The United States Department of Defense is the single largest bureaucr

Question

The United States Department of Defense is the single largest bureaucratic institution in the United States, with an annual budget of $220 billion dollars a year, greater than the Gross Domestic Product of several nations on earth.

(A) greater than
(B) greater than that of
(C) more than that of
(D) more than in
(E) which is more than

Please explain your answer.

(A) greater than
(B) greater than that of
(C) more than that of
(D) more than in
(E) which is more than

amitdgr · Answer

we are comparing the "annual budget of USDD" with "GDP of several nations"

I choose A.

nganle08 · Answer

Can you explain why not E? Can the budget be more than the GDP?

sankarspb · Answer

we are comparing not the numbers rather we are comparing US.... with the GDP of other nations....
So it can be 'E'

amitdgr · Answer

in E, we have "which" which seems to modify "year"

I don't know for sure if budget can be greater than GDP. But IMO other options don't make much sense ....

I may be wrong ..

nganle08 · Answer

I chose E but I do not think I agree with your explanation. I do not think the comparison is between US and the GDP of other nations; rather between the budget and the GDP.

linau1982 · Answer

really? What's the source?  Greater than  should be used when comparing raw numbers (e.g. 4 is greater than 2).  More than  is used when comparing things (US $ is a thing too)

icandy · Answer

Do we need annual budget and year to start with in the same sentence? Jeez annual budget is yearly. There is no need for year. Where is this Q from? We have a number on both sides of the comparison 220Billion and GDP which is again a number. greater than is correct.

A remains but I find the Q bad to start with.

E is wrong. the way it is which refers to year and not the 220Billion USD

tarek99 · Answer

well, here's what I did. you're right. "greater than" should be used with numbers. If this is what this question is trying to do, then we should be able to find "which" so that we can refer to the number immediately before it. we do have option E, but it uses "more than." This is obviously wrong and there is no other choice that could correct this. So obviously, the intent of this question is not to refer to the number. So it must refer to the annual budget. But again, do you want to use "more than" for budget? if you do, then you're implying that there is more than 1 budget. If you want to talk about the same 1 budget but then the figure is just higher, then you would need "greater than". Since option doesn't use "which", we can safely use it to refer back to "annual budget."

hope this helps

reply2spg · Answer

I choose in between A and B and choose B which is wrong :cry:

Please help to understand why not B? I can understand it is having "that of".....but can somebody let me know when to use that of and when not to use it?

aMante · Answer

I have A and B left but I choose A.

What's wrong with B!!!!! sb plz explain.

amitdgr · Answer

The windshield of car X is bigger than  that of  car Y. 
The comparison is between the windshield of car X and car Y. We can replace the phrase "that of" with "the windshield".
The windshield of car X is bigger than  the windshield  car Y. This sentence still means the same as original sentence.

USDD has annual budget of X millions greater than that of GDP of many nations. This is how choice B would read

Literally, this means --- USDD's annual budget is greater than annual budget of GDP of many nations

This is illogical ... GDP does not have annual budget .... That is why B is wrong.

tarek99 · Answer

wrong! "wheels" is plural, so you need "those." If we had "wheel", which is singular, THEN we can use "that."

amitdgr · Answer

Thanks tarek !!

I'll change it now ...

gmatter0913 · Answer

Can somebody comment on the grammatical construction of this sentence please?

gmatprav · Answer

What exactly is the intended meaning of the sentence? Can someone please explain?

aimtoteach · Answer

Souvik  / other experts

Could you please explain why we cant mark E here?

rhine29388 · Answer

The correct comparison of US Budget and GDP of several other nations can be made by usage of ' greater than '.So correct Answer is option A

GittinGud · Answer

Why can't E be the answer? AFAIK 'which' can jump over prepositional phrases to modify another noun. In that case, which is correctly modifying $220B. Please help. Thanks!

abhishek31 · Answer

Hi, i chose option(E) over option (A), can you kindly offer me an explanation of why option A makes more sense. I am not satisfied with the ones provided below.

The United States Department of Defense is the single largest bureaucr

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The United States Department of Defense is the single largest bureaucr

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

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