The McClaren F-150 is the most sought after high performance

Question

The McClaren F-150 is the most sought after high performance vehicle in the world, with a top speed of over 250 miles per hour,  higher than  any other non-racing equipped automobile available to the public.

(A) higher than
(B) and is higher than
(C) which is higher than those of
(D) which is higher than that of
(E) higher than that of

I seem to realize that comparisons are my weakness. Even though I learned all the rules, I still get confused when so many junks are thrown between the actual things being compared. So perhaps you guys can give me the exact reasoning why you chose your answers and why the rest are wrong.
Thanks!

xang · Answer

(A) higher than -  Does not point to a clear comparison. 
(B) and is higher than -  "And is higher ..." is not idiomatic 
(C) which is higher than those of -  "THAN THOSE OF" has no previous plural referent (unless it mislead you to compare miles) 
  (D) which is higher than that of    -  IMO, this is the right one. Because, compare the term "A TOP SPEED" between commas to " THAT OF  other ...". "WHICH" is required to compare the term inside the commas. .
(E) higher than that of -  I was between this one and (D), I've discarded this one, because "which" after commas seems more correct.

IMO D.

sondenso · Answer

Are you sure "which" modifies "a top speed"?

icandy · Answer

While D clearly looks better, I dont find any thing wrong with E as well.

In E, 250 MPH speed and speed of other vehicle are compared.

Why do you guys think E is wrong? Its is concise, clear and compares speed to speed.

madsun · Answer

Same reasoning with icandy. I would go with E, however, am concerned with in which circumstances we can eliminate the "which" to signal modifier... Could someone explain this?

scthakur · Answer

"which" seems to have ambiguous referrent. Does it refer to "world" or "top speed"? Hence, E seems better (between E and D).

KASSALMD · Answer

E.
D is not correct because the author uses comma before "which".
Other choices are incorrect because they are comparing the top speed of McClaren to just the "speed" of other cars; not to their "top speeds".

spiridon · Answer

I go with D

In E 'higher' seems to modify hour not the speed

x2suresh · Answer

I will go with E.

In D.. looks like which refers to "hour".. that not correct.

E looks good and concise.

jatinrai · Answer

Which should always be preceded by the word it modifies. It cant modify 250 miles per hour. D would have been correct had it stated: ...hour, speed which is higher than that of...

IMO E.

neeshpal · Answer

I think its D.

which correctly modifies 250 mph.

x2suresh · Answer

which should n't modify 250 mph.. it should modify the "speed" /"top speed"

250 mph is higher than   that of any other non-racing equipped automobile available to the public.
top speed higher than   that of any other non-racing equipped automobile available to the public.

which one makes sense?

ast · Answer

Choice E could refer to "higher than the high performance or higher than the speed".
Choice D rightly uses "which is" referring to the speed.

go with Choice D

OA pls.

If this is helpful, please click on +1 on the left.

The McClaren F-150 is the most sought after high performance vehicle in the world, with a top speed of over 250 miles per hour, higher than any other non-racing equipped automobile available to the public.

(A) higher than
(B) and is higher than
(C) which is higher than those of
(D) which is higher than that of
(E) higher than that of

icandy · Answer

IMO, you just can't replace 250 mph with 250 mph here. which can refer to 250 mph, which is a speed.

My Q to start with is Do we need which? with out which we can do the comparison of 250mph (speed) to another speed.

bigfernhead · Answer

After looking more carefully, I will go with D.

E) is actually comparing the F-150 with other cars.

Which  in D) ensures that what we are comparing is only the TOP SPEED between the F-150 and other automobiles.

The McClaren F-150 is the most sought after high performance vehicle in the world, with a top speed of over 250 miles per hour, higher than any other non-racing equipped automobile available to the public.

(A) higher than
(B) and is higher than
(C) which is higher than those of
(D) which is higher than that of
(E) higher than that of

neeshpal · Answer

thats correct.
it should be "top speed" which is modified here.

I've one doubt, which always comes to my mind.
how are we making sure that "higher than any other non-racing equipped ...." is modifying "top speed".

is it because it can only modify the subject of the preceding sentence.

can you please explain.

leonidas · Answer

I think we need "which" here to specify the comparison "Speed of 250mph". Without "which", "higher than that of" might even refer to F-150 and is unambiguous. With skepticism, i will vote for (D).
What is OA?

lylya4 · Answer

The modifier refers to 'a top speed' which is singular, which eliminates A, B,C

E is the best choice as 'which is' can be omitted, that makes the sentence neater

tarek99 · Answer

OA is D. Thanks guys for the great contribution!

kbulse · Answer

can someone elaborate why D is the correct answer?

The McClaren F-150 is the most sought after high performance

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