Population.........was

hence C

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

For comparison we need than so eliminate d & e
In choice C it refers back to population so pick C

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

"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

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".

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

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.

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.

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


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.

"they" is a plural pronoun which can't logically refer back to anything here.

[Population in America is now thirty times] larger than [ population was at the beginning of the century]
Clean. No errors.

larger than is correct. Who says larger compared to???

same issue as above.