hi
E is incorrect because redundant usage of possessive form..
you can say " that of last year" or "last year's"..
but not both ..
it would mean..
that of last year's number..
that" has no antecedent here..

Hope it helps
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Hi chetan2u / daagh ,

IMO- D....which is correct

Reasoning to eliminate E.
If we read option E.

E) The number of birds that will migrate to the south this year will be twice that of last year’s

That = The number of birds that will migrate to the south

=> The number of birds that will migrate to the south this year will be twice the number of birds that will migrate to the south of last year’s

The phrase--> the number of birds that will migrate to the south of last year’s

Here we have both-- Future tense and its also mentioning "Last Year". Therefore ELIMINATED

On the same reasoning I eliminated C

Is this correct reasoning to Eliminate E and C...??

Additionally, what is the reason to eliminate A and B.
I didn't consider A and B because D SOUNDS more correct..

Please assist.

Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar
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Hi,


The coloured portion will not be correct..
the auxiliary verb 'will' modifies/ talks of this year and cannot be faulted..
However 'as' is supposed to talk of an action, and since will is used for this year, we have to have a verb after as..
and word 'did' suitably gets that..

the reason for eliminating E and C is the usage of possessive form.. that of last year's..

The sentence could have been correct if it read..
The number of birds that will migrate to the south this year will be twice that of last year...

lets see the other choices..
A) Twice the birds as last year will migrate to the south this year.
Twice the birds in itself does not sound correct, It would be better to say twice the number of birds and also it is errorneously paralleling with last year..

However 'as' is supposed to talk of an action, and since will is used for this year, we have to have a verb after as..
and word 'did' suitably gets that..

B) This year, double the number of birds as last year will migrate to the south.
same as A... Also twice is better than double..

D) This year, twice as many birds will migrate to the south as did last year.
this is correct. it uses idiom as many as correctly
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I think the most of the wrong options have problem with comparison between number of birds and last year. For this reason, A and B are out.
C and E has Last year's -- now question is last year's what?
D is more clear, hence the answer.

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