Prior to 1975, commercial banks could offer more varied

Question

Prior to 1975, commercial banks could offer  more varied account services than thrift institutions , albeit to a limited segment of the population.

A. more varied account services than thrift institutions

B. more varied account services than could thrift institutions

C. varied account services more than thrift institutions

D. varying account services more than could thrift institutions

E. more varying services than thrift institutions could

igotthis · Accepted Answer

Yes, but X =  Services  that banks offer
 Y =  Services  that institutions offer

Can we say that 'commercial banks could offer more varied account services than thrift institutions could'
No, because again you're comparing banks to services. The could at the end of this statement is the ability of institutions.
So, you are comparing: ' commercial banks could offer   more  varied account  services   than   thrift institutions could '

But, it would be right to say: 
 commercial banks COULD offer   more  varied account  services   than COULD   thrift institutions

Gnpth · Answer

A and C-comparison is not clear. D- "More" is not placed appropriately. Between B and E- I choose :arrow:

B.. In B- the comparison is clear, Comparison between account services provided by Banks and account service by institutions.

igotthis · Answer

This is a nice comparison question: Lets break up the sentence
Modifier: Prior to 1975,
Comparison: Commercial banks could offer more X than Y.. here you are comparison services that banks offer to services that institutions offer. It is important that 2 services are compared and not a service and a institution

A - compares services to institutions. 
B - Is correct because its saying, banks could offer more varied account services than the services that thrift institutions could offer. (But a more concise form of: than could thrift institutions)
C- Again comparing services to institutions. 
D- the phrase -' more than could' is awkward 
E- First, it eliminates the word 'account' and second, the word 'could' is mis placed: it sounds like they are comparing the services to institutions.

So correct answer is B

mayur666 · Answer

But arent we comparing the bank to the institution?

Isnt it like 'X offers.... more than Y offers this'?

Can we say that 'commercial banks could offer more varied account services than thrift institutions could'.

chessgiants · Answer

never expect "thrift" is a verb

spetznaz · Answer

The question tests us on the concept of comparison. The entities being compared are variety of account services offered by banks and the variety offered by thrift institutions. Analyzing all options , we realize that only B fits the bill.

chessgiants · Answer

A looks like a promising answer, but it is wrong

Mkrishnabdrr · Answer

A. more varied account services than thrift institutions

B. more varied account services than could thrift institutions

C. varied account services  more than  thrift institutions

D.  varying  account services more than could thrift institutions

E. more  varying  services than thrift institutions could

Hence, B

Temurkhon · Answer

Imo B
Varying in E is wrong

Sent from my ONE E1003 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app [/q

Could you, please, explain why "varied" is better than "varying" here. Both of them are adjectives used to modify "services"

thank you

arvind910619 · Answer

Hi i am happy to help
Here varying means that the services in the same account are varying .
But we are talking about different account services ,so varied would be better.
Also it talks about the past so varied is more appropriate here.

bumblebee9898 · Answer

I am really conflicted between B and E. I feel like both of them could be the answers and they don't really distort any meaning. Am I missing something here?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  bumblebee9898 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option E omits the word "account", thus changing the meaning; further, the use of the present participle ("verb+ing" - "varying" in this sentence) incorrectly implies that the services offered by the commercial banks varied over time; the intended meaning is that the services offered by the commercial banks were varied in nature, that is there was a greater variety of them.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

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Prior to 1975, commercial banks could offer more varied

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Prior to 1975, commercial banks could offer more varied

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