The country’s fiscal deficit a measure of the government’s ability to

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

The country’s fiscal deficit, a measure of the government’s ability to meet its expenses, rose more moderately in June as it did in earlier months, as expenses increased while the income remained unchanged.

A) in June as it did in earlier months,

A) in June as it did in earlier months,

B) in June than earlier months,

C) in June than they did in earlier months,

D) in June than in earlier months,

E) for June than earlier months,

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

THE PROMPT  
 
• Issues
→ this question tests whether you can identify logical errors in a comparison.
The correct comparison should be 
 fiscal deficit rose more moderately in June than   in earlier months or than in earlier months.

THE OPTIONS  
 → MORE . . . THAN is correct. 
MORE . . . AS is not correct.
ELIMINATE A

• compares  the rise of fiscal deficit  with  earlier months .
ELIMINATE B

•  they  is missing an antecedent. 
• OR, the plural  they  does not agree with the singular  deficit 
ELIMINATE C

• the comparison is proper: time frame to time frame ( in June  is parallel with  in earlier months )

• incorrectly compares  the rise of fiscal deficit  with  earlier months .
• the word "for" is not idiomatic; the correct word is  in. 
ELIMINATE E

The correct answer is choice D.

COMMENTS

Kuanl  , welcome to SC Butler.

I am impressed by many of these answers. 
Good critical reasoning skills are on display and explanations are easy to follow. 
Nice work!

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (D) . It took me 44 seconds.

(A) Either "as...as" Or "more...than", but here "more...as" is not the correct construction.

(B) For proper comparison, "than earlier months" should be "than in earlier months" or "than it did in earlier months".

(C) "they" should be "it" because "The country’s fiscal deficit" is singular.

(E) "for" is not as natural as "in". Even if we accept "for June", "than earlier months" should be "than for earlier months".

gmat1393 · Answer

Hi  generis

Kindly underline the highlighted part

Thanks

Bunuel · Answer

___________________
Done. Thank you.

ravigupta2912 · Answer

A) in June as it did in earlier months, — “than..as” is incorrect construction. Eliminate.

B) in June than earlier months, — illogical comparison. “rose more X than Y” X and Y are not similar (prep phrase vs noun phrase) leading to illogical meaning. (Fiscal deficit rose in June vs Fiscal deficit rose earlier months). Eliminate.

C) in June than they did in earlier months, — “they” has no antecedent. Eliminate.

D) in June than in earlier months, — nothing wrong here. Correct choice. This choices fixed the error in B.

E) for June than earlier months, — “in” is a better preposition while comparing two different timelines. Also same error as B. Not an appealing choice overall. Eliminate.

Posted from my mobile device

DinoPen · Answer

The country’s fiscal deficit, a measure of the government’s ability to meet its expenses, rose more moderately in June as it did in earlier months, as expenses increased while the income remained unchanged.

A) in June as it did in earlier months,

A) in June as it did in earlier months,
 'more .. as' is an incorrect pairing.
 
B) in June than earlier months,
 Illogical comparison between deficit and months.

C) in June than they did in earlier months,
 SV agreement issue -- deficit is singular. 'they' is incorrect.

D) in June than in earlier months,
 Correct pairing.

E) for June than earlier months,
 'for June' is an incorrect phrase. Illogical comparison between deficit and months.

penco · Answer

This question deals in comparison issues.
When we are comparing in the sentences, we need to keep some pointers in mind.
Compare Like things only (Apples with Apples, Cars with Cars, Days with Days, Money with Money)
We need to keep a check on comparison indicator being used and choose its right counterparts.
As in this question while using comparative degree to compare two things  than  is the correct usage.
For instance, He is taller than her sister - Makes correct comparison by comparing his height with her.
We cannot say, He is taller than last month. Illogical comparison between him and last month.
Let's go to question

Issues: as it did is incorrectly used to show comparison.
When comparing two things, while using comparative degree,  than   should be used.
Fiscal deficit rose more in June than (Fiscal deficit rose) in earlier months --The structure should be followed as such.
Eliminate A

Here, Fiscal Deficit is compared with earlier months.
The comparison should be between fiscal deficit rising in both months.
Eliminate B

This option, tries to twist things a little bit.
It introduces 'they did'. Logically, the comparison is between fiscal deficit rising in both months.
Fiscal Deficit is introduced in the original question stem as singular. But this options uses 'they' instead of some singular pronoun.
Eliminate C

Right on point. 
Correct Structure and Correct comparison. 
Commit to D. Let's keep it.

Here, comparison is between fiscal deficit rising in june and earlier months and that is wrong.
Also, it introduces 'for' in the sentence. 
Eliminate E

Correct Answer : D

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

The country’s fiscal deficit, a measure of the government’s ability to meet its expenses, rose more moderately in June as it did in earlier months, as expenses increased while the income remained unchanged.

A) in June as it did in earlier months,
with more, than is required. wrong comparison
It did....who did...meaning and parallelism error

B) in June than earlier months,
Wrong comparison between 'The country’s fiscal deficit' and 'earlier months'

C) in June than they did in earlier months,
meaning and parallelism error

D) in June than in earlier months,
No Remarks

E) for June than earlier months,
Wrong comparison between 'The country’s fiscal deficit' and 'earlier months'

IMO D

ramlala · Answer

The country’s fiscal deficit, a measure of the government’s ability to meet its expenses, rose more moderately in June as it did in earlier months, as expenses increased while the income remained unchanged.

A) in June as it did in earlier months,

A) in June  as it did  in earlier months,
 with more,  than  is required. wrong comparison
It did....who did...meaning and parallelism error

B) in June  than earlier months ,
 Wrong comparison between  'The country’s fiscal deficit'  and  'earlier months'

C) in June than  they did  in earlier months,
 meaning and parallelism error

D) in June than in earlier months,
 No Remarks

E) for June  than earlier months ,
 Wrong comparison between  'The country’s fiscal deficit'  and  'earlier months'

IMO D

SofiaDahiya · Answer

The country’s fiscal deficit rose more moderately in June  as  it did in earlier months.

This sentence is testing  more X than Y  concept, hence X and Y should be parallel. More  as  is not the right construction.

A) in June  as it did  in earlier months, - "as" is not used with "more" for comparison.  in June  is not parallel to  it did in earlier months .

B) in June than  earlier months , - this option is comparing  fiscal deficit  with  earlier months
 
C) in June than  they  did in earlier months,

D) in June than in earlier months, -  in June  is parallel to  in earlier months . All the errors of original choice got corrected.

E)  for  June than earlier months,

winterschool · Answer

The country’s fiscal deficit, a measure of the government’s ability to meet its expenses, rose more moderately in June as it did in earlier months, as expenses increased while the income remained unchanged.

A) in June as it did in earlier months,

A) in June  as it  did in earlier months,  Incorrect

correct idioms - ......more .......than.........

B) in June than  earlier months ,  Incorrect

comparison error - deficit compare with month
 
C) in June than  they did  in earlier months,  Incorrect

pronoun error - The country’s fiscal deficit singular, they plural

D)  in June than in earlier months,   Correct 
 
E) for June than  earlier months ,  Incorrect

comparison error - deficit compare with month

Kuanl · Answer

D has a parallel construction with in june than in earlier months

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here  .

The country’s fiscal deficit a measure of the government’s ability to

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The country’s fiscal deficit a measure of the government’s ability to

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards