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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 24 Jun 2021, 04:41
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jabhatta2
Hi avigutman - was curious, if you could eliminate D and E had the expression been

Twice as many much as

OR you think the GMAT wouldn't do that ?
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Let's see jabhatta2... What do you think of this sentence:
The temperature rose today, twice as much as the increase of yesterday.
vs
The temperature rose today, doubling the increase of yesterday.

Yeah I would still say the first one is wrong. Perhaps the fix would look like this:
The increase in temperature today was twice as much as the increase of yesterday.

I think the takeaway is that using "as much as" or "as many as" requires a simple comparison of two parallel elements, which the non-underlined text of this problem doesn't accommodate.
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 24 Jun 2021, 19:54
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jabhatta2
Hi GMATNinja - is "Twice" always an adverb ?

So it would be wrong to say -- I am TWICE your size ? It should be I am DOUBLE your size.
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I don't think "I am twice your size" is wrong. While it's true that "twice" is an adverb, you can argue that it's modifying the verb "am" rather than the size itself. (I could refer to a "daunting size," for example, but not a "twice size.")

But I wouldn't burn any brain cells on this. Anytime you find yourself diagramming a sentence and asking whether a certain grammatical rule applies, you want to shift your focus -- the rule isn't going to magically clarify itself in the middle of a GMAT exam, and GMAT SC is much more concerned with logic and meaning than the nuances of adverbs. Instead, you want to ask yourself if the meaning is clear and logical. If it is, move on to other issues.

I hope that helps a bit!
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 08 Jul 2021, 15:34
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mcelroytutoring - i was wondering if you could perhaps make a video regarding how would you tackle this SC question ?

Your youtube videos are really good.

Thanks !
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 08 Jul 2021, 17:43
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Flattery will get you everywhere, jabhatta2.

Here is a video that might help.

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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 27 Jul 2021, 04:12
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bigoyal
The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.


(A) doubling the increase of

(B) doubling that of the increase in

(C) double as much as the increase of

(D) twice as many as the increase in

(E) twice as many as the increase of


Source : GMATPrep Default Exam Pack

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Attachment:
Test 1 R4 V3A.jpg
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A ing modifier after comma should agree with subject. Does this always need to be true? If yes, then is there an exception in this case.
Secondly, what's the difference between increase in and increase of, I couldn't use this distinction to eliminate answers. Please help IanStewart GMATNinja @veritasprepkarishma mcelroytutoring
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 01 Aug 2021, 05:07
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bigoyal
The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.


(A) doubling the increase of

(B) doubling that of the increase in

(C) double as much as the increase of

(D) twice as many as the increase in

(E) twice as many as the increase of


Source : GMATPrep Default Exam Pack

Show Spoiler
Attachment:
Test 1 R4 V3A.jpg

A ing modifier after comma should agree with subject. Does this always need to be true? If yes, then is there an exception in this case.
Secondly, what's the difference between increase in and increase of, I couldn't use this distinction to eliminate answers. Please help IanStewart GMATNinja @veritasprepkarishma mcelroytutoring
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 01 Aug 2021, 06:27
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pk6969

A ing modifier after comma should agree with subject. Does this always need to be true? If yes, then is there an exception in this case.
Secondly, what's the difference between increase in and increase of, I couldn't use this distinction to eliminate answers. Please help
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pk6969 ", ...ing" can serve two purposes:
1. describe the manner in which the subject did the verb in the preceding clause (the dog ran through the field, barking the whole way), or
2. describe an unintended consequence of the action in the preceding clause (Avi ran down the stairs, falling flat on his face).
In this case, the correct answer choice makes use of one or both of those purposes - I think you could make an argument for either of them.
Regarding your second question, about using of vs in... I think GMATNinja gave a good analysis of that here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-number-o ... l#p2804813

That said, I think you should beware of memorizing anecdotal takeaways that are unlikely to be of use on other SC questions. After all, our purpose isn't to fully understand this particular problem. Our purpose is to merely use this problem in order to improve our general SC abilities over time. for this reason, try to focus on the bigger picture, logical/meaning related takeaways.

GMATNinja made a similar point in his second paragraph here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-number-o ... l#p2811575
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 19 Aug 2022, 01:58
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is it right to say? -

'double' and "as much as" are both comparison words. -Redundancy

''twice as many as the increase in'' are both comparison words - Redundancy
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 21 Aug 2022, 13:02
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himanshu0123
is it right to say? -

'double' and "as much as" are both comparison words. -Redundancy

''twice as many as the increase in'' are both comparison words - Redundancy
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These statements look accurate to me.

Whenever you're judging redundancy, don't forget to check the answer choices! If two words/phrases create redundancy together, then there should be at least one answer choice that contains only one of the two redundant parts.
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp Updated on: 21 Aug 2022, 17:26
Originally posted by jabhatta2 on 21 Aug 2022, 14:12.
Last edited by jabhatta2 on 21 Aug 2022, 17:26, edited 11 times in total.
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pk6969

A ing modifier after comma should agree with subject. Does this always need to be true? If yes, then is there an exception in this case.
Secondly, what's the difference between increase in and increase of, I couldn't use this distinction to eliminate answers. Please help
pk6969 ", ...ing" can serve two purposes:
1. describe the manner in which the subject did the verb in the preceding clause (the dog ran through the field, barking the whole way), or
2. describe an unintended consequence of the action in the preceding clause (Avi ran down the stairs, falling flat on his face).
In this case, the correct answer choice makes use of one or both of those purposes - I think you could make an argument for either of them.
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Hi avigutman - in both of your examples above (yellow highlights), the subject can actively perform the ing modifiers.

the dog can bark | Avi can fall down.

But in (A) and (B) - i dont see how can a number can actively perform the "Doubling" of another number.

examples

correct - JD has doubled the number of questions
correct - The female lions doubled the number of lions in the pride

incorrect - 700 doubled 200 to 400 [this doesnt make sense - how can 700 actively double 200 to 400 (or any number for that matter)].
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 21 Aug 2022, 14:13
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^^avigutman

Just to clarify - put together a quick chart with some easy numbers in the context of this problem
Row 2 - number of passengers
Row 3 - delta each year.

(A) and (B) are suggesting that the 700 (Row 2, column 4) is actively perform the "doubing" of the 200 (Row 3, column 3) to 400 (Row 3, column 4)

Its almost as if 700 is getting up and performing the "doubling" of the 200 into the 400

I dont think it makes sense logically for any number (in this case, 700) to actively perform the "Doubling" of 200 to 400
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 22 Aug 2022, 16:15
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Hi avigutman - q on countable vs uncountable.

The SC sentence talks about two numericals, namely

(i) number of people flying first class on domestic flights
(ii) Increase (of/in) the previous year

Per my understanding, both (i) and (ii) are countable nouns.

Reason - (i) and (ii) ARE INTEGERS only. Non countable nouns are items on a countinous spectrum (volume, area, amount -- all of these can be decimals)

However, (i) and (ii) are integers only - hence i thought (i) and (ii) are Countable nouns only.

Is that your understanding ?
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 22 Aug 2022, 16:57
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jabhatta2
Hi avigutman - q on countable vs uncountable.

The SC sentence talks about two numericals, namely

(i) number of people flying first class on domestic flights
(ii) Increase (of/in) the previous year

Per my understanding, both (i) and (ii) are countable nouns.

Reason - (i) and (ii) ARE INTEGERS only. Non countable nouns are items on a countinous spectrum (volume, area, amount -- all of these can be decimals)

However, (i) and (ii) are integers only - hence i thought (i) and (ii) are Countable nouns only.

Is that your understanding ?
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jabhatta2
(i) is definitely countable. Reason: number of people. We can obviously count the number of people (or of anything that can be described in terms of a number).
(ii) Definition of "increase": An amount by which a quantity is increased. The word "amount" implies this is non countable.
Looking at a dictionary, the noun "increase" can also be countable, but that would be in something like "the tax rate experienced 5 increases in the last 2 years."
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp Updated on: 27 Aug 2022, 02:59
Originally posted by akt715 on 26 Aug 2022, 00:42.
Last edited by akt715 on 27 Aug 2022, 02:59, edited 1 time in total.
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doubling the increase of the previous year.
is an -ing modifier , but as per the rule it does not make any sense with
the subject of the previous clause 'the number of people'. So how is A correct?
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 26 Aug 2022, 04:26
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akt715
doubling the increase of the previous year.
is an -ing modified , but as per the rule it does not make any sense with
the subject of the previous clause 'the number of people'. So how is A correct?
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Hello akt715,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the intended meaning is that number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply, and as a result, the increase of the previous year doubled.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 27 Aug 2022, 17:13
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akt715
doubling the increase of the previous year.
is an -ing modifier , but as per the rule it does not make any sense with
the subject of the previous clause 'the number of people'. So how is A correct?
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Comma + _ING modifiers don't just modify a noun. They're adverbial modifiers—they modify the action of the entire preceding clause.

The action of the preceding clause is "The number of people ... rose sharply ..."
This action—i.e., the number of people GOING UP—is exactly what "doubled the increase from the previous year".
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 07 Mar 2023, 04:24
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ROSE SHARPLY is the cause; doubling is the effect. So A or B (-ING form). B is wrong as ‘that of’ doesn’t have any antecedent. The only singular nouns in the sentence before that of are: number, first class, and 1990.

If that of is correct, we should be able to replace that of by one of the three singular nouns: number, first class, and 1990

Doubling the number of the increase in … illogical – there is no expression number of increase. The correct expression is amount of increase.
Doubling the first class of the increase in … illogical
Doubling 1990 of the increase in … illogical … So B is absolutely wrong.

C. On the GMAT, ‘twice’ is used as an adjective and ‘double’ is used as a verb or a cause-effect modifier (adverbial) – doubled / doubling etc. In C, double is used as an adjective (should be twice)
Answer A
D and E – don’t capture the cause-effect sequence.
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 03 Jun 2023, 04:40
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[quote="bigoyal"]The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.


(A) doubling the increase of

(B) doubling that of the increase in

(C) double as much as the increase of

(D) twice as many as the increase in

(E) twice as many as the increase of

In E, twice as many as is a noun modifier, so couldn't t refer to "number" in the sentence?
Please help
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 08 Jun 2023, 06:31
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bigoyal
The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.

(A) doubling the increase of

(B) doubling that of the increase in

(C) double as much as the increase of

(D) twice as many as the increase in

(E) twice as many as the increase of

In E, twice as many as is a noun modifier, so couldn't t refer to "number" in the sentence?

Please help
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(E) seems to compare the number of people flying first class on domestic flights to the increase of the previous year. You could compare one number to another or one increase to another, but comparing a number to an increase doesn't make sense in this context.

To make matters worse, the subject (the number of people flying first class on domestic flights) isn't really tied to a specific year and instead refers to that group of people in a more general way. That makes any potential comparison even less clear in (E).

(A) avoids these comparison issues by using an "-ing" modifier instead, as discussed in this post (and elsewhere in the thread).

I hope that helps!
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The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharp 31 May 2025, 07:20
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