In 1980, lack of precipitation reduced Costa Rica's coffee production

Question

In 1980, lack of precipitation reduced Costa Rica's coffee production to about 20 million tons, nearly 20 percent  less than those of the 1979 harvest.

a. less than those of the 1979 harvest.

b. less than the 1979 harvest.

c. less than 1979 .

d. fewer than 1979 .

e. fewer than that of the 1979 harvest.

Source : McGraw Hill Education

Pankaj1Agarwal · Answer

Bunuel   MartyTargetTestPrep   daagh   sayantanc2k   GMATNinja

i should be B

AkshdeepS · Answer

OA edited. Thank you for pointing out.

shuvodip04 · Answer

a. less than those of the 1979 harvest.- pronoun "those" doesn't refer to anything.

b. less than the 1979 harvest.- correct choice.it suggests that the 20 million tonnes is 20 percent less than harvest of 1979.

c. less than 1979 .- wrong comparison.Here it suggests 20 million is 20 percent less than the year 1979 itself.

d. fewer than 1979 .-same as c.Use of "fewer" wrong.

e. fewer than that of the 1979 harvest- same as that of d. Also presence of that presents the following meaning ambiguity.That can refer to only coffee production if we substitute it in the sentence it will look as "fewer than coffee production of the 1979 harvest" which is awkward.

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btrg · Answer

Is the HARVEST compared here? Or the production?

I am guessing harvest.

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ArupRS · Answer

production of 1980 is compared to production of 1979( read 1979 harvest).

Regards,
Arup

btrg · Answer

So in that case explanation given by  shuvodip04  for option E, if we ignore the fewer part, seems wrong. Coz it is coffee production that is compared. Right?

shuvodip04 · Answer

btrg

As per option e:-

-fewer than  that  of the 1979 harvest

The issue I thought is the use of that . The pronoun that refers to the noun production.

If we replace that with the word production-

fewer than production of the 1979 harvest.

here the presence phrase "production of the 1979" makes the meaning clear and concise without the use of the word harvest. That was my thinking. Because it sounded awkward to me. (might be wrong)

The comparison is between the production of the two years.

2) Also use of "fewer" with production is incorrect since it is uncountable.

ArupRS · Answer

btrg

I am not an expert to say someone's explanation is correct or wrong. With limited understanding and knowledge, I can only provide my reasoning. 
Having said that, I don't think @shuvodip04's explanation is wrong. 
What are 20 million tons? This is the 1980's Coffee production. These 20 Million tons are 20% less than the 1979 harvest.
Now if that of the 1979 harvest is used, then that refers to what? Logically 'that' should refer to production. So, the sentence becomes the production of 1979 harvest. this is awkward.

Please let me know if this helps.

Regards,
Arup Sarkar

anothermillenial · Answer

btrg   Percents are always interesting! Sometimes we use "fewer" with percentages. Sometimes we use "less". It all depends of the X that the percentage is defining. For example, we say:

Fewer than 15 percent of pigs still live in the wolf's house. 
Less than 50 percent of the harvest is good.

Use "fewer" with countable percents; "less" with non-countables. In this case, since A, B and E both say "than the 1979 harvest." Here, the percent intends to describe harvest (which is not countable).

yash12899 · Answer

brt · Answer

In 1980, lack of precipitation reduced Costa Rica's coffee production to about 20 million tons, nearly 20 percent less than those of the 1979 harvest.

a. less than those of the 1979 harvest.

b. less than the 1979 harvest.

c. less than 1979 .

d. fewer than 1979 .

e. fewer than that of the 1979 harvest.

Here the there are two things stated one is production and the other is harvest. If we have something which is countable we have to use fewer. The question says the production reduced to about 20 million tons not the harvest which is still not countable so while comparing it we have to use less not fewer. So the ans is B. Good question.

sampurn007 · Answer

Can someone please explain why C is wrong?

In 1980, lack of precipitation reduced Costa Rica's coffee production

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In 1980, lack of precipitation reduced Costa Rica's coffee production

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