I think wordiness is the point here.
in D and E, "that are" is wordy
in C, "those of" mean "countries of china..." . this is redundant. redundancy is worse than wordineess
choice B is ungrammatical because there is 'are " at the second part but there is no "to be " in the first part.

So called green taxes, which exact a price for the use of polluting or nonrenewable fuels, are having a positive effect on the environment and natural resource base of countries as varied as China, the Netherlands, and Hungary.

This is essentially a comparison question comparing simply countries with countries.

(A) as varied as - best
(B) as varied as are -- We are not comparing how countries vary from some of the cited countries are.
(C) as varied as those of -- wrong comparison between countries and those of some countries.
(D) that are as varied as --- the comparison seems to be between the variedness of countries
(E) that are varied as are-- The comparison is not even complete.

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Hello thangvietnam,

I must say that your analysis is very thorough. So great job there.

However, I would say that usage of that is ambiguous in Choice D because it logically refers to both the environment and natural resource base and countries.

Hence, Choice a is a better answer choice.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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This question tests 2 concepts: Idiom, and Meaning. Idiomatically, when we make a comparison with “as” we need to use a “double as,” or “as…as.” Only (A), (B), and (C) contain the correct idiom. Now we must carefully examine the Meaning.

Here we are comparing the “positive effect” in various “countries.” Since “China,” “the Netherlands,” and “Hungary” are all countries, the comparison is clear in (A).

Why can’t it be (B) or (C)?

The word “are” in (B) is simply not necessary. It does not make the sentence (1) more grammatically correct, (2) cleaner stylistically, or (3) clearer in terms of meaning. (A) is a better choice because it has no grammar error, is shorter, and already has a crystal-clear meaning.

(C) contains a pronoun error – “those” would logically refer to the “environment and natural resource base” of the countries of China, the Netherlands, and Hungary, but we are comparing the countries to one another NOT their respective environment and natural resource bases. The COUNTRIES themselves are “varied,” not the “bases.” Notice how the inclusion of this pronoun changes the Meaning.
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Hiii Experts,
I am not able to boil the meaning difference between the choices. Please help me with the poe

Hello rajatkataria14@gmail.com,

I will be glad to help you out with this one.

So called green taxes, which exact a price for the use of polluting or nonrenewable fuels, are having a positive effect on the environment and natural resource base of countries as varied as China, the Netherlands, and Hungary.


The sentence starts by explaining the green taxes.

Green taxes = These taxes exact a price for the use of polluting or nonrenewable fuels. These taxes are showing positive effect on two aspects of a country:

the environment and
natural base of many countries.

These countries are as different as China, the Netherlands, and Hungary.


Now let's do the Answer Choice Analysis:

Choice A: as varied as - Correct. This choice clearly presents the intended meaning.

Choice B: as varied as are - Incorrect. This choice seems to suggest that the countries where the green taxes are showing positive results are not China, the Netherlands, and Hungary. Those are different countries.

Choice C: as varied as those of - Incorrect. There is no antecedent for the pronoun those.

Choice D: that are as varied as - Incorrect. As already explained earlier in this thread, this choice leads to a slight meaning change. This choice seems to suggest that the countries where the green taxes are showing positive results are as varied as China, the Netherlands, and Hungary. All these countries are equally varied.

Choice E: that are varied as are - Incorrect. This choice uses incomplete idiom.



Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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A) Implies that positive effects are having countries those are even as varied as China, the Netherlands, and Hungary.

Eg. After joining GMAT Club students as bad as KaranB1 improved.

D) Implies only varied countries are having positive effects.

Eg. After joining GMAT Club students that are as bad as KaranB1 Improved.

GMATNinja egmat chiranjeev Bunuel can you please confirm whether my understanding is correct

C is wrong because ‘those of’ suggests that China, the Netherlands and Hungary are superstructures that consist of multiple countries.
B D and E all have redundancy in ‘are’.

A is the right answer.

choice c is wrong because
"those" refers to "countries"
and we have "countries of china and hungary"
this is not idiomatic. we do not have "country+name of nation" . we do not have "country of China" though we have "city of Newyork" .

am I correct ?

green taxes, are having a positive effect on countries

as varied as China, the Netherlands, and Hungary.
that are as varied as

(A) as varied as
(B) as varied as are
(C) as varied as those of
(D) that are as varied as
(E) that are varied as are

(D) should be the answer - that is a noun modifier for "countries"

For as to be used - it should be "such as" not "as varied as" - though in daily colloquial English this might just be fine...

Sorry to bump up an old post!

I couldn't figure out why B is wrong
GMATNinja @veritasprepkarishma egmat

Doesn't 'those of' in reply C refer to the environment and natural resource base?

No.

Notice that, in (C), "those of" appears in "countries as varied as those of."

As a result, "those" illogically refers to "countries."
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So called green taxes, which exact a price for the use of polluting or nonrenewable fuels, are having a positive effect on the environment and natural resource base of countries as varied as China, the Netherlands, and Hungary.

(A) as varied as Correct answer - no apparent errors.

(B) as varied as are Verb "are" violates parallelism between "countries" and "China, the Netherlands, and Hungary". Eliminate.

(C) as varied as those of "those of" implies possession, and followed by country names, implies something possessed by those countries. This is inconsistent logically with "countries as varied as". Eliminate.

(D) that are as varied as "that are" implies that we are talking about countries other than those mentioned. Unnecessary meaning change. Eliminate.

(E) that are varied as are "varied as are" is idiomatically incorrect - the correct form is "as varied as". Eliminate.

Hope this helps.
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Gmat Ninja can u please give a detailed solution this question-Y option D is Incorrect

varied = diverse

D: countries that are as varied as China, the Netherlands and Hungary [are varied]
The words in brackets are omitted but implied.
As a result, the sentence seems to compare ONE GROUP of countries (the countries in blue) to ANOTHER GROUP of countries (the countries in red).
The implication is that the two groups are equally diverse.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate D.

The intended meaning of the original sentence is that there is only ONE GROUP of countries and that this group is composed of countries that are VERY DIVERSE.
OA: countries as varied as China, the Netherlands and Hungary
Here, the conveyed meaning is that the countries in blue are DIVERSE and that China, the Netherlands and Hungary are EXAMPLES of this diversity.
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CAn someone explain why B D and E are wrong? I see lots of focus on why C is wrong.

The intended meaning here is that these countries -- China, the Netherlands, and Hungary -- vary from one another.

The sentence is perfectly fine as written. We don't need helping verbs to clear up ambiguity, and we don't need 'those of' because that would create an illogical meaning.

(1) countries as varied as (2) China, the Netherlands, and Hungary

We're comparing countries to China, the Netherlands, and Hungary.

Perfectly fine.
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