There are a practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are den

Question

There are a  practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are denser over  the North Atlantic, inside North America and Europe, and over the North Pacific.

A. practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are denser over

B. practically unlimited number of air routes, but they are dense over

C. practical unlimited number of air routes, which are denser over

D. practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are dense over

E. practically unlimited number of air routes, but they are denser above

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walterwhite756 · Accepted Answer

There are a  practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are denser over  the North Atlantic, inside North America and Europe, and over the North Pacific.

Split #1:   Practical   vs   Practically  
Based on this split we can eliminate multiple options. So since  a  has been used just before underlined sentence, this  a  should refer to only singular word in next part i.e.  number . Therefore use of adverb   practically    (which modified this number) is more appropriate than noun   practical  .

So A, C and D are eliminated.

Split#2:   Dense   vs   Denser  
Since sentence seems to compare different number of air routes, comparative form of verb   denser   is more appropriate.

Therefore E is the answer.

Blair15 · Answer

I think answer is E. Practically over practical and Denser over Dense.

mendax · Answer

I think  which  seems to be better answer which doesn't oppose the previous statement that there are unlimited number of air routes. IMO C

KunalVora · Answer

Here number is subject of sentence and its a noun. How can "practically" which is adverb modify noun "number" in a sentence?
Please correct me if i am wrong.

walterwhite756 · Answer

Subject : number Prepositional phrase: of air routes Adjective: Unlimited Adjective: Practical Adverb: Practically Instead of original adjective PRACTICAL, use of Adverb PRACTICALLY is more suitable. Adverb is modifying adjective IMO. Hope it helped.

Patriarch · Answer

adverb: (Practically) modifies anything other than noun/pronoun 
Adjective: (Practical) modifies noun / pronoun

'Practically' modifies 'unlimited', which is an adjective to the noun 'number'

Denser is preferred over Dense for comparison purpose

These leave us with Answer option E

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

There are a  practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are denser over  the North Atlantic, inside North America and Europe, and over the North Pacific.

A. practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are denser over

Incorrect.

This answer choice is illogical. The adjective  practical , which means 'useful', cannot logically describe  unlimited numbe r (it's not the unlimited number of air routes which is practical).

B. practically unlimited number of air routes, but they are dense over

Incorrect.

While this answer choice corrects the original logical mistake, by changing the adjective  practical  to the adverb  practically  it also changes the meaning of the original sentence by replacing  denser  with  dense .

C. practical unlimited number of air routes, which are denser over

Incorrect.

This answer choice repeats the original logical mistake: the adjective  practical  which means 'useful', cannot logically describe  unlimited number  (it's not the unlimited number of air routes which is practical).

D. practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are dense over

Incorrect.

This answer choice repeats the original logical mistake: the adjective  practical  which means 'useful', cannot logically describe  unlimited number  (it's not the unlimited number of air routes which is practical).

In addition, this answer choice changes the meaning of the original sentence by replacing  denser  with  dense

E. practically unlimited number of air routes, but they are denser above

This answer choice corrects the original logical mistake, by changing the adjective  practical  to the adverb  practically . In this context,  practically  is an idiom that means "almost", or "in effect, virtually", and in this usage it creates a logical sentence.

There are a practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are den

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

There are a practical unlimited number of air routes, but they are den

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards