There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy relia

Wrong use of the idiom "as much as".

Wrong, because the "as" is followed by a subject pronoun "it". Putting a noun after "as" is confusing by suggesting functional comparison or by turning the "as" into the subordinating conjuntor; here with the possible meaning of "because". For more about that aspect of using "as" see: Manhattan SC, p. 144.

Correct, because the verb "was" after the "as" eliminates the confusion described under B). Correct idiom form is used too. One may suspect wordiness here, but the sentence is very clear, isn't it? I seldom go for patterns in 700+ problems.

Wrong for the same reason as B).

Incorrect use of the idiom "as much as".

Let us replace "more than ten times" with eleven times.

The sentence fragment now reads: Eleven times as much energy is generated through wind power now ...

"As much energy" needs "as" to complete it, as otherwise one is not sure how much energy was actually generated. So A and E are out.

Now notice that B and D differ only in the placement of "now". Although ideally the adverb should follow the verb, the rules are not strict. So you could eliminate both B and D, as the GMAT cannot have two correct answers.
B would be preferred as its construction is parallel with the last part of the sentence.

But, B and D have another issue. Both use the ambiguous "it".
One way to disambiguate this construction would be to reorganise the sentence:
Eleven times as much energy (as was generated in 1990 through wind power) is generated through wind power now.
"It" cannot be used to refer to the entire expression in parentheses.

So the answer must be C.



--Prasad
EnterMBA.in
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Meaning : There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from reliance on fossil fuels.More than ten times as much energy is generated through X as it was generated through wind power in 1990.

There are two idioms tested.
as X as Y and X more than Y.

A) generated through wind power now than it was
as much X as Y -> We require "as"

B) generated through wind power now as it was
-Confused as to why B is wrong

C) generated through wind power now as was the case
- Looks good.

D) now generated through wind power as it was
- couldn't eliminate on solid grounds

E) now generated through wind power than was the case
As much X as Y

Can you please explain what can be the error in B) and D). Why "as it was" is wrong. I think if we ellipse on this.

more than ten times as much energy is generated through Wind power now as it was generated through wind power in 1990 -> Looks correct to me.

Hi kinjiGC,

Thanks for posting your doubt here.

So basically why "as it was..." is incorrect in the context of this sentence. It is so because "it" refers to "more than ten times as much energy". It is so because in such constructions, the modifiers related to a referent noun CANNOT be left alone. So in Choices B and D. This obviously does not make sense as this reference leads to illogical comparison.

However, Choice C, this is not the case because "as was the case" refers to generation of energy in 1990.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
SJ
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Just to summarize the understanding, "it" should refer to the "complete" subject along with the modifier.

Can I use "that"? Can you please clarify the difference.

Hi kinjiGC,

Any pronoun used to refer to a noun will include the associated modifier with it. It just cannot pick up the "noun" and leave alone the modifier. This is applicable for the use of "that" as well.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
SJ
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Why B is wrong and C is right? Can anyone please explain with details?

I do not see a problem with B. Probably other experts could provide their opinions. To me the parallelism seems OK in B:

...more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now as it was (generated though wind power) in 1990.

The blue and pink highlighted portions seem to me parallel; moreover it is allowed to omit repeated (even verbs) from the second parallel element.

Experts please enlighten us.

I was confused between 'B' and 'D'. Finally chose 'B', which is not the answer
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Hi,

Below was the explanation by Ron:

there are two splits you should use to narrow down this problem:

(1) the second half of the construction 'ten times as much ... ____' is as, not than. therefore, you can eliminate answers (a) and (e), which contain 'than'. (i'm assuming that (e) is supposed to say 'than', not 'then'; i don't think the gmat problems would that blatant an error)

(2) the pronoun 'it' is inappropriate, because 'it' must refer to the ENTIRETY of the noun phrase serving as an antecedent.
for instance, the following is an improper sentence: last year's attendance was ten thousand greater than it was this year
in the above sentence, the pronoun 'it' must necessarily refer to last year's attendance, not just attendance.
the problem in this post has the same issue: the pronoun 'it' must refer to more than ten times as much energy, not just energy - an interpretation that makes no logical sense. therefore, all answer choices containing the pronoun 'it' are wrong.

if you don't like '...than was the case', you should learn to like it; this is one of those phrases that the gmat writers use to refer to concepts that don't fit under the usage constraints of traditional pronouns. (another popular one of these constructions is 'do so'.)

Note:when a pronoun stands for a noun to which ESSENTIAL MODIFIERS (i.e., modifiers without commas) are attached, the pronoun must STAND FOR THE NOUN PLUS ALL ESSENTIAL MODIFIERS attached to the noun.
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There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels: more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990.

There are two things that one can look into while solving this question.

1. as much as -> Correct idiom

2. Subject of the clause after the comma -> more than ten times as much energy
So it will refer to the whole subject, hence usage of it is incorrect

A) generated through wind power now than it was
B) generated through wind power now as it was
C) generated through wind power now as was the case -> Correct
D) now generated through wind power as it was
E) now generated through wind power than was the case

Also if you assign a antecedent to a pronoun then you should be able to replace that pronoun by the noun. The sentence should make sense.

Let's try it..
more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now as energy was generated in 1990...
Does this make sense - NO It does not make sense...
If only we remove the energy the sentence makes complete sense.
But we don't have that option.
The next best option is C.

Hope this helps.

hi egmat


Can you explain why it is referring to 10 times the energy ?? Can we use that in place of it .

Please give some additional example on the same .

Thanks
Neha

"It" does not refer to "ten times the energy" - a pronoun cannot refer to a group of words such as this one - a pronoun has to refer to a noun (or a noun phrase).

The point is that the pronoun "it" does not have any antecedent (nouns such "energy" or "wind power" are not suitable antecedents for the pronoun in this sentence). The proper antecedent of "it" could be the word "case", but this word is not there in the sentence. Hence all options that have "it" are wrong.

To answer your second question:
No, "that" is equally wrong - "that" as a demonstrative pronoun must have a noun to follow or as a relative pronoun must have a noun to refer to:

That pen is mine (demonstrative - the noun "pen" follows)
The car you have is bigger than that I have (relative - referring to "car").

However the following sentence is wrong:
There were many exciting games in the party: that was great.
(wrong - "that" cannot refer to the whole fact that "There were many exciting games in the party")

There are two key moves that we can make to answer this one correctly.

One is to see that "more than ten times" in the non-underlined portion can be shortened to "ten times." By eliminating the confusing "more than," we can see that what we are dealing with is "ten times as much." Clearly, "ten times as much" has to go with "as," to create "ten times as much ... as," rather than with "than," to create "ten times as much ... than." So, we can eliminate (A) and (E).

Now, we are down to (B), (C), and (D), and we need our second key move.

We can tell that the use of the pronoun "it" does not make sense. However, "as was the case" seems a bit off too. So, our second key move is to realize that SC question writers often put in the correct answers wording that pushes the boundaries of what's acceptable and logical. In this case, the use of "it" is clearly illogical, while the use of "as was the case" is pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable and logical.

So, we go with the barely acceptable "as was the case," and choose (C), the correct answer.
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Here is a video explanation of this question by the legendary Ron!
https://youtu.be/XCioOSv-cWg?t=3644

(A) generated through wind power now than it was Incorrect

=> as much ...than ( Correct idiom is as much..as)

(B) generated through wind power now as it was Incorrect

When we compare something with itself, we need to use it or they. In case of comparison of two different entities, we will choose that.
1.In this sentence, we are comparing between energy generated through wind power now and energy generated through fossil fuel in 1990. =>( As the comparison is in between two different entities, there is no need to use it)
2. more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it(more than ten times as much energy) was (generated) in 1990. => (actually it should modify energy generated by fossil fuel)

(C) generated through wind power now as was the case Correct

(D) now generated through wind power as it was Incorrect

=> same error as in B

(E) now generated through wind power than was the case. Incorrect

=> as much ...than ( Incorrect)
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VeritasKarishma GMATNinja,
I know B and D are incorrect here. But does the change is 'now' change the meaning in anyway in the sentence. If so could you please explain. Because i spent a lot of time doing so while solving this question

No, there isn't any material difference between using the adverb before or after as done in (B) and (D). Though I would prefer the construction in (B) because it is parallel.

... is generated now as was the case in 1990.

AndrewN VeritasKarishma GMATNinja

Quite confused in this question.

I have 2 questions:--
1. Why is D incorrect ??
2. In option B and D, does changing the place of the word 'now' make any difference??