Several studies have found that the coronary patients who

Question

Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise most actively  have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary 


(A) have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
(B) have half the chance, or less, of dying of a heart attack than those who are sedentary do 
(C) have half the chance that they will die of a heart attack, or less, than those who are sedentary do
(D) are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
(E) are at least fifty percent less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack

kpadma · Answer

Although E is not perfect, it is the best among the choices.

Praetorian · Answer

IMO, E is best

A,B,C - half or less than half is verbose and we can simply say atleast fifty percent less likely

D - it corrects the error in A ,B and C, but Less likely.....as is incorrect.
 "Less than" is the correct idiom... 


Praet

mba · Answer

Some how I don't agree with (E), In (E) "sedentary to die" looks like a change in the meaning of the sentence. Considering this I would go for (A). Although it is verbose, still it is the best choice.

Any comments?

kpadma · Answer

That is why I mentioned earlier that E is not perfect but the best among the choices.

E would be better if it were worded as 

 are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attach than those who are sedentary

Dharmin · Answer

A has clear cut error of comparision.
It seems it is comparing chances of dying of people who exercise with sedentary people rather than chances of dying

"E" seems more persuasive than "A"

Dharmin

hallelujah1234 · Answer

You are in fact correct in parsing the way you did. However, most do not see in that way.

For example:
Messrs. Page and Brin work hard to present a shareholder-happy face on this issue, talking endlessly in the filing about how dedicated  they are to the company 

By just reading the bold part, one cant say it is ill-formed.

If one were to move 'those who are sedentary' to the end of the sentence, it would become ambiguous. In order to avoid such ambiguity one needs to add more words, resulting in clumsy sentence.

Several studies have found that the coronary patients who

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