The latest treatment for gout is twice or more than twice as effective

Question

The latest treatment for gout is  twice or more than twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is  the first new medicine for treating gout in 40 years.

A. twice or more than twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is

B. at least twice, or even more than twice, as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is

C. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, this being

D. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is

E. at least twice as effective at lowering uric acid levels as the current standard drug, it being

Lenel · Answer

The latest treatment for gout is twice or more than twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is the first new medicine for treating gout in 40 years.

A. twice or more than twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is - twice or more than twice is wordy, Eliminate

B. at least twice, or even more than twice, as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is - ‘at least twice’ means two and more than two, ‘ twice or more than twice’ is redundant, Eliminate

C. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, this being - the usage of ‘this being’ is incorrect- Eliminate

D. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is - ‘the current treatment’ is the first medicine for treating gout in 40 years, meaning is clear- Correct

E. at least twice as effective at lowering uric acid levels as the current standard drug, it being - ‘it being’ implies incorrect grammar - Eliminate

Answer: D

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PyjamaScientist · Answer

Option D looks like the best among the worse. This option is fine with me except for the part where there is comma + and. By rule, comma + and should be accompanied with an Independent Clause. In this sentence though, it is not the case. But, among the other given answer choices, I do not think if there's another better option.
I would like to have the views of  IanStewart  on this.

IanStewart · Answer

I agree that D is the best among a lot of bad choices. The comma in D though seems fine to me. We actually do have an independent clause after the comma, but with the subject omitted: "and   is the first new medicine...". It's normal to leave the subject unmentioned in situations like this, when the second clause shares the same subject as the first: "She is trying out for the volleyball team, and is applying to med school" is a perfectly fine sentence, and there's no need to restate "she" in the second clause. I don't think there's any rule that dictates when you need to use a comma in a sentence like this. In a simple sentence I'd leave the comma out, and in a more complicated sentence I'd include it for clarity, but it seems optional either way. The problem I have with answer D is the phrase "the levels of uric acid". I don't know what the word "the" is doing there -- which levels? The phrase "uric acid levels" in E is so much better that I thought E was the right answer until I saw how it ended.

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. twice or more than twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is
twice and more is wordy and akward at least better conveys the meaning

B. at least twice, or even more than twice, as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is
at least twice logically opens up the possibility of more than twice therefore out

C. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, this being
what is this refering to , is not well answered therefore out

D. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is
This is better and the meaning is conveyed without redudancy therefore let us hang on to it

E. at least twice as effective at lowering uric acid levels as the current standard drug, it being
it in the end is a problem since we don't know what it's refering to therefore out

Therefore IMO D

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The latest treatment for gout is  twice or more than twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is  the first new medicine for treating gout in 40 years.

A. twice or more than twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is

Not quite.

This answer choice is grammatically correct but stylistically flawed.  Twice or more than twice  is wordy. Look for a more concise answer choice.

B. at least twice, or even more than twice, as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is

Not exactly.

This answer choice repeats the original stylistic mistake.  At least twice, or even more than twice  is overly wordy. Look for a more concise answer choice.

C. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, this being

Not exactly.

Although this answer choice corrects the original wordiness by changing the phrase  twice or more than twice  to simply  at least twice , it is ambiguous, and therefore, stylistically flawed as well. The pronoun  this  is ambiguous as it could refer to the  latest treatment  or to the  current standard drug .

What helps us identify this question as a Pronoun question as well as identify the Ambiguity mistake is the following Stop Sign:

Every pronoun in the underlined part of the sentence or after it

In addition, the use of  being  is awkward.

The word  being  is often wrong in the GMAT. However, for the most part, you must treat it as a stylistic error, as certain uses are correct. In this case, there is no reason for the use of  being  as its use as a Ving modifier only adds to the ambiguity.

D. at least twice as effective at lowering the levels of uric acid as the current standard drug, and is

This answer choice corrects the wordy phrase  twice or more than twice  by using the more concise  at least .

In addition, the rest of the sentence is grammatically correct and logically sound.

E. at least twice as effective at lowering uric acid levels as the current standard drug, it being

No, that's not it.

Although this answer choice corrects the wordiness in the original sentence by changing the phrase  twice or more than twice  to simply  at least twice , the sentence is ambiguous, and therefore, stylistically flawed as well. The pronoun  it  is ambiguous as it could refer to the  latest treatment  or to the  current standard drug .

What helps us identify this question as a Pronoun question as well as identify the Ambiguity mistake is the following Stop Sign:

Every pronoun in the underlined part of the sentence or after it

Also, the use of  being  is awkward.

The word  being  is often wrong in the GMAT. However, for the most part, you must treat it as a stylistic error, as certain uses are correct. In this case, there is no reason for the use of  being  as its use as a V+ing modifier only adds to the ambiguity.

The latest treatment for gout is twice or more than twice as effective

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The latest treatment for gout is twice or more than twice as effective

Prep Toolkit

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My Rewards