Certain blocks of Melbourne, most notably the tiny alleyways throughou

Question

Certain blocks of Melbourne, most notably the tiny alleyways throughout the central business district, seem to have more pubs and restaurants than  there are  people.

A. there are 
B. their 
C. are 
D. they have 
E. do

mohit.dedhe56 · Answer

i thinks it's D and it's correct but i don't know the reason ...

BillyZ · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION 
This comparison problem begs for an apples-to-apples comparison, as the sentence compares the number of pubs/restaurants on those blocks of Melbourne to the number of people on those blocks.

Choice D makes that proper, parallel comparison. The blocks seem to have more restaurants than they (the blocks) have people.

In terms of parallel, logical comparison, choice E perhaps makes the most egregious error, comparing the number of pubs that these blocks have to the number of pubs that "people do," meaning the number that "people" have. Choice B is similar if more ambiguous - is it comparing the pubs the block has to the pubs that the block's people have?

Choice C should clearly be wrong from a logical and diction perspective. And choice A, among other problems, exhibits a significant lack of clarity. Does "there are" mean the number of people that are on those blocks? That there are in the world at large?

Choice D makes a logical, clear comparison and is therefore the correct answer.

ariiet · Answer

Doesn't it sound weird? 
"Blocks have people"

It sounds illogical to me.

HKD1710 · Answer

Hi  ariiet ,

You see blocks divides the areas. These blocks can have pubs, restaurants, apartments and houses. You must have noticed blocks say D block in some areas of cities where you can find too many pubs and restaurants but almost no house or apartments. You can say about such blocks that there are 20 pubs but not even 10 people live there. This is why the comparison is valid.

rajatkataria14@gmail.com · Answer

Hii Experts, I am not able to digest How Blocks can have people? I think people are in the block not blocks have them

sdlife · Answer

You can think of 'blocks' as a physical space. This might be confusing to you, but don't we say that this area of the city has a lot of people? Basically the question is trying to compare people with pubs and restaurants. It may seem weird, but once you understand what the sentence is trying to convey, you'll get to the right answer. BTW, this is a non-official question, so don't spend too much time focusing on the awkwardness.

Hope this helps!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hi hazelnut,

Thank you for your question.

Whenever you see a question that has so little underlined, start by looking at simple problems like subject-verb agreement or parallel structure. Since these answers don't seem to deal with verbs, let's look more closely at parallel structure.

The phrase your answer needs to match up with is "to have more pubs and restaurants," so let's put them together with this phrase to see which one is parallel:

A. to have more... than there are =  WRONG 
B. to have more...than their =  WRONG 
C. to have more...than are =  WRONG 
D. to  have  more...than they  have  =  CORRECT 
E. to have more...than do =  WRONG

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hi ariiet!

That's a great question. In most instances, it would make more sense to rewrite this to avoid saying that blocks "have" people. However, since we're stuck with the sentence as it is, it's best to use parallel structure where possible. Consider switching the word "have" to "contain." It means the same thing, but sounds nicer:

Certain blocks of Melbourne, most notably the tiny alleyways throughout the central business district, seem to contain more pubs and restaurants than they contain people.

While it does sound illogical, we sometimes have to make the best of what we've been given! I hope this helps!

ueh55406 · Answer

I did think of it in those terms; however, don't you think "they" is ambiguous ?I mean, who has fewer people the blocks or the pubs and restaurants themselves ?
let me know if I'm missing something.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Certain blocks of Melbourne, most notably the tiny alleyways throughou

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

Certain blocks of Melbourne, most notably the tiny alleyways throughou

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