Pack 2 Q4 The Namib day gecko can typically sprint up to eight feet

Question

Pack 2 Question 4 of 5

The Namib day gecko can typically sprint up to eight feet a second to escape a predator, but the more darkness the geckos are exposed to, the  greater their likelihood of capture by a predator .

A. greater their likelihood of capture by a predator

B. greater was their likelihood of capture by a predator

C. more their likelihood of capture by a predator

D. more was their likelihood of capture by a predator

E. more they would have a likelihood of capture by a predator

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sampriya · Answer

A.  greater  their likelihood of capture by a predator

B.  greater  was their likelihood of capture by a predator

C.  more  their likelihood of capture by a predator

D.  more  was their likelihood of capture by a predator

E.  more  they would have a likelihood of capture by a predator

when we first notice the answer options we can see it deals with idiom/parallelism and countable/un-countable nouns

in gmat when we have greater vs more then greater is preferred for uncountable nouns

therefore we can eliminate c,d and e

between A and B.. B has a verb and A doesn't

therefore B is parallel and correct

Shivan21 · Answer

Two important points:
1. Between More and Greater, greater should be used with likelihood
2. We need a "to be" verb form to be parallel with "geckos  are "

IMO the answer is B because of the reasons stated above.

daagh · Answer

The whole setting is in the present tense as some kind of eternal or universal truth, but the verb tense used alone is in past tense 'was' in B.

Is likelihood an uncountable, quantum noun or is it countable as one likelihood, two likelihoods and so on? Do we say how much likelihood or how many likelihoods? I would go for 'more' rather than greater.

Is there any error in transcription? Is the word 'the' underlined? If it is underlined, none of the choices will be correct. - The idiom is "the more/greater X is ... the more/greater Y is. If you remove 'the' from the second arm, it will be unidiomatic.

Let's wait for the OA and OE.

rohit8865 · Answer

correct idiom "the more X , the greater" is Y.
A. greater their likelihood of capture by a predator-----correct

B. greater   was   their likelihood of capture by a predator--incorrect...sentence is presenting a present scenario,so past tense is wrong.

C.    more   their likelihood of capture by a predator--incorrect

D.   more   was their likelihood of capture by a predator--incorrect--incorrect

E.   more   they would have a likelihood of capture by a predator---incorrect

snoep · Answer

The Namib day gecko can typically sprint up to eight feet a second to escape a predator, but the more darkness the geckos are exposed to,  the greater their likelihood of capture by a predator

Gecko's running speed is discussed as a general fact. in addition to this fact, another fact is described as - the more darkness they are exposed to, the greater/the more their likelihood (probability) or getting caught by predator

I am assuming missing 'the' is just a typo. need 'the'.. the more/the greater

A.  greater  their  likelihood  of capture by a predator
this acts as modifier , likelihood is in terms of probability hence greater is good instead of more

B.  greater   was  their  likelihood  of capture by a predator
this is in past tense, suggesting , in the past possibility of getting caught was greater. however, we don't need something to go with the fact that is true even today

C.  more  their  likelihood  of capture by a predator
likelihood is in terms of probability hence greater is good instead of more

D.  more   was  their  likelihood  of capture by a predator
more and was both are not correct to use to represent the fact and not appropriate for likelihood

E.  more  they  would have  a  likelihood  of capture by a predator
this is suggesting in the future the will have more likelihood, so what happens between today and in the future?

A seems to be the answer!

Aderonke01 · Answer

Question says the more darkness the geckos ARE exposed to.... ds means regular action, hence we rule out past tense “was”. Also likelihood should be preceded by greater. Hence A is d ans

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

The Namib day gecko can typically sprint up to eight feet a second to escape a predator, but the more darkness the geckos are exposed to, the  greater their likelihood of capture by a predator .

A.  greater their  likelihood of capture by a predator

B.  greater was their  likelihood of capture by a predator

C.  more their  likelihood of capture by a predator

D.  more was their  likelihood of capture by a predator

E.  more they would have a  likelihood of capture by a predator

A review of the options shows that there are some idiom-related factors to consider with the use of “ more ” versus “ greater ,” and we must also consider the verb used in the underlined portion.

Let’s start by considering the verb. The non-underlined portion of the sentence reads “the geckos are exposed to.” This verb is the present tense, and since the more darkness they are exposed to right now impacts their chance of capture right now, then the underlined portion should be in the present tense. Options B and D use the past tense, so they cannot be the best answers.

Option E uses “would have,” which is used to create a conditional statement, to talk about the future in the past, or to talk about the past. None of those make sense in this setting, and it lacks conciseness. Option E cannot be the best answer.

The idiom is to use greater when referring to numbers. Likelihood is related to probabilities, which are numbers. We use “greater” when combined with likelihood. Option C cannot be the best answer. We have eliminated four answer choices, so  Option A is the winner .

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  sampriya ! You cracked the code on answering this question! By focusing on the more/greater split, you were able to narrow down your choices quickly and get to the right choice!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hi  Shivan21 !

You are very close! Focusing on the greater/more split was a great idea - and narrowed down your choices rather quickly!

However, the addition of a verb in option B would only be helpful if it agreed with the present tense noun "are" that occurs earlier in the statement. It doesn't make sense to say that the more geckos ARE exposed darkness in the present, the greater likelihood their capture WAS in the past.

Keep at it! Make sure to tag us at  EMPOWERgmatVerbal  if you have any questions!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hello  daagh !

I hope we answered all of your questions with the OA and OE provided! There was no error with the underlining, so you didn't have to focus on the "the" in the non-underlined portion.

Please make sure to tag us at  EMPOWERgmatVerbal  if you have any other questions!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  rohit8865 !

You cracked the code on this question! Good job catching the verb agreement problem in option B - that was an easy difference to overlook!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  snoep !

You cracked the code on answering this question! The word "the" wasn't underlined in the original sentence, so you didn't have to worry about it for any of the options. They wanted you to focus on verb agreement and idiomatic usage of more/greater, which you did very well!

Feel free to tag us at  EMPOWERgmatVerbal  if you have any questions!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  Aderonke01 !

You cracked the code on how to answer this one!

aaditya005 · Answer

Everyone trying to fathom the difference, here is a very good hack mentioned in the given below url courtesy  Magoosh :

EXCERPT:

1) We use “greater” when the noun in question is a number. Some examples of nouns that are themselves numbers are: percent, interest rate, population, volume, distance, price, cost, and number.

e.g.) The area of Georgia is greater than that of Pennsylvania.

e.g.) The price of a trip to the ballgame is greater than the cost of a night at the opera.

2) We can use "more" for  both   countable  and  uncountable  nouns, depending on the context.

e.g.1) Holland has more tulips than does any other country in Western Europe.
Tulips are distinct and countable: you can count how many tulips you have.

e.g.2) The US State of Georgia has more land than does the state of Pennsylvania.
“Land” is an uncountable noun.

e.g.3) It costs more to go to the ballgame than to go to the opera.
Here, the implicit noun is “money”, which is also uncountable (as opposed to units of money, such as dollars, which are countable).

For reference:  https://magoosh.com/gmat/verbal/sentence-correction/gmat-comparisons-more-vs-greater-and-less-vs-fewer/

gmatstuff123 · Answer

Very confused - probability is a countable noun, why can't more be used? Greater is not used for countable ones?

Pack 2 Q4 The Namib day gecko can typically sprint up to eight feet

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Pack 2 Q4 The Namib day gecko can typically sprint up to eight feet

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards