Twice the birds as last year will migrate to the south this year.

Question

Twice the birds as last year will migrate to the south this year.
 
A) Twice the birds as last year will migrate to the south this year.
B) This year, double the number of birds as last year will migrate to the south.
C) The birds that will migrate to the south this year will be twice that of last year’s.
D) This year, twice as many birds will migrate to the south as did last year.
E) The number of birds that will migrate to the south this year will be twice that of last year’s.

chetan2u · Answer

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

rocker007 · Answer

I feel that D is the correct answer. more concise choice between D and E.

PrakharGMAT · Answer

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

Please assist. Thanks and Regards, Prakhar

PrakharGMAT · Answer

Hi  chetan2u ,

Just saw that u have already given your reasoning to eliminate C and E.( Redundant usage of 'of')

Is my reasoning also correct...??

chetan2u · Answer

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

AryamaDuttaSaikia · Answer

Explanation:

A) Twice the birds as last year... - The word‘ last year’ itself is not twice as the birds, but rather the number of birds last year must be compared to the number of birds this year.
B) ...double the number....as last year... - Again, the noun ‘last year’ is compared to the part ‘double the number’.
C) 'twice that of last year’s'. Use of double possessive makes this option wrong
D) CORRECT: twice as many......as –The word ‘twice’ modifies the word ‘many’, indicating that the number will be twice and not the birds themselves.
E) The number.....will be twice that of last years’ (redundancy.. “that of” and “last year’s” both point to the number).Use of double possessive makes this option wrong

neeraj609 · Answer

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.

ONmissionGMAT · Answer

Hi everyone!!

I am usually confused between the kind of structure which says  .....as many/few ......as...... . Where to place the two subjects being compared and how to ensure parallelism in such cases.

In the above case : This year, as many birds will migrate to the south as did last year.
Here,  this year  is being compared to  last year . However, the structure  as did last year  seems to compare  this year  to  something last year did . I am confused.
Can anyone help me out with this?

VerbalBot · Answer

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Twice the birds as last year will migrate to the south this year.

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Twice the birds as last year will migrate to the south this year.

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