The portion of the interest earned on the state university’s endowment

Question

The portion of the interest earned on the state university’s endowment that is set aside to fund merit scholarships for outstanding high school seniors is more numerous than that set aside to fund the university’s high-powered athletic program.

(A) is more numerous than
(B) are more numerous than
(C) is greater than
(D) is greater
(E) are greater than

Show Answer

Official Answer

C

(A) is more numerous than
(B) are more numerous than
(C) is greater than
(D) is greater
(E) are greater than

Sajjad1994 · Accepted Answer

Official Explanation

The sentence compares "the portion of the interest" set aside to fund x to "that" (the portion of the interest) set aside to fund y. Since the "portion of the interest" is a singular quantity, it cannot be described using the phrase "more numerous," which can be used only for plural nouns. (A countable plural noun such as "students" could be described as "more numerous." For example, one could say "The merit-scholarship students are more numerous than the athletic-scholarship students.") To compare a singular quantity, the phrase "greater than" should be used instead.

(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) This choice incorrectly uses the modifier "more numerous" to describe the singular quantity "the portion of interest." Moreover, the plural verb "are" does not agree with the singular subject "the portion of interest."

(C) CORRECT. This choice correctly uses the phrase "greater than" to compare two singular quantities: "The portion of interest" set aside to fund x "is greater than that" set aside to fund y.

(D) While this choice correctly uses the word "greater" to compare two singular quantities, it incorrectly omits the word "than" thereby creating an incomplete comparison: "The portion of interest . . . set aside to fund   is greater that set aide to fund  ."

(E) This choice correctly uses the phrase "greater than" to compare two singular quantities: "The portion of interest" set aside to fund x "is greater than that" set aside to fund y. However, the plural verb "are" does not agree with the singular subject "the portion of interest."

Answer: C

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear reachskishore , I'm happy to respond. :-)

What is the source of this question? It's a very poor question, not GMAT-like at all. It's very easy: it's hard to imagine many native English speakers getting this question wrong, whereas many official GMAT SC questions are challenging even for native English speakers. The subject is " portion ," singular, so we need the singular verb. (A) & (E) are wrong. Obviously " portion of the interest " is not countable, so obviously anything with " numerous " is wrong. Choice (D) is a strikingly uncreative mistake pattern: dropping the necessary " than ." A skilled test taker might miss this only because it is so unlike what the GMAT would do. The answer has to be (C) . This is not a high quality question, and practicing with questions of this level will not prepare you adequately for the GMAT. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

Mujeeb · Answer

The answer choice C is correct.

The comparison with portion is correctly mentioned when   is used

eddy8700 · Answer

The portion of the interest earned on the state university’s endowment that is set aside to fund merit scholarships for outstanding high school seniors is more numerous than that set aside to fund the university’s high-powered athletic program.
(A) is more numerous than
(B) are more numerous than
(C) is greater than
(D) is greater
(E) are greater than

answer is C
comparison requires than and is singular
numerous is uncountable

Nightmare007 · Answer

Hi mike, 
 Can you explain me when to use "numerous" and "the numbers of .." 
thank you

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Nightmare007 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

The word " numerous " is roughly synonymous with " many ," but " numerous " is a little more intense. a) There are many stars in the nighttime sky . = ordinary, factual statement b) There are numerous stars in the nighttime sky . = a little more powerful and emphatic about the size of the number As with the word " many ," the word " numerous " is only used for countable items. The comparative form is " more numerous ." c) " The stars in the nighttime sky are more numerous than one can imagine ." The phrases " numbers of " or " the numbers of " are less common ways of saying " many ." Of course, in the singular, " the number of X " highlights how many X's we have, for any countable X. Confusingly, " a number of " also can mean " many ." d) Many employees have come to the HR office to complain . e) Numerous employees have come to the HR office to complain . = more emphatic f) A number of employees have come to the HR office to complain . = a bit colloquial, less likely to appear on the GMAT All three of these, with slightly different emphases, mean more or less the same thing. All three of these are noun-modifiers, modifying a noun, so the focus is on that noun. As soon as we introduce the definite article, " the ," the focus shift more to the number itself, and it makes more sense for the focus to be on the magnitude of the quantity. g) The numbers of employees coming to the HR office to complain have been overwhelming ." h) The sheer quantity of employees coming to the HR office to complain has been overwhelming ." Both of those are equivalent, a statement about the size of the number. In the singular, "the number" is just more factual and ordinary: i) The number of pieces on chessboard, at the start of a game, is 32 . j) The number of days in February is less than that of any other month . Does all this make sense? Mike :-)