOT X is more  as  Y!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You were close,  Raxit85 ! It seems like many of you got distracted by the phrase "the day of." It's perfectly fine to say it without the preposition.

The problem with option B is that it says "30 percent more  as  people who maintain..." which is wrong. The idiom is NOT "X is more  as  Y." It should be "X is more  than  Y." Option D does this correctly, so that should have been your answer.

You can also check out the official explanation in the comments for more.

This was a tricky one for sure!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You were close,  mykrasovski !

The usage of "than" in option D is correct. The idiom it's tied to is "X is more than Y." The comparison isn't vague at all - it's comparing people who wait to eat vs. people who maintain normal eating patterns, which is fine. 
In option B, it says "30 percent more calories  as  people who maintain," which is wrong.

Check out the official explanation in the comments for more details. This was a tricky one for sure!

mykrasovski · Answer

EMPOWERgmatVerbal  thanks! I actually answered the question correctly, but somehow got biased that "than" in (D) is incorrectly used... Indeed, "more than" is the correct usage.

NandishSS · Answer

EMPOWERgmatVerbal , Yes, I missed it but I eliminated option E with error more as...

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Pack 7 Q5: During holidays, people tend to save calories by not...

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