Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise mos

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

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/16/science/benefits-and-dangers-of-exercise.html

Given the small but real risk of sudden death during vigorous exercise, is such activity advisable for the millions of people already known to have heart disease? Although exercise programs are now being widely used to rehabilitate people who have already suffered one heart attack, the evidence is less clearcut for the ability of regular physical activity to ward off a second attack. The early studies of the San Francisco longshoremen, the British civil servants and others suggested that coronary patients who  are most active have half or less the chance of dying of a second heart attack as those who are sedentary . In Dr. Paffenbarger's study of Harvard alumni, those who were most active after their first heart attacks were only two-thirds as likely to die of a second heart attack as those who were least active.

daagh · Accepted Answer

The objection to A, B and C is that they use a word such as  chance  to denote a matter of death. Chance is said to be a happy word that one uses in such positive expressions as having a chance of becoming the President, or having chance of getting into Wharton or Harvard etc. One will do well to say that people run or have the  risk  of death or accident. 
It is this improper diction that eliminates the first three choices and it may not have much to do with grammar as such.

laxieqv · Answer

This kind of SC tests the concise combination of ...as...as ....and less/more ....than ..... The correct combination is: ...at least/ at most .....less/ more .....than ......
So i'm left with D and E. Between the two, E uses the correct structure: ...less .....than .... so E is correct.

Go for E.

srijay007 · Answer

Will go with E

errors marked in red
(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

correct

ywilfred · Answer

a) 'as those' is wrong. We need 'than those' for comparisons

b) 'who are sedentary do' --> the last 'do' is not nescessary as it results in bad comparison

c) bad comparison. Sounds like comparing chances of survival to number of inactive people.

d) are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary 

e) people who are most active .... than those who are sendentary.... --> good comparison

E for me

noboru · Answer

and what do you have to say between D and E?
thanks!

daagh · Answer

Between D and E, D can be dropped like a hot potato for using “ less likely to die of a heart attack as those ”. It has to be “ less likely than”  . E therefore is the choice.

sguptashared · Answer

A. have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary
half or less than half is just wordy//less than..as
B. have half the chance, or less, of dying of a heart attack than those who are sedentary do.
Awkward, Wordy, Comma splice ", or less", "who are sedantary do" doesn't make any sense.
C. have half the chance that they will die of a heart attack or less, than those who are sedentary do.
Awakward. Can heart attack be less?
D. are at least 50 % less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary.
less..as
E. are at least 50% less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack. 
Correct!

daagh · Answer

1.The reason why A,B, and C are out is that, they use a positive but questionable term ‘chance’ for describing a negative factors such as dying of a heart attack. It is customary to use chance with happy and positive events such as winning a jackpot or getting admission into the Whartons or the Harvards etc. For such unsavory phenomena as dying, risk is the fitting term

2. D uses wrong idiom – less likely as

3. If the phrase “who are sedentary to die of a heart attack" is misplaced in E, where else can we fit in that better? You can not, in my opinion. Therefore sgupta0827 is right in saying that others have more serious errors and lack style.

DmitryFarber · Answer

In this particular usage, "likely" should be followed by "to." Note that "to" appears in both D and E, just in slightly different spots. D uses the incorrect "less likely to die as," while E uses the correct "less likely than." However, if you skip over that comparison, we still have "less likely to die."

Of course, it's fine to use "likely" without "to" at all, if it is serving as an adjective: "She is a likely candidate for mayor."

Of course, it's fine to use "likely" without "to" at all, if it is serving as an adjective: "She is a likely candidate for mayor."

vanam52923 · Answer

daagh 
need few clarifications,plz help :
i understood your point of chance being a happy word but lets assume it doesnot strike me in exam.

is b worng because it uses do 
it should be have ,right?
who exercise have the chance than those who are sedentary have --- is correct

who exercise have the chance than those who are sedentary do --- is incorrect bcz do stands fr verb which is have so wrong 
am i right?
Also original sentence means they have less than 50 percent chance but E means atleast 50 so 50 or greater ,isnot it anamoly

navderm · Answer

The meaning from the original sentence is that the chance is 50% or less. 
D and E change the likelihood to 50% or more. 
How can any of those be the correct answers ?

DmitryFarber · Answer

navderm  Two things here:

1) "Changes the meaning" is not an objection we want to run with. There's nothing special about answer choice A. If A is wrong, we could just as well say that  it  changes the meaning.

2) The meaning doesn't actually change, anyway! A-C say that the chance of death for active exercisers is "half or less" that for sedentary patients. D and E say that active exercisers are  at least  50% less  likely  to die than sedentary patients. What's left when we reduce a chance by at least 50%? 50% or less! It's the same thing. For instance, if the chance for sedentary patients is 20%, A-C says the chance for exercisers is 10% or less. D and E say the chance for active exercisers is 50% or more less than 10%, so that's 20% - 10% or more, for a result of 10% or less.

Arunesh9 · Answer

Doesn't E, change the meaning aspect ?? Look at the 1st-Main Sentence, it say half or less, which means maximum half, whereas 'E' mentions "at least half....." meaning more than half. Isn't it contradictory ?? if meaning aspect to be taken care of , of GMAT is concerned

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  Arunesh9 , E says:

are at least fifty percent  less likely

which means....

50% less likely to die of a heart attack (this is half the chance of dying of a heart attack) 
or
51% less likely to die of a heart attack (this means 49% chance of dying of a heart attack. This is less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack)
or
52% less likely to die of a heart attack (this means 48% chance of dying of a heart attack. This is less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack)
---
---
and so on.

So, E is also saying: half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack.

ravigupta2912 · Answer

(A) have half or less than half the chance of dying of a heart attack as those who are sedentary -- Frankly I cant figure out whats wrong in this. But E is just way better and concise. Eliminate.

(B) have half the chance, or less, of dying of a heart attack than those who are sedentary do -- "of less" placement is incorrect. It should modify "half" and not "chance". Further, "or less" is incomplete itself. The correct idiom is "less than"

(C) have half the chance that they will die of a heart attack, or less, than those who are sedentary do -- same as B.

(D) are at least fifty percent less likely to die of a heart attack as those who are sedentary -- "as those" is incorrect. Should be "than". "less... than" is the correct usage.

(E) are at least fifty percent less likely than those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack -- Correct.

Can someone please check my POE?

IanStewart   AndrewN  - I remember both of you had posted sometime back in a question, the crux of which I basically remember that "as... as" was in itself a complete idiom and hence "as as" was the correct usage (if at all we had to use "as"). I'm applying the same logic here while looking at "less", which is correctly used as "less....than"

I got the answer right but eventually I narrowed it down to E and A. I'm kinda worried that i'm the lone one who gets to A/E instead of D/E lol.

Helpful if you can comment on my POE. Thank you!

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  ravigupta2912 . I like your process of elimination, and there is nothing wrong with setting aside the best answer of the less likely lot—here, those answers beginning with  have half —while assessing which of the answers within the other pool is weaker or weakest and should be eliminated. In fact, I help my students see the merit of such an approach by pointing out that even ultimately incorrect answers can reveal better lines of thought to pursue than some other incorrect answers. Concerning (A), not only is  have half or less than half  much less clear than  at least fifty percent less , but the overarching  have half the chance of dying  is a less precise (and kind of juvenile) way to convey  are less likely to die . (A) is simply a less optimal way of expressing what (E) says in a streamlined fashion.

Good work on this one. Do not worry about a so-called correct way to attack a question. If you get the right answer, as long as you did not cheat, that is all that matters. You can always refine your reasoning afterwards by looking at what others have said about a question.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me about the question.

- Andrew

Anchal270789 · Answer

I have the same question. Is'nt "do" wrong in B and C and should'nt it be "have" Experts kindly guide  daagh   GMATNinja

aarkay87 · Answer

Hi Anchal270789 'To do' verbs can perfectly substitute 'To Have' verbs when Has/Have is acting as the main verb. In fact, you should prefer the option with 'to do' verb to the option with 'to have' verb. Check this Official question to confirm the same: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-guiding- ... 76551.html The bigger issue with the Option B and C is that the comparison marker --- or less --- is parenthetical aside AND it will not contribute to comparison in the parent clause. Therefore, the structure with only THAN will not work in comparison. We can produce a better structure by using AS in place of THAN, but no such choice is given.

Harshjha001 · Answer

doesn't "those who are sedentary to die of a heart attack" sounds weird ?
Shouldn't "than those who are sedentary" and "die of a heart attack " be separated by a comma ?

Can anyone suggest ?

Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise mos

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Several studies have found that the coronary patients who exercise mos

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