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555-605 (Medium)|   Comparisons|                           
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 20 Apr 2021, 04:03
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised corn and soybean prices.


(A) than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised

(B) than those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raising

(C) than a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising

(D) as those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south hurt crops and therefore raise

(E) as they were a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising


GMAT® Official Guide 2017

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 758
Page: 700

Show Spoiler
Producer Level

(A) Comparison (X higher than Y); Verb / Meaning (raised)

(B) CORRECT

(C) Comparison (X higher than Y); Structure / Meaning

(D) Comparison (X higher as Y)

(E) Comparison (X higher as Y); Structure / Meaning

First glance

The first word switches between than and as. The sentence will contain a comparison; should the comparison idiom use than or as?

Issues

(1) Comparison: X higher than Y; X higher as Y

The first three answers use than and the final two use as. Which should it be? Also, check that the comparison is an apples-to-apples comparison.

The correct idiom is either higher than or as high as. This sentence uses higher, so the correct pairing must be than. Eliminate answers (D) and (E).

Prices at the producer level are higher now

(A) than a year ago

(B) than those of a year ago

(C) than a year ago

What are the remaining answers comparing? Answers (A) and (C) compare now to a year ago. Answer (B) compares prices now to those (prices) of a year ago. While it can be acceptable to compare timeframes (as in OG 2017 #772 / OG 2016 #104 “this year” and “last [year]”), the more precise comparison in this problem is between the two prices: prices now versus prices of a year ago.

Answer (B) makes the proper comparison. Eliminate (A) and (C).

(2) Verb / Meaning: are hurting and therefore raised

The sentence is trying to convey a certain sequence of events: floods and drought are hurting crops and therefore causing something else to happen. This second event is caused by the first; therefore, this second event should take place at the same time as or later in time than the first event.

If crops are being hurt right now in the present, then it’s illogical to indicate that the consequence (raised prices) took place in the past. Eliminate answer (A).

(3) Structure / Meaning: and are hurting crops

Answers (C) and (E) both insert an and just before are hurting. What consequences does this have for the sentence structure?

Fix: The core sentences read:

(C) Prices are higher now than a year ago and are hurting crops…

(E) Prices are higher now as they were a year ago and are hurting crops…

In both cases, parallelism dictates that the subject prices must pair with the verb are hurting. In other words, the sentence indicates that the current prices are hurting crops. This is illogical. The floods and drought, not the prices, are hurting crops.

Eliminate answers (C) and (E) for faulty meaning.

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (B) makes a valid comparison between prices now and those (prices) of a year ago. It also clearly conveys the sequence of events: floods…and drought are…hurting crops now, and therefore (are) raising prices (also now).

*Note: the official explanation indicates that the word hurt, in answer (D), is in the simple past. The word hurt can also be simple present: floods and drought hurt crops (today or in general in the present) and therefore raise prices (again, today or in general). Answer (D) is still incorrect, but not for this particular reason stated in the official explanation.

Logical predication; Verb form

The sentence as written makes an illogical comparison between prices at the producer level and a time period (a year ago); surely the intended comparison is between such prices now and those of a year ago. The clause at the end of the sentence states that flooding and a drought are hurting crops, and as a result of this, they have raised prices of certain crops. Are hurting is in the present progressive tense, indicating an ongoing process; raised is in the simple past tense, indicating a completed action. It would be more appropriate to use the present progressive tense here as well, [are] raising.

(D) The comparative adjective higher requires the comparative term than instead of as; the tenses of the verbs in the latter half of the sentence, hurt (simple past) and raise (simple present), do not work together logically.


Though there are errors in other choices.
But in choice B when I fill the pronoun with prices it doesn't make much sense to me-

Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now [u]than (were) prices of a year ago and are going down,......

Doesn't the later part read as prices of a year?
Or my understanding is incorrect ?

Please help
VeritasKarishma @e-gmat SaraiGMAT
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(B) is fine.
Prices are higher now than prices of a year ago.

You are comparing "prices" with "prices". That current prices are higher than previous prices. All good.
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 20 Apr 2021, 23:32
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Ahmed9955
Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now [u]than (were) prices of a year ago and are going down,......

Doesn't the later part read as prices of a year?
Or my understanding is incorrect ?
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You are correct Ahmed9955 to an extent.

Perhaps the ideal option would be:

...than a year ago...

or

...than those a year ago...

or

....than those a year ago were..

However, GMAT does have a tendency to frame less than ideal (but acceptable) constructs, just to induce that extra bit of caution/skepticism on part of test-takers.
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 21 Jul 2021, 05:03
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Can you please explain this one?

Gagan
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 21 Jul 2021, 09:02
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The split on this problem is ‘than’ vs ‘as’ and ‘higher than’ is correct. D and E are gone.

A is incorrect because the drought and flood are currently hurting crops but the answer choice uses ‘raised’ as though the drought and flood are over. Should be ‘raising’ instead.

B vs C. I found this too be trickier than the problem’s difficulty level might suggest. I believe the comparisons are both correct. Other experts seem to agree too. The is another OG question on oil prices that uses C’s comparison. B is stylistically more pleasing (to me) but C is not wrong for comparison reasons. C is saying the prices are lower now than a year ago…and are hurting crops. What? The crops are not hurt by lower prices. The crops are hurt by the flood and the drought. B clearly states that the flood and drought are damaging the crops and as a result of damaged crops, the prices for non damaged crops have increased. B is our answer.

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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 01 Aug 2021, 21:23
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VeritasKarishma
Ahmed9955
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised corn and soybean prices.


(A) than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised

(B) than those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raising

(C) than a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising

(D) as those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south hurt crops and therefore raise

(E) as they were a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising


GMAT® Official Guide 2017

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 758
Page: 700

Show Spoiler
Producer Level

(A) Comparison (X higher than Y); Verb / Meaning (raised)

(B) CORRECT

(C) Comparison (X higher than Y); Structure / Meaning

(D) Comparison (X higher as Y)

(E) Comparison (X higher as Y); Structure / Meaning

First glance

The first word switches between than and as. The sentence will contain a comparison; should the comparison idiom use than or as?

Issues

(1) Comparison: X higher than Y; X higher as Y

The first three answers use than and the final two use as. Which should it be? Also, check that the comparison is an apples-to-apples comparison.

The correct idiom is either higher than or as high as. This sentence uses higher, so the correct pairing must be than. Eliminate answers (D) and (E).

Prices at the producer level are higher now

(A) than a year ago

(B) than those of a year ago

(C) than a year ago

What are the remaining answers comparing? Answers (A) and (C) compare now to a year ago. Answer (B) compares prices now to those (prices) of a year ago. While it can be acceptable to compare timeframes (as in OG 2017 #772 / OG 2016 #104 “this year” and “last [year]”), the more precise comparison in this problem is between the two prices: prices now versus prices of a year ago.

Answer (B) makes the proper comparison. Eliminate (A) and (C).

(2) Verb / Meaning: are hurting and therefore raised

The sentence is trying to convey a certain sequence of events: floods and drought are hurting crops and therefore causing something else to happen. This second event is caused by the first; therefore, this second event should take place at the same time as or later in time than the first event.

If crops are being hurt right now in the present, then it’s illogical to indicate that the consequence (raised prices) took place in the past. Eliminate answer (A).

(3) Structure / Meaning: and are hurting crops

Answers (C) and (E) both insert an and just before are hurting. What consequences does this have for the sentence structure?

Fix: The core sentences read:

(C) Prices are higher now than a year ago and are hurting crops…

(E) Prices are higher now as they were a year ago and are hurting crops…

In both cases, parallelism dictates that the subject prices must pair with the verb are hurting. In other words, the sentence indicates that the current prices are hurting crops. This is illogical. The floods and drought, not the prices, are hurting crops.

Eliminate answers (C) and (E) for faulty meaning.

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (B) makes a valid comparison between prices now and those (prices) of a year ago. It also clearly conveys the sequence of events: floods…and drought are…hurting crops now, and therefore (are) raising prices (also now).

*Note: the official explanation indicates that the word hurt, in answer (D), is in the simple past. The word hurt can also be simple present: floods and drought hurt crops (today or in general in the present) and therefore raise prices (again, today or in general). Answer (D) is still incorrect, but not for this particular reason stated in the official explanation.

Logical predication; Verb form

The sentence as written makes an illogical comparison between prices at the producer level and a time period (a year ago); surely the intended comparison is between such prices now and those of a year ago. The clause at the end of the sentence states that flooding and a drought are hurting crops, and as a result of this, they have raised prices of certain crops. Are hurting is in the present progressive tense, indicating an ongoing process; raised is in the simple past tense, indicating a completed action. It would be more appropriate to use the present progressive tense here as well, [are] raising.

(D) The comparative adjective higher requires the comparative term than instead of as; the tenses of the verbs in the latter half of the sentence, hurt (simple past) and raise (simple present), do not work together logically.


Though there are errors in other choices.
But in choice B when I fill the pronoun with prices it doesn't make much sense to me-

Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than (were) prices of a year ago and are going down,......

Doesn't the later part read as prices of a year?
Or my understanding is incorrect ?

Please help
VeritasKarishma @e-gmat SaraiGMAT

(B) is fine.
Prices are higher now than prices of a year ago.

You are comparing "prices" with "prices". That current prices are higher than previous prices. All good.
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VeritasKarishma Hope you are in good health.

I am still confused about the correctness of the "than a year ago". Can you please shade light upon this? As there is another OG question in which "than last" is perfectly fine. I understand that there are other reasons to eliminate C, but I am confused about whether the comparison in A and C is correct?

Another OG question with similar comparison
[u]Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last because refiners are paying about $5 a barrel more for crude oil than they were last year.

(A) Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last because refiners are paying about $5 a barrel more for crude oil than they were
(B) Heating-oil prices are expected to rise higher this year over last because refiners pay about $5 a barrel for crude oil more than they did
(C) Expectations are for heating-oil prices to be higher this year than last year's because refiners are paying about $5 a barrel for crude oil more than they did
(D) It is the expectation that heating-oil prices will be higher this year over last because refiners are paying about $5 a barrel more for crude oil now than what they were
(E) It is the expected that heating-oil prices will rise higher this year than last year's because refiners pay about $5 a barrel for crude oil more than they did
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 24 Aug 2021, 13:56
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Can you please explain this one?

Gagan
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Have you checked out our three posts on page 2 of this thread? After reading those, let us know if there's anything in particular that's giving you trouble, and we'll do our best to help.
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 17 Nov 2021, 10:34
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GMATNinja, Bunuel, could you please help to clarify the following?

1. Why we cannot compare now to a year ago?
2. Would it be always the case that ongoing action should result from another ongoing action? My understanding is that it is possible for ongoing action to cause another action that may happen at point in time, and will not be continuous. I thought that price was raised at one point in the past, and it should not be continuous. Where I am getting wrong with my analysis?
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 18 Nov 2021, 05:47
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tkorzhan1995
GMATNinja, Bunuel, could you please help to clarify the following?

1. Why we cannot compare now to a year ago?
2. Would it be always the case that ongoing action should result from another ongoing action? My understanding is that it is possible for ongoing action to cause another action that may happen at point in time, and will not be continuous. I thought that price was raised at one point in the past, and it should not be continuous. Where I am getting wrong with my analysis?
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Hello tkorzhan1995,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubts.

1. The non-underlined part of the sentence raises a comparison with "Prices at the producer level", as "Prices" is the subject of the sentence; so, the correct answer choice must also raise comparison with "Prices", and Option B does so through the pronoun phrase "those of a year ago".

2. It is not necessary that an ongoing action must result from another ongoing action; for example, "John stubbed his toe, and it is hurting quite a bit." - here, an action that has concluded has produced an ongoing action. The issue here is that the intended meaning of the sentence is that the prices are currently and continuously going down.


We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 22 Nov 2021, 04:58
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Hello tkorzhan1995,

We hope this finds you well.

We are replying to you here to respond to the queries shared by you over P.M.

Can you please clarify the following in your response?
1. Can we compare the same prices at the producer level now and a year ago? why this comparison cannot be made in this case?
2. How we can derive from the meaning of the sentence that prices are continuously raising?

Thank you for your help.

1. The sentence does not compare the same prices now and a year ago; it compares the set of prices that existed a year ago with the set of prices that exist now.

To illustrate, consider this sentence - "Last week, an apple cost $5, and now it costs $7, meaning the price is $2 more than it was last week." Here, the comparison is between what the cost was last week ($5) and the new price ($7). Options A and C have a comparison error because they compare the current prices to the time period "a year ago", a comparison that makes no sense.

2. In this sentence "are hurting crops" is a cause, and "raising corn and soybean prices" is the effect, as indicated by the use of "therefore" to link the two. Thus, if the crops are continuously hurting, the prices will be continuously rising.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 27 Nov 2021, 20:23
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a sentence that focuses on idiom structure and comparisons! Let's start by taking a quick look over each option, and highlight any major differences in orange:

Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised corn and soybean prices.

(A) than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised
(B) than those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raising
(C) than a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising
(D) as those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south hurt crops and therefore raise
(E) as they were a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising

After a quick glance over the options, a few key differences jump out:

1. than vs. as (idiom structure)
2. a year ago / those of a year ago / they were a year ago (parallelism with comparisons)
3. even though / despite (transitions)
4. raised / raising / raise (verb tense)

Let's start with #1 on our list: than vs. as. No matter which one we choose, it will eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly, so let's start there. This is an issue of idiom structure. Whenever we see comparative language (in this case, the word "higher"), we know that the sentence is comparing two items and must be worded a certain way:

X is higher than Y = CORRECT
X is higher as Y = WRONG

Let's see which options do this correctly, and eliminate the ones that do not:

(A) than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised
(B) than those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raising
(C) than a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising
(D) as those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south hurt crops and therefore raise
(E) as they were a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising

We can eliminate options D & E because they don't follow the proper "X is higher than Y" idiom structure. That was easy!

Now, let's move on to #2 on our list: parallelism with comparisons. Whenever we compare two items by using the idiom structure "X is higher than Y," the X and Y in the idiom need to be parallel. Let's look at the original sentence closely to determine what two items it's comparing:

Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised corn and soybean prices.

We can see that the sentence should compare the prices today versus prices from a year ago. Let's make sure each option compares similar things:

(A) than a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raised

This is INCORRECT because it compares the prices today to a year ago, which isn't parallel. You cannot compare prices to years - they're not the same thing!

(B) than those of a year ago and are going down, even though floods in the Midwest and drought in the south are hurting crops and therefore raising

This is CORRECT! The word "those" clearly refers to prices, so this is comparing the prices today to the prices from last year, which is parallel!

(C) than a year ago and are going down, despite floods in the Midwest and drought in the south, and are hurting crops and therefore raising

This is also INCORRECT because it compares prices to years, which aren't parallel items.


There you have it - option B is the correct choice! It's the only one that compares two like items, and it uses the correct idiom structure for comparisons!


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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 16 Dec 2021, 01:22
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In Option B , comparison element used s ''Those'' which if replaced by prices would mean that ''prices'' of a year ago, it doesn't sound good. How can we say, prices of a year ago? it looks grammatically incorrect. Sentence should have been something on the lines such as '' those were'' a year ago. The preposition ''Of'' in correct option B is looking bit out of place to me.

Can someone shed light on this ?
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 21 Dec 2021, 15:11
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VIGHNESHKAMATH
In Option B , comparison element used s ''Those'' which if replaced by prices would mean that ''prices'' of a year ago, it doesn't sound good. How can we say, prices of a year ago? it looks grammatically incorrect. Sentence should have been something on the lines such as '' those were'' a year ago. The preposition ''Of'' in correct option B is looking bit out of place to me.

Can someone shed light on this ?
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We attempted to address this question in an earlier post. Check it out, and let us know if you're still stuck?
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 22 Dec 2021, 06:35
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VIGHNESHKAMATH
In Option B , comparison element used s ''Those'' which if replaced by prices would mean that ''prices'' of a year ago, it doesn't sound good. How can we say, prices of a year ago? it looks grammatically incorrect. Sentence should have been something on the lines such as '' those were'' a year ago. The preposition ''Of'' in correct option B is looking bit out of place to me.

Can someone shed light on this ?
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Hello VIGHNESHKAMATH,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt. Here "those (prices) of a year ago" simply refers to the set of prices that existed a year ago; "of a year ago" is a preposition phrase that correctly modifies "those".

Remember, on GMAT, it is inadvisable to judge answer choices by whether they "sound" grammatical; often options that sound ungrammatical can be perfectly correct and vice-versa.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 25 Dec 2021, 06:39
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sayantanc2k
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zoezhuyan, I agree with my colleague Ron Purewal (cited above) that the comparisons in A and C aren't necessarily faulty. There are other reasons to eliminate those choices. However, I want to make a slight correction to your analysis above. Your use of "that of" or "those of" in parentheses makes it appear that the implied comparison is between two nouns. Actually, your choices should read ("they were") or ("it was"). The comparison is actually between two adverbial modifiers. Prices are different now than they were last year. This is important because I can't say something like this:

American crows are larger today than in ancient China.

If we filled in "those," this might make sense: "American crows are larger today than those (crows) in ancient China." However, the actual implied meaning here is a comparison between two modifiers: "today" and "in ancient China." "American crows are larger today than (they were) in ancient China." This would make it seem that American crows existed in ancient China!


Going by your logic, OA doesn't make sense, does it?

The choice should have been "than they were ..." . Am I correct?

The OA compares nouns ( prices now and prices of an year ago.) If the comparison were between clauses , then "they were" would be required. Clause comparison allows omission of repeated parts in some cases, but not in this example. Please see my post above.

Noun comparison: Prices now is higher than prices then.
Clause comparison: Prices are now higher than they were an year ago. (omission not allowed; "were" does not occur elsewhere in the sentence.)
Clause comparison: Prices were higher an year ago than prices were a couple of years ago (omission allowed, since "prices were" already occurs in the sentence.)
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Hi Sayantan,

Thanks for your posts. They have helped so much.

How do I determine whether nonun vs noun is being tested or the clause vs clause is being tested ?
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 28 Dec 2021, 00:58
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DrVanNostrand

The easiest way to tell what's being compared is to look at what comes after the comparison marker ("than"). Here, the choices that follow "than" with "a year ago" are comparing modifiers that describe timeframes: now to a year ago. The choices that follow "than" with "those" are comparing prices: "prices now" vs. "those [prices] of a year ago." The meanings here are basically comparable, so we need to look at other elements.

As Sayantan has pointed out, if we wanted to compare clauses, we'd need a clause after "than." In this case, we could say "prices are higher now than they were a year ago."
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 28 Dec 2021, 01:16
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DmitryFarber
DrVanNostrand

The easiest way to tell what's being compared is to look at what comes after the comparison marker ("than"). Here, the choices that follow "than" with "a year ago" are comparing modifiers that describe timeframes: now to a year ago. The choices that follow "than" with "those" are comparing prices: "prices now" vs. "those [prices] of a year ago." The meanings here are basically comparable, so we need to look at other elements.

As Sayantan has pointed out, if we wanted to compare clauses, we'd need a clause after "than." In this case, we could say "prices are higher now than they were a year ago."
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Hi Dmitry,

Thanks For clearing my doubt. Comparison is a tough nut to crack. This is one of the best and the simplest explainantion.
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 27 Jul 2022, 04:33
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Comparison is made between "Now" and "A year" ago, which seems to be correct according to me. But in OG explanation it is mentioned that comparison is flawed as "Prices" are compared to "A year ago".
According to me if the sentence was "Prices at the producer are only 1.3% higher than a year ago" then it would be incorrect because then comparison is made between "Prices" and "A year ago".

Please clarify.

Due regards.
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 27 Jul 2022, 04:40
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himanshu0077
Comparison is made between "Now" and "A year" ago, which seems to be correct according to me. But in OG explanation it is mentioned that comparison is flawed as "Prices" are compared to "A year ago".
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Would agree with you Himanshu. Comparison does not seem faulty in the original sentence.

Another similar official sentence:

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last.
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 27 Jul 2022, 09:17
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himanshu0077
Comparison is made between "Now" and "A year" ago, which seems to be correct according to me. But in OG explanation it is mentioned that comparison is flawed as "Prices" are compared to "A year ago".
According to me if the sentence was "Prices at the producer are only 1.3% higher than a year ago" then it would be incorrect because then comparison is made between "Prices" and "A year ago".

Please clarify.

Due regards.
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The main problem here is that "a year ago" is a past timeframe. So, in order to write the sentence with these timeframes in parallel, you'd need another verb—this one in the past tense:
Prices at the producer level are only 1.3% higher now THAN they were a year ago.
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Prices at the producer level are only 1.3 percent higher now than a 23 Aug 2022, 01:30
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Quote:
So, in order to write the sentence with these timeframes in parallel, you'd need another verb—this one in the past tense:
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RonTargetTestPrep Hi Ron. If i write a sentence like "i ate more apples today than yesterday" , the timeframes of this sentence seems prarallel to me. I dont need write "I ate more apples today than I did yesterday" to make it without ambiguity. Please clarity.
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