Last visit was: 10 Jul 2025, 03:12 It is currently 10 Jul 2025, 03:12
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
Sub 505 Level|   Comparisons|      
User avatar
tingjojo
User avatar
Joined: 25 May 2010
Last visit: 24 Sep 2017
Posts: 36
Own Kudos:
34
 [18]
Given Kudos: 22
Location: Taiwan
Concentration: Operations, International Business
Schools: Booth PT '18 (D) Anderson '18 (A) Sloan '18 (D) CBS '18 (D) Ross '18 (A) Kellogg '18 (M)
GMAT 1: 720 Q50 V38
GPA: 3.59
WE:Supply Chain Management (Manufacturing)
Schools: Booth PT '18 (D) Anderson '18 (A) Sloan '18 (D) CBS '18 (D) Ross '18 (A) Kellogg '18 (M)
GMAT 1: 720 Q50 V38
Posts: 36
Kudos: 34
 [18]
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 20 Jun 2011, 07:49
Kudos
Add Kudos
18
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

5% (low)

Question Stats:

87% (00:40) correct 13% (00:47) wrong based on 917 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times larger than in the beginning of the century.

(A) than in
(B) than they were at
(C) than it was at
(D) compared to that of
(E) compared to what they were at
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
C
User avatar
mridulbr
User avatar
Joined: 26 Jul 2010
Last visit: 04 Dec 2013
Posts: 3
Own Kudos:
3
 [1]
Given Kudos: 1
Location: Asia
Concentration: General
GPA: 3.45
WE 1: Manufacturing & Planning
WE 2: Supply Chain Management
Schools: Tepper '16
Posts: 3
Kudos: 3
 [1]
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 21 Jun 2011, 07:14
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Population.........was

hence C
User avatar
DevilDoggNC
User avatar
Joined: 20 Dec 2010
Last visit: 01 Dec 2013
Posts: 134
Own Kudos:
231
Given Kudos: 4
Schools:UNC Duke Kellogg
 Q50  V44
GPA: 3.28
GMAT 1: 760 Q50 V44
GRE 1: Q800 V700
Posts: 134
Kudos: 231
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 22 Jun 2011, 16:17
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Choice C!

Let's simplify this question:

[x] population is now 30 times larger than the [x] population in the beginning of the century.

So how can we express this properly.

Choice A -- Is incorrect because we are just saying that the population is greater than "in the beginning of the century" -- its an incorrect comparison. It's missing the pronoun reference. Population must be compared to population.

Choice B -- they were -- population is singular

Choice C -- correct "it" refers to the population

Choice D -- "Larger compared to" -- awkward...Larger than is better

Choice E -- uses plural -- wrong
User avatar
toughmat
User avatar
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Last visit: 13 Nov 2011
Posts: 58
Own Kudos:
11
Given Kudos: 2
Posts: 58
Kudos: 11
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 23 Jun 2011, 03:00
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
For comparison we need than so eliminate d & e
In choice C it refers back to population so pick C
User avatar
crick20002002
User avatar
Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Last visit: 05 Oct 2012
Posts: 285
Own Kudos:
554
 [1]
Given Kudos: 37
Status:Prep started for the n-th time
Posts: 285
Kudos: 554
 [1]
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 26 Jun 2011, 01:03
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
C is the correct choice.
First examining the choices, we can eliminate D and E as we need a "than to follow larger" here.

Secondly, we are referring to a specific time instant in history : the beginningof the century. So we need an "at" . (if the construction was without "the" : beginning of century, "in" would have been more appropriate). So we can eliminate A.

Lastly we need a singluar verb with population. Hence can eliminate B.


Left with C :).


Crick
avatar
vietmoi999
avatar
Joined: 08 Apr 2013
Last visit: 07 Dec 2014
Posts: 98
Own Kudos:
70
Given Kudos: 27
Posts: 98
Kudos: 70
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 16 Feb 2014, 03:13
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
tingjojo
Can anyone elaborate a little bit on the answer?
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times larger than in the beginning of the century.

A. than in
B. than they were at
C. than it was at
D. compared to that of
E. compared to what they were at

"at the begining " is idiomatic. so, "in" in A is wrong.
"they" in B is wrong because it refer to nothing
"compared..." needs a noun . there is no such nouns. D and E are gone
User avatar
dabaobao
User avatar
Joined: 24 Oct 2016
Last visit: 20 Jun 2022
Posts: 572
Own Kudos:
1,555
Given Kudos: 143
GMAT 1: 670 Q46 V36
GMAT 2: 690 Q47 V38
GMAT 3: 690 Q48 V37
GMAT 4: 710 Q49 V38 (Online)
GMAT 4: 710 Q49 V38 (Online)
Posts: 572
Kudos: 1,555
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 10 Mar 2019, 09:27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
tingjojo
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times larger than in the beginning of the century.

A. than in
B. than they were at
C. than it was at
D. compared to that of
E. compared to what they were at

Main Issues:


1) Parallelism: X & Y should be parallel.
2) Idiom: Correct idiom is "larger than". Incorrect: "larger compared to".
3) Comparison: Population is being compared for 2 different times.

A. than in - Wrong: Proposition "at" should be used instead of "in".
B. than they were at - Wrong: Plural "they" can't be used to refer to singular "Population".
C. than it was at - Correct
D. compared to that of - Wrong: 1) Idiom 2) Don't need another copy "that". 3) Distorted Meaning: "population of the beginning..."
E. compared to what they were at - Wrong: Idiom 2) Plural "they" can't be used to refer to singular "Population".
avatar
sayiurway
avatar
Joined: 24 Aug 2013
Last visit: 19 Dec 2022
Posts: 33
Own Kudos:
14
Given Kudos: 39
Schools: Goizueta '21 (A$)
Schools: Goizueta '21 (A$)
Posts: 33
Kudos: 14
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 04 Apr 2019, 18:45
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Manhattan SC book suggests that:
If you want to relate the quantities by multiplication, use times and as…as together:
Right: The man is FIVE TIMES AS OLD AS his grandson.
Wrong: The man is FIVE TIMES OLDER THAN his grandson

Is this correct to use "thirty times larger" or should it be "thirty times as big/larger as"?
Tks
User avatar
thangvietnam
User avatar
Joined: 29 Jun 2017
Last visit: 09 Mar 2023
Posts: 771
Own Kudos:
413
Given Kudos: 2,198
Posts: 771
Kudos: 413
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 12 Apr 2019, 02:44
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
the only error in choice A is "in". we have to use "at the beginning". this is purely idiomatic.

if we change "in" into "at", choice a is more consice than choice c.
User avatar
thangvietnam
User avatar
Joined: 29 Jun 2017
Last visit: 09 Mar 2023
Posts: 771
Own Kudos:
413
Given Kudos: 2,198
Posts: 771
Kudos: 413
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 31 Aug 2019, 09:12
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
when making comparison and ellipsis, keep the tense of mood (negative or positive" of the first clause. if you dont remember this point, you can make wrong ellipsis.
choice a means
than the population IS in the beginning. this is wrong. IS is wrong, WAS is correct.
User avatar
GMATBuddha
User avatar
Joined: 25 Feb 2020
Last visit: 27 Jan 2023
Posts: 26
Own Kudos:
20
Given Kudos: 52
Location: India
Schools: HEC '22 EDHEC ESSEC
GMAT 1: 680 Q49 V32
GPA: 4
WE:Marketing (Non-Profit and Government)
Schools: HEC '22 EDHEC ESSEC
GMAT 1: 680 Q49 V32
Posts: 26
Kudos: 20
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 25 Feb 2020, 18:28
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times larger than in the beginning of the century.

Quote:
(A) than in
Lets simplify the sentence.
Population [ in North America is now thirty times ] larger than [ population in the beginning of the century]
in this option, just by saying "than in", we cannot be sure what is being compared.
Quote:
(B) than they were at
"they" is a plural pronoun which can't logically refer back to anything here.
Quote:
(C) than it was at
[Population in America is now thirty times] larger than [ population was at the beginning of the century]
Clean. No errors.
Quote:
(D) compared to that of
larger than is correct. Who says larger compared to???
Quote:
(E) compared to what they were at
same issue as above.
User avatar
sherxon
User avatar
Joined: 28 May 2021
Last visit: 01 Jun 2025
Posts: 130
Own Kudos:
214
Given Kudos: 30
Location: Uzbekistan
Concentration: Strategy, General Management
Schools: Carlson (A$$$) Kenan-Flagler '25 (A$$$$) Goizueta '25 (A$$$) Olin '25 (A$$$$) Fuqua '25 (M$$$$) Marshall '25 (A$$$$)
GMAT 1: 740 Q50 V40
GMAT 2: 770 Q50 V46 (Online)
GPA: 4
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: Carlson (A$$$) Kenan-Flagler '25 (A$$$$) Goizueta '25 (A$$$) Olin '25 (A$$$$) Fuqua '25 (M$$$$) Marshall '25 (A$$$$)
GMAT 2: 770 Q50 V46 (Online)
Posts: 130
Kudos: 214
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 05 Jul 2021, 23:59
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
sayiurway
Manhattan SC book suggests that:
If you want to relate the quantities by multiplication, use times and as…as together:
Right: The man is FIVE TIMES AS OLD AS his grandson.
Wrong: The man is FIVE TIMES OLDER THAN his grandson

Is this correct to use "thirty times larger" or should it be "thirty times as big/larger as"?
Tks

Please, can someone answer this question?
User avatar
KittyDoodles
User avatar
Joined: 21 Jan 2020
Last visit: 26 Mar 2025
Posts: 102
Own Kudos:
5
Given Kudos: 346
Schools: ISB '27 (A)
Schools: ISB '27 (A)
Posts: 102
Kudos: 5
The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times 04 Feb 2023, 02:49
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi team,

In option A why can't we assume that the below has been omitted in the sentence.

The herring gull population in the North America is now thirty times larger than (the population was )in the beginning of the century.

In option C, does the pronoun "IT" refers to the current population?

Thanks
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7349 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
235 posts