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555-605 Level|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Verb Tense/Form|                     
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gmatretest
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 20 Mar 2016, 04:55
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TommyWallach
Hey All,

I got asked about this privately, but I think the same question was asked by mymisc as well. The question is, do we need the "would" here, and why? The issue is that this sentence is a hypothetical/conditional:

To develop more accurate population forecasts

We could reword this as "If we wanted more accurate forecasts, demographers..."

In a conditional construction, we need the "would". Look at how it would work in a NON-conditional:

To develop accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more...

See how, in that example, without the "more," we're just talking about a fact (how forecasts are developed accurately)? But with the conditional, we need the complete conditional construction, with "would."

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

-t
Show more

GmatDestroyer2013
yolandaxu
How can we find out that the sentence explains a hypothetical situation? Are there any signal words?

To identify the hypothetical situation you have to understand the meaning also there is ,in some cases, inclusion of 'if'/'wish' clause that marks the hypothetical situation.
Think is the sentence is talking about an uncertainty (contrary to reality) for example :

If it rains,(then) we will go out -- here IF denotes the conditional occurrence of an event in future on which another event depends which might occur.
Here we used 'will' because the conditional clause is in present tense.

other cases Past and Perfect - uses would and would have respectively.... Other point to note such sentence always uses plural verb form (instead of was -- it will be were) irrespective of the subject
If I were king, I would rule the world.
If I had two cars, I would have never own a bicycle.

"would" is generally used for the refer future in the past.
Show more

Is there any clear guideline (eg. "more" as a must-be signal word) in distinguishing between a factual sentence and a hypothetical/conditional situation?
Seriously, I fail to justify why this sentence can't be a factual statement (since it lacks "if"), which makes "would" redundant.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 25 Mar 2016, 00:56
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Post bump. Still unable to understand this even with extensive reading online. Any taker?

gmatretest
TommyWallach
Hey All,

I got asked about this privately, but I think the same question was asked by mymisc as well. The question is, do we need the "would" here, and why? The issue is that this sentence is a hypothetical/conditional:

To develop more accurate population forecasts

We could reword this as "If we wanted more accurate forecasts, demographers..."

In a conditional construction, we need the "would". Look at how it would work in a NON-conditional:

To develop accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more...

See how, in that example, without the "more," we're just talking about a fact (how forecasts are developed accurately)? But with the conditional, we need the complete conditional construction, with "would."

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

-t

GmatDestroyer2013
yolandaxu
How can we find out that the sentence explains a hypothetical situation? Are there any signal words?

To identify the hypothetical situation you have to understand the meaning also there is ,in some cases, inclusion of 'if'/'wish' clause that marks the hypothetical situation.
Think is the sentence is talking about an uncertainty (contrary to reality) for example :

If it rains,(then) we will go out -- here IF denotes the conditional occurrence of an event in future on which another event depends which might occur.
Here we used 'will' because the conditional clause is in present tense.

other cases Past and Perfect - uses would and would have respectively.... Other point to note such sentence always uses plural verb form (instead of was -- it will be were) irrespective of the subject
If I were king, I would rule the world.
If I had two cars, I would have never own a bicycle.

"would" is generally used for the refer future in the past.

Is there any clear guideline (eg. "more" as a must-be signal word) in distinguishing between a factual sentence and a hypothetical/conditional situation?
Seriously, I fail to justify why this sentence can't be a factual statement (since it lacks "if"), which makes "would" redundant.
Show more
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 28 Mar 2016, 05:37
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gmatretest
Post bump. Still unable to understand this even with extensive reading online. Any taker?

Show more

gmatretest


Is there any clear guideline (eg. "more" as a must-be signal word) in distinguishing between a factual sentence and a hypothetical/conditional situation?
Seriously, I fail to justify why this sentence can't be a factual statement (since it lacks "if"), which makes "would" redundant.
Show more

A more accurate population forecast does not exist now. A forecast exists, but it is just as accurate as it is now - it is not more accurate than it is now. Developing a more accurate forecast is a hypothetical situation - it may or may not be possible to develop more accurate forecasts. The outcome depends on another hypothetical situation: the demographers would have to know more. It may or may not be possible for the demographers to know more. Hence the statement is hypothetical and not factual.

However if we already knew that it is possible for the demographers to have more accurate knowledge and in such case more accurate forecasts could be developed, we would not then require "would" - in that case the statement would be factual and grammatically correct without "would". However we do not have a grammatically correct option without "would" ( A wrong - comparison issues , B wrong - use of economical). Hence option D is the best.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 18 Feb 2017, 04:03
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Hi mikemcgarry,
How are you ?

I know here is a video to explain of this question on Magoosh, unfortunately, YOUTUBE is not available in China, I am afraid I need your further writing explanation.

My version, from O 16 # 61, is a little different with the initial poster, I found that last word of choice is economic , instead of economical

OG 16 # 61 version,
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
(A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
(B) have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(C) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
(E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic


I am struggling with A, D and E.
I can understand that comparison should be logical, meaning
for this case, the comparison is either future time VS present time, or future knowledge VS present knowledge,

Here is my reasoning , please point out my faults. thanks
A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
first, I think "have to know "is sensible, because it presents the necessary to get the knowledge in order to improve future accuracy.
second, I review choice A as omit, -- have to know a great deal more than( they know ) now.
"they" refers to demographers, know is a verb that appears preceding.

D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
first, IMO, "would have to know" presents demographers' necessary in the future, I think of it as available as well.
second, both D and E have a comparison that "demographers have to know " VS "they know/do" .. I am not sure how should I distinguish D and E, because I think that E omits "they do".

Genuinely want your help

Thanks in advance

have a nice day
>_~
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 20 Feb 2017, 11:27
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zoezhuyan
Hi mikemcgarry,
How are you ?

I know here is a video to explain of this question on Magoosh, unfortunately, YOUTUBE is not available in China, I am afraid I need your further writing explanation.

My version, from O 16 # 61, is a little different with the initial poster, I found that last word of choice is economic , instead of economical.

OG 16 # 61 version,
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
(A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
(B) have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(C) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
(E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic


I am struggling with A, D and E.
I can understand that comparison should be logical, meaning
for this case, the comparison is either future time VS present time, or future knowledge VS present knowledge,

Here is my reasoning , please point out my faults. thanks
A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
first, I think "have to know "is sensible, because it presents the necessary to get the knowledge in order to improve future accuracy.
second, I review choice A as omit, -- have to know a great deal more than( they know ) now.
"they" refers to demographers, know is a verb that appears preceding.

D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
first, IMO, "would have to know" presents demographers' necessary in the future, I think of it as available as well.
second, both D and E have a comparison that "demographers have to know " VS "they know/do" .. I am not sure how should I distinguish D and E, because I think that E omits "they do".

Genuinely want your help

Thanks in advance

have a nice day
>_~
Show more
Dear zoezhuyan,

How are you my friend? I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, you are correct: other sources on the web list choice (E) as "economic," not "economical." I changed the original post.

What's wrong with (A) is subtle. The sentence begins:
To develop more accurate population forecasts . . .
The implication is that the forecast now are not accurate, at least not as accurate as they could be. This is suggesting a contrary-to-fact situation, the existence of something better than what exists now. In fact, the whole sentence has this contrary-to-fact tone, comparing what would be ideal to what is true now. All of this requires the verb "would have." This has a hypothetical implication. The verb "have" sounds too factual, as if all these ideal conditions were already in existence. This is why (A) is wrong.

To understand the difference between (D) and (E), think about a simpler example.
Version #1: In order to get a perfect score on the GMAT Verbal, you would need to know more than now.
Version #2: In order to get a perfect score on the GMAT Verbal, you would need to know more than you know now.
Version #1 sounds awkward. Yes, we know what the speaker is trying to say, but it sounds awkward. It sounds as if we are comparing knowledge to the location in time known as "now." It's awkward in a bizarre way. By contrast, version #2 is flawless.

Much in the same way, (E) is a a bit awkward, and (D) is clear and flawless. Thus, (D) is the better answer of these two and the best of the five.

Does all this make sense, my friend?
Mike :-)
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 01 Dec 2017, 04:29
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zoezhuyan
Hi mikemcgarry,
How are you ?

I know here is a video to explain of this question on Magoosh, unfortunately, YOUTUBE is not available in China, I am afraid I need your further writing explanation.

My version, from O 16 # 61, is a little different with the initial poster, I found that last word of choice is economic , instead of economical.

OG 16 # 61 version,
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
(A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
(B) have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(C) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
(E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic


I am struggling with A, D and E.
I can understand that comparison should be logical, meaning
for this case, the comparison is either future time VS present time, or future knowledge VS present knowledge,

Here is my reasoning , please point out my faults. thanks
A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
first, I think "have to know "is sensible, because it presents the necessary to get the knowledge in order to improve future accuracy.
second, I review choice A as omit, -- have to know a great deal more than( they know ) now.
"they" refers to demographers, know is a verb that appears preceding.

D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
first, IMO, "would have to know" presents demographers' necessary in the future, I think of it as available as well.
second, both D and E have a comparison that "demographers have to know " VS "they know/do" .. I am not sure how should I distinguish D and E, because I think that E omits "they do".

Genuinely want your help

Thanks in advance

have a nice day
>_~
Dear zoezhuyan,

How are you my friend? I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, you are correct: other sources on the web list choice (E) as "economic," not "economical." I changed the original post.

What's wrong with (A) is subtle. The sentence begins:
To develop more accurate population forecasts . . .
The implication is that the forecast now are not accurate, at least not as accurate as they could be. This is suggesting a contrary-to-fact situation, the existence of something better than what exists now. In fact, the whole sentence has this contrary-to-fact tone, comparing what would be ideal to what is true now. All of this requires the verb "would have." This has a hypothetical implication. The verb "have" sounds too factual, as if all these ideal conditions were already in existence. This is why (A) is wrong.

To understand the difference between (D) and (E), think about a simpler example.
Version #1: In order to get a perfect score on the GMAT Verbal, you would need to know more than now.
Version #2: In order to get a perfect score on the GMAT Verbal, you would need to know more than you know now.
Version #1 sounds awkward. Yes, we know what the speaker is trying to say, but it sounds awkward. It sounds as if we are comparing knowledge to the location in time known as "now." It's awkward in a bizarre way. By contrast, version #2 is flawless.

Much in the same way, (E) is a a bit awkward, and (D) is clear and flawless. Thus, (D) is the better answer of these two and the best of the five.

Does all this make sense, my friend?
Mike :-)
Show more

Hi Mike,
option d looks the best. But I have a query with the use of would. Would is used correctly when there is a reference of another past event.
Ex- If I had 10 million $, I would buy the luxury car.
Ex- The scientist believes that the machine would be wonderful.

The above example is wrong as 'believes' is in present. If believes is replaced by 'believed' the ex becomes correct.
Again, if we the have the sentence- I would buy the car, this sentence is wrong as we dont have a clear past event reference.
Now, in option D, would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical- here do is in present tense and so how can we ignore the past tense reference.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 04 Dec 2017, 17:47
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Hi Mike,
option d looks the best. But I have a query with the use of would. Would is used correctly when there is a reference of another past event.
Ex- If I had 10 million $, I would buy the luxury car.
Ex- The scientist believes that the machine would be wonderful.

The above example is wrong as 'believes' is in present. If believes is replaced by 'believed' the ex becomes correct.
Again, if we the have the sentence- I would buy the car, this sentence is wrong as we dont have a clear past event reference.
Now, in option D, would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical- here do is in present tense and so how can we ignore the past tense reference.
Show more
Dear sunny91,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, many student labor under the misconception that one can arrive at GMAT SC mastery by memorizing some mythical "complete" set of grammar rules. This rule-based approach to the GMAT SC is doomed to failure. Yes, there are some important rules, and it's important to know those--for example, SVA. Nevertheless, many patterns in language are much more complex and demand broad intuition about the language. The only way a non-native speaker develops this intuition is through the habit of reading. See:
How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score

I would say that any rule you have learned about the use of "would" is almost virtually useless, as this word has a bewildering multiplicity of uses.

One use is in the subjunctive, in a contrary-to-fact statement, the word "would" expresses the consequences in this contrary-to-fact world. Your first statement is an example of this.
1) If I had $10M, I would buy a luxury car. = correct statement in the subjunctive

Another correct use involves somebody's speculation of a future possibility. Your second statement is correct in this sense:
2) The scientist believes that such a machine would be wonderful. = also 100% correct

Another use is as the future tense from the perspective of a speaker in the past, when using sequence of tenses.
3) By the summer of 1824, Beethoven felt that he had said all he wanted to say in symphonic form, but that he still would have more to say in the string quartet format.

Another use, admittedly somewhat less likely to show up on the GMAT, is as an expression of preference, often considered gracious and polite.
4) I would be interested to find out more about your trip.
5) Would you please tell me about this book that you you reading?

All five of these are 100% correct. It's very hard to make a simple rule for "would."

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 04 Dec 2017, 22:20
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sunny91


Hi Mike,
option d looks the best. But I have a query with the use of would. Would is used correctly when there is a reference of another past event.
Ex- If I had 10 million $, I would buy the luxury car.
Ex- The scientist believes that the machine would be wonderful.

The above example is wrong as 'believes' is in present. If believes is replaced by 'believed' the ex becomes correct.
Again, if we the have the sentence- I would buy the car, this sentence is wrong as we dont have a clear past event reference.
Now, in option D, would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical- here do is in present tense and so how can we ignore the past tense reference.
Dear sunny91,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, many student labor under the misconception that one can arrive at GMAT SC mastery by memorizing some mythical "complete" set of grammar rules. This rule-based approach to the GMAT SC is doomed to failure. Yes, there are some important rules, and it's important to know those--for example, SVA. Nevertheless, many patterns in language are much more complex and demand broad intuition about the language. The only way a non-native speaker develops this intuition is through the habit of reading. See:
How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score

I would say that any rule you have learned about the use of "would" is almost virtually useless, as this word has a bewildering multiplicity of uses.

One use is in the subjunctive, in a contrary-to-fact statement, the word "would" expresses the consequences in this contrary-to-fact world. Your first statement is an example of this.
1) If I had $10M, I would buy a luxury car. = correct statement in the subjunctive

Another correct use involves somebody's speculation of a future possibility. Your second statement is correct in this sense:
2) The scientist believes that such a machine would be wonderful. = also 100% correct

Another use is as the future tense from the perspective of a speaker in the past, when using sequence of tenses.
3) By the summer of 1824, Beethoven felt that he had said all he wanted to say in symphonic form, but that he still would have more to say in the string quartet format.

Another use, admittedly somewhat less likely to show up on the GMAT, is as an expression of preference, often considered gracious and polite.
4) I would be interested to find out more about your trip.
5) Would you please tell me about this book that you you reading?

All five of these are 100% correct. It's very hard to make a simple rule for "would."

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
Show more

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the response. Sorry to say, but I am still not very clear. I know that usage of would in case of desire/purpose avoid past reference. Example- I would like to have some tea.
Otherwise, in conditional/subjunctive case, we use a past reference. Now, u mentioned that the below sentence is 100% correct.
The scientist believes that such a machine would be wonderful. This is another correct use involves somebody's speculation of a future possibility.

My question is in logical terms whats is the difference in meaning
The scientist believes that such a machine would be wonderful. The scientist believed that such a machine would be wonderful.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 05 Dec 2017, 15:21
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Hi Mike,
Thanks for the response. Sorry to say, but I am still not very clear. I know that usage of would in case of desire/purpose avoid past reference. Example- I would like to have some tea.
Otherwise, in conditional/subjunctive case, we use a past reference. Now, u mentioned that the below sentence is 100% correct.
The scientist believes that such a machine would be wonderful. This is another correct use involves somebody's speculation of a future possibility.

My question is in logical terms whats is the difference in meaning
The scientist believes that such a machine would be wonderful. The scientist believed that such a machine would be wonderful.
Show more
Dear sunny91,

I'm happy to respond. The difference concerns whether the future item is viewed as a sure thing or is speculative.

Case I: future event is viewed as factual and certain
present:
1) The general believes that the enemy will attack from the south.
past:
2) The general believed that the enemy would attack from the south.
There, "would" is just the past tense of "will." In both cases, the general was viewing the attack as something guaranteed to to happen, from his point of view. Since #2 is in the past, it might be followed by a factual statement of what actually did happen.

Case II: future event is hypothetical or contrary-to-fact.
present:
3) The general believes that the enemy would attack from the south.
That sentence is correct, but it provokes the question: why doesn't the enemy attach from the south?
This might also appear with an explanatory conditional:
4) The general believes that the enemy would attack from the south if it can cover all that ground in such a short time.
In other words, we are expecting the result if the condition is met, but overall, we are still doubtful that this condition will be met.

It's much harder to talk about what was hypothetical in the past. I guarantee that the GMAT will not be interested in testing that.

Once again, I cannot emphasize enough how much the habit of reading can help with dozens and dozens of questions of this sort. Once you develop intuition for all these words in context, much will become clear. I recommend that blog linked in my previous post.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 09 Apr 2020, 01:35
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IMO: D is the correct answer; This sentence is not structured with conditional voice directly; however, if you think the sentence is indeed conditional. So would have to know is the correct verb form.

Now among C, D & E. C can be eliminated on the basis of "economical", which changes the meaning of the sentence.

Economic >> Economics ; Economical >> cost efficient both are different.

now between D & E, D states correct comparison more than they do (know) now .... hence correct
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 10 Feb 2021, 08:56
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Quote:
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.

(A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
(B) have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(C) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
(E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
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Hi Honorable Experts,
MartyTargetTestPrep, GMATNinja, GMATGuruNY, AjiteshArun, VeritasPrepHailey, AnthonyRitz, BrightOutlookJenn, DmitryFarber, EducationAisle,
I need be sure about the use of ellipsis in the correct choice D. The choice D says:
Quote:
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
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With ellipsis it could be (if i don't miss anything):
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers would have to know a great deal (about the social and economic determinants of fertility) more than they do (know) now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
We use ellipsis somewhere when they are already used. In this choice, the pink part is not used before it-the pink part has been used after now as blue one! So how do we know what the author wants to say by 'a great deal blah blah..'?
Thanks in advanced...
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 10 Feb 2021, 10:34
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I need be sure about the use of ellipsis in the correct choice D. The choice D says:
Quote:
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
With ellipsis it could be (if i don't miss anything):
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers would have to know a great deal (about the social and economic determinants of fertility) more than they do (know) now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
We use ellipsis somewhere when they are already used. In this choice, the pink part is not used before it-the pink part has been used after now as blue one! So how do we know what the author wants to say by 'a great deal blah blah..'?
Thanks in advanced...
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I believe either of the following would work:

Peter would have to know more about driving than he does now.

Peter would have to know more than he does now about driving.

However, repeating the phrase would be a fatal case of redundancy:

Peter would have to know more about driving than he does now about driving.

Would also be interesting to see other comments.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 15 Apr 2021, 20:31
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english_august
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.

(A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
(B) have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(C) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
(E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic

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Hello experts,

If I change "economical" to "economic" in option B, then what would be the meaning difference between option B and option D? Basically, is there some change in meaning because of "would"?

B'. demographers have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
D. demographers would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic

Thank you in advance!

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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 15 Apr 2021, 21:32
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If I change "economical" to "economic" in option B, then what would be the meaning difference between option B and option D? Basically, is there some change in meaning because of "would"?
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Hi ashmit99,

Yes. Adding a would helps us interpret that statement as a "hypothetical conditional".

I'm not sure whether I should ask you to ignore (part of) the OE (if I remember correctly, it is similar to the response I linked to), but I don't recommend taking a meaning call on the basis of would. I think that we should stick to the economic/economical split to take B out.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 15 Apr 2021, 23:45
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english_august
To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.

(A) have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic
(B) have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(C) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economical
(D) would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
(E) would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic


Hello experts,

If I change "economical" to "economic" in option B, then what would be the meaning difference between option B and option D? Basically, is there some change in meaning because of "would"?

B'. demographers have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic
D. demographers would have to know a great deal more than they do now about the social and economic

Thank you in advance!

ChiranjeevSingh GMATNinja VeritasKarishma AndrewN Skywalker18 AjiteshArun
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It's never that simple. It always depends on available options.

To develop A, demographers need to know a great deal more than they do now about ...
means development of A is being considered and this is what is lacking. They need this to develop A.

To develop A, demographers would have to know a great deal more than they do now about ...
means if in the future, the development is considered, at that time, they would have to know a great deal more.

To develop A, demographers have to know a great deal more than they do now about ...
I am not entirely happy with this construction. "have" shows possession. "would have" is better suited for hypothetical future case. "need" is better suited for what they don't have and require now.

Depending on what options I have available, I will go with what works best.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 09 Aug 2021, 06:13
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A very good Question on conditionals and ellipsis
Ellipsis::
--- comparing "have to know a great deal" vs "now" --- incorrect
--- "have to know a great deal" vs "they do [know]now" --- correct
Conditional::
-- To do X ... they would have to do Y.
"Would" in conditionals is preferred depending upon the intended meaning and tense.

Extra Note :::
-- A smart trick played in this Q. is the diff. between C and D. Since, I was reading fast and I did not read D, I fell in the trap of C and marked it.... This Q. also teaches us to read all the answer choices.
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 06 Oct 2021, 16:37
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Hi AjiteshArun - I believe E is wrong beause of an incorrect comparison

But why cant the words be ellipsed ?

The exact words that are ellipsed are found earlier in the sentence (Red font)

E original: Demographers would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.

E will ellipsis :
Demographers would have to know a great deal more than (Demographers know) now about the social and economic determinants of fertility.
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These are questions i sometimes ask myself (and still fight the urge to use my ear).

The one thing I have noticed after pouring over way too many of these official questions is the following:

You really are asked to pick the “best version” of the sentence that conveys the meaning the most clearly and effectively.

There doesn’t exist a correct answer without any context on the GMAT.

When I see any of the “comparison words” (than; as….as; etc.), my eyes immediately perk up and I look for the version that coveys the best comparison, without any other errors in the sentence.

My simple answer would be that compared with the correct answer, when you read this version, you are left asking: “More than WHAT now?”

The correct version makes the meaning crystal clear and doesn’t have any of the other errors (such as the use of “economical” in place of “economic”, the correct adjective).

AjiteshArun I hope you still please take the time to answer the question because I would like to hear some input as well. Thank you.

jabhatta2
Hi AjiteshArun - I believe E is wrong beause of an incorrect comparison

But why cant the words be ellipsed ?

The exact words that are ellipsed are found in the sentence.

E original: Demographers would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic

E will ellipsis :
Demographers would have to know a great deal more than (Demographers know) now about the social and economic
Show more

Posted from my mobile device
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 06 Oct 2021, 17:25
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These are questions i sometimes ask myself (and still fight the urge to use my ear).

The one thing I have noticed after pouring over way too many of these official questions is the following:

You really are asked to pick the “best version” of the sentence that conveys the meaning the most clearly and effectively.

There doesn’t exist a correct answer without any context on the GMAT.

When I see any of the “comparison words” (than; as….as; etc.), my eyes immediately perk up and I look for the version that coveys the best comparison, without any other errors in the sentence.

My simple answer would be that compared with the correct answer, when you read this version, you are left asking: “More than WHAT now?”

The correct version makes the meaning crystal clear and doesn’t have any of the other errors (such as the use of “economical” in place of “economic”, the correct adjective).

AjiteshArun I hope you still please take the time to answer the question because I would like to hear some input as well. Thank you.

jabhatta2
Hi AjiteshArun - I believe E is wrong beause of an incorrect comparison

But why cant the words be ellipsed ?

The exact words that are ellipsed are found in the sentence.

E original: Demographers would have to know a great deal more than now about the social and economic

E will ellipsis :
Demographers would have to know a great deal more than (Demographers know) now about the social and economic

Posted from my mobile device
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not sure i understood the response unfortunately.

waiting on AjiteshArun 's input on original question posed here
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To develop more accurate population forecasts, demographers 06 Oct 2021, 17:42
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jabhatta

Apologies, I somehow read the question as asking: “why isn’t E correct?”

You wrote: “E is wrong”


Sorry, long day lol.

Posted from my mobile device
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