V03-11

Question

Although structural damage  from the earthquake was severe, less than ten  people were injured.

A. from the earthquake was severe, less than ten
B. from the earthquake was severe; less than ten
C. from the earthquake was severe, fewer than ten
D. of the earthquake was severe, fewer than ten 
E. was severe, less than ten

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

Although structural damage  from the earthquake was severe, less than ten  people were injured.

A. from the earthquake was severe, less than ten
B. from the earthquake was severe; less than ten
C. from the earthquake was severe, fewer than ten
D. of the earthquake was severe, fewer than ten 
E. was severe, less than ten

This sentence depends on the correct use of the preposition  from  to describe damage caused as a result of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake. Also, it must be recognized that the word  fewer  should be used to denote a number of persons who can be counted.
 
A. Although the idiom is correct, the phrase  less than ten  to refer to  people  is incorrect.
 
B. The introductory clause should be set off by a comma, not a semicolon.
 
C. The phrase  from the earthquake  is idiomatically correct, and the word  fewer  correctly denotes the number of persons who were injured.
 
D. The preposition  of  does not correctly indicate damage caused by the earthquake.
 
E. This choice eliminates  from the earthquake , which is necessary to the sentence.

Answer: C

jjindal · Answer

Hi mikemcgarry

Can you please confirm about the usage of 'few' vs 'less' in this situation?

https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-compa ... -vs-fewer/ Your blog says that when the number is decreasing less should be used instead of few?

Thanks in advance.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Here,  number  (in the sense used in the post of Magoosh) is not decreasing,  people  are decreasing - the noun "people" is countable, hence "fewer" is required. For decreasing  number , Mike indicates "population", "melting point" and "cost" as examples. You cannot say 1 population, 2 populations, 3 populations etc, but you can definitely say 1 person, 2 people, 3 people etc. - this technique is effective to ascertain whether a noun is countable or uncountable.

varnikaverma · Answer

Why the semi colon is replaced with comma- I agree Fewer is correct but the option should be ; fewer than ten people were injured as this is an independent clause wherein Fewer than ten is a modifier to noun people and were is the verb.

anish823 · Answer

I did thought it was countable fowever in my language that word is not, so I choose the wrong answer based on that. I will never forget again

BottomJee · Answer

I think this is a  high-quality  question and I agree with explanation.

V03-11

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