Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same

Question

Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces  double the apples that it has  in 1910.

(A) double the apples that it has

(B) twice as many apples as it did

(C) as much as twice the apples it has

(D) two times as many apples as there were

(E) a doubling of the apples that it did

MichaelS · Accepted Answer

No, contrary to much of the discussion here, this is not a question about the use of word "double."

Start with the split among has/did/were, that is, the choice between simple past and present perfect.

Use simple past here, because (1) all the action described by the verb has/did/were took place in 1910, (2) we use present perfect--has/have+past participle--only for an action or event that began in the past and continues (or whose effects continue) into the present. Eliminate A and C.

Use the pro-verb "did" to represent the verb "produced." Eliminate D.

The acreage produces apples ("twice as many apples") not an event ("a doubling of the apples"). Apart from this meaning issue, the GMAT generally prefers nice, concrete noun phrases to vague action nouns. Eliminate E.

That leaves B.

I would be very surprised to see a GMAT question settled by a choice between "double the number" and "twice as many."

Tovin · Answer

Welp, my first post (and SC is my worst area), but I'll give it a shot:

(A) double the apples that it has

--- I imagine that you can't produce double the apples. You can produce double the number of apples. "has in 1910" also doesn't appear to agree.

(B) twice as many apples as it did

--- This looks pretty good to me. Twice as many -apples- as -it did in 1910-

(C) as much as twice the apples it has

--- This changes the meaning. It produces twice the number of apples, not as much as twice the apples (this may be wrong). Has doesn't agree here again.

(D) two times as many apples as there were

--- "As there were" does not make sense. The comparison isn't how many apples there were in 1910, but how many an acreage produced.

(E) a doubling of the apples that it did

-- "produces a doubling of the apples" ... where to begin? This doesn't make logical sense to me. Doubling of what?

B is the choice for me.

souvik101990 · Answer

A. Too many wrong stuffs going on. Double could be associated with a number or a figure but not apples. Also "has" is incorrect. the verb needs to be parallel with the past tense of produced. So "has" doesnt do it. we need "did" This is often tested on the GMAT. An analogy could be:
I scored less than I had in the last exam. NOT CORRECT
I scored less than I did in the last exam. CORRECT
C. as much as cannot denote quantity. "much" denotes items that are not quantifiable.
D. Same problem as A. we need "did" not "were". Also two times as many is wordy.
E. Acreage cannot produce a doubling. It can produce double the number of apples.  
 B. CORRECT

getgyan · Answer

On hindsight the answer seems to be B.

The concept to learn here is the difference between Twice and Double

Searched all over the net, but found contradicting answers. Can someone throw some light on the same. :roll:

souvik101990 · Answer

A. Too many wrong stuffs going on. Double could be associated with a number or a figure but not apples. Also "has" is incorrect. the verb needs to be parallel with the past tense of produced. So "has" doesnt do it. we need "did" This is often tested on the GMAT. An analogy could be:
I scored less than I had in the last exam. NOT CORRECT
I scored less than I did in the last exam. CORRECT
C. as much as cannot denote quantity. "much" denotes items that are not quantifiable. Also we need "did"
D. Same problem as A. we need "did" not "were". Also two times as many is wordy.
E. Acreage cannot produce a doubling. It can produce double the number of apples.  
 B. CORRECT

tcsing · Answer

Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces double the apples that it has in 1910.

(A) double the apples that it has

(B) twice as many apples as it did

(C) as much as twice the apples it has

(D) two times as many apples as there were

(E) a doubling of the apples that it did

OG13 Q125. I have a query regarding 1 of the OG explanations. For Option A, the oG says "the comparative construction as many as is needed." Doe sthis mean that if the tense was correct (had/did), double the apples would still be wrong? To change it to include as many as, would it be double as many apples as it had/ did?

Thanks

PrashantPonde · Answer

Construction with "double as many apples as" or "double the apples" is incorrect here, but "double the number of apples" is appropriate. If you want to use double in the choice, then following construction could be grammatically correct (but wordier than choice-B): --The same amount of acreage produces double the the number of apples that it did in 1910 Also, use "twice as MANY as" -> for countable nouns Use "twice as MUCH as" -> for un-countable nouns

tcsing · Answer

Thanks!

So to confirm, we can only double a number of x, not double x (x=noun) right?

PrashantPonde · Answer

Yes as its also ambiguous in meaning. Double the apple could also mean double the apple's  size .

purnima · Answer

Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces  double the apples that it has  in 1910.

(A) double the apples that it has

(B) twice as many apples as it did

(C) as much as twice the apples it has

(D) two times as many apples as there were

(E) a doubling of the apples that it did

I have a doubt , I studied in e-gmat session on sentence structure that each sentence must have at least one independent clause. But In this sentence , because- dependent clause marker and that-dependent clause marker,so where is the independent clause ? Is there something wrong in my understanding.

egmat · Answer

Hi Purnima, Thanks for posting you doubt here. :-)

Let's break this sentence into clause to see if it has an Independent clause or not. Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces double the apples that it has in 1910. Cl 1: Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces double the apples (IC) Cl 2: that it has in 1910. (DC) (blue = subjects, green = verbs) The thing that you missed here is that the word "because" is not immediately followed by a Subject-Verb (SV) pair. It is actually followed by a phrase which has neither a Subject nor a Verb. Hence we don't have a clause there. The Subject of the main clause is "the same amount of acreage" and the Verb is produces". Consider these two sentences: Because of you, I could finish my project on time. Because Mary came late, we were late for the show. As you can see, the first sentence has just one IC as "because" is followed by a phrase "of you". In the second sentence, we have two clauses - the first is a DC and the second an IC - as "because" is followed by an SV pair "Mary came". Hope this helps. :-)

Thanks. Shraddha

DmitryFarber · Answer

The idea here is that "were" and "did" can stand in for a previous verb, just like pronouns can stand in for a previous noun. "Were" typically stands in for another use of "was" or "were," or, if there has been a shift in time, for another form of "to be":

My parents were not as excited about the trip as my sister and I were. ("Were" stands for "were excited.")
The current generation of entrepreneurs will not be as successful as their predecessors were. ("Were" stands for "were successful," referring back to the earlier "will . . . be . . . successful.")

Do/does/did is more all-purpose. It can stand in for any other verb that represents something you would do:

I like pie more than my wife does. (does=likes pie)
He scoffed at the idea, as did most of the other investors. (did=scoffed at the idea)

With all this in mind, let's look at B and D:

B) Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces twice as many apples as it did in 1910.

Did = produce. A certain acreage produces twice as many apples as that same acreage did (produce) in 1910. This works fine.

D) Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces two times as many apples as there were in 1910.

Here, "were" stands in for what? There is no previous use of "were," or any other form of "to be," for that matter. That might be okay, as we are actually using a common comparison expression. The real meaning is that there are twice as many apples now as there were in 1910. The problem is that we aren't comparing the same things. We are comparing what a certain acreage produces now to how many apples existed in 1910. This doesn't make sense. It would be like saying "The average bond trader today earns twice as much as there was in 1940." Unless we mean that the average bond trader makes more money than there was in the whole world in 1940, this doesn't work. And if that is what we mean, I think I'll retire from gmatclub and take up bond trading.

rajsinghal71 · Answer

Today, because of improvements in agricultural technology, the same amount of acreage produces double the apples that it has in 1910.

(A) double the apples that it has
'double the apples' is awkward.

(B) twice as many apples as it did- correct

(C) as much as twice the apples it has
much- used for uncountable

(D) two times as many apples as there were
two times- wordy

(E) a doubling of the apples that it did
'a doubling of the apples' is awkward.
-----------------
 More about the correct usage of twice, many, much:

If you say "twice as many", then this construction should be paired with a countable noun.
e.g., twice as many dogs --> "dogs" is a countable noun

If you said "twice as much", then this construction should be paired with an uncountable noun.
e.g., twice as much water --> "water" is an uncountable noun

If the noun in question is already an explicitly numerical quantity, then you should use neither "much" nor "many". Instead, you should just use "twice" or "double" by itself.
e.g., twice the increase --> "increase" is an explicitly numerical quantity

These rules are followed pretty closely.
For instance:
Twice as much water --> correct, since "water" is an uncountable noun (but is not an explicitly numerical quantity)
Twice the increase... --> correct
Twice the water... --> incorrect, since water is not a numerical quantity
Twice as much as the increase... --> incorrect; redundant

Cheers,
Rajan

ankur909090 · Answer

easy way to eliminate just check last part of the sentence as the past year is given so definitely past tense is required now :

So two options are eliminated now we have to select between were and did.

Now as the " acreage produces" is used so it means acreage did something and were can't be used as it implies static value . Eg- You were a good person . 
hence we are left with option C .

suganyam · Answer

Kindly guide me..... did in option B denotes to produce.But my doubt here is can did (past ) denote to a verb produce(which is in present ).Because i always taught do did does can take verbs from corresponding tense alone Kindly guide me .
Zillions of thanks in advance @MichaelS@souvik101990@egmat@DmitryFarber@GMATNinja@Skywalker18@BrentGMATPrepNow@EMPOWERgmatVerbal
@sayantanc2k@sayantanc2k@ChrisLele@KapTeacherEli@EducationAisle

thangvietnam · Answer

in comparison problem, the second part of comparison is in ellipsis . this means some part or phrase in the second part is cut off. and many errors appear when we cut off the phrase.

one efficient way to realize the error is to focus on the verb in the second part of comparison. this verb can be explicit or implied (is cut off). in any of two cases, to focus on the verb in the second part help you realize many errors.

if the second verb is in different time, tense of the second verb must be different from that of the first verb. so,if you cut off the second verb, you are wrong. this error happen frequently. 
the seccond verb can be do/did or is/was/were , which must be fit with the first verb. if they are not fit, they are wrong.

comparison relates to verb form, and so, gmat like this test because it can test us both verb form and parallelism.

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