Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show more productivi

Question

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Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show  more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together.

A) more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together.

B) greater productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species is grown together.

C) higher productivity from the use of a mixture of species as compared to the average of those species grown together.

D) greater productivity when a mixture of species are used than the average of those species grown together.

E) more productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species are grown together.

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT

• Comparison words such as  more, greater,  and  higher  (as well as  less, fewer, smaller,  and  lower ) should be paired with the word  than .
→ Comparison of unequal things: X is greater  than  Y.
→ Comparison of equal things: X is as great as Y.

• More vs. greater/higher?
→ When the noun itself is a measurement or a number, do not use the word  more . Use  greater  or, especially with certain quantities,  higher. 
 Correct : The swimming pool holds a greater volume of water than the bathtub does.
 Correct : The number of snow leopards living in the wild is slightly greater now than it was two decades ago.
 Correct : The interest rate on cash advances is higher than the rate for regular credit card purchases.
 Wrong : The volume of water in the swimming pool is more than it is in the bathtub.
 Wrong : The West Coast division of the company must travel more distance to New Orleans than the East Coast division.

•  mixture  and  average  are both singular nouns

THE OPTIONS  
 
• comparison words such as  more  should be paired with  than,  this way:  more X than Y.

•  more X . . . relative to Y  is not idiomatic

• do not use  more  with words that are themselves numbers, such as  productivity,  which is a measurement of the  rate  of output; in this case, the measurement is of production of new biomass
 Greater  and  higher  productivity are both acceptable.
ELIMINATE A

• Correct
→  greater  modifies  productivity 
→ the word  than  is present 
KEEP

•  higher  should be paired with  than

• Higher X . . . As Compared to Y is not idiomatic.

• this point is subtle:  from the use of a mixture of species  is not as forceful as  when a mixture of species is used.  The former is driven by prepositions (from, of, of) and nouns (use, mixture, species). The latter is driven by an adverb (when) and a verb (is used). Strong prose depends more on verbs than on nouns. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, do not worry. I point out these subtleties to expose you to minor stylistic differences that SC writers exploit on difficult questions. 
ELIMINATE C
 
• subject/verb disagreement: the singular noun  mixture  does not agree with the plural verb  are 
• not parallel
→  when a mixture    and  the average of those    are not parallel.
ELIMINATE D

•  more  should not be used to describe productivity.
• subject/verb disagreement: the singular noun average does not agree with the plural verb  are 
ELIMINATE E

The answer is B.

COMMENTS

swim2109  , welcome to SC Butler.

These answers are very good. Nicely done.

swim2109 · Answer

1. More vs greater: Greater used with numbers. So greater is out which means B& D are out.
2. More should be used with 'than' Therefore E is is the right answer.

Experts let me know if the rules applied here are correct

ravigupta2912 · Answer

We are comparing the "extent" or "level" of productivity and hence higher / greater is appropriate. Eliminate A and E.

B) greater productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species is grown together. -- Seems correct. Correct comparison.

C) higher productivity from the use of a mixture of species as compared to the average of those species grown together. -- "compared to" is usually used to compared dissimilar things. Not sure if the usage is correct here. Also not too sure if the comparison is correct here. "higher productivity from X (use of mixture of species) as compared to Y (avg of species grown together)" - the skipping of verb form (use of in the latter part of comparison) puts me in doubt though one could argue that it is ellipsis form of construction. Went with D simply because I could not find anything wrong in D.

D) greater productivity when a mixture of species are used than the average of those species grown together. -- SV error. "mixture...are used". Eliminate.

Looking forward to the OA here.

HoneyLemon · Answer

imo  B 
Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show  more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together.

A) more productivity from  the use of  a mixture of species  relative to the average of  those species grown together.
 -- Wrong comparison 
 
B) greater productivity when  a mixture of species is  used than when  the average of those species is  grown together.
  Correct  
 greater productivity is correct .. 
 C) higher productivity from  the use of a mixture of  species as compared to the  average  of those species grown together.
 -- Wrong comparison 
 
D) greater productivity when a  mixture  of species  are  used than the average of those species grown together.
 -- Wrong comparison -- SV issue -- mixture -- are is wrong 
 
E)  more  productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species  are  grown together.
 --greater productivity is preferred than more productivity

Ranasaymon · Answer

A) more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together.

-> More is a comparison marker. It should be used with than

B) greater productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species is grown together.

C) higher productivity from the use of a mixture of species as compared to the average of those species grown together.

-> higher...compared to is a wrong marker.

D) greater productivity when a mixture of species are used than the average of those species grown together.

-> SV Error: a mixture (Singular) of species are(plural) used

E) more productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species are grown together.

-> SV Error: the average (Singular) of those species are (plural) grown

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together.

A) more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together. Incorrect

correct idioms - .........more ........than........

B) greater productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species is grown together. Correct

C) higher productivity from the use of a mixture of species as compared to the average of those species grown together. Incorrect

correct idioms - .........higher ........than........

D) greater productivity when a mixture of species are used than the average of those species grown together. Incorrect

Sv error - a mixture singular, are plural

E) more productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species are grown together. Incorrect

Sv error - the average singular, are plural

ramlala · Answer

Hi  swim2109 
Please check in option E, S-V error.
 Average  is singlar subject and  are  is plural verb

B is the correct choice 
It maintains parallelism and correct S-V pair.

winterschool · Answer

Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together.

A)  more  productivity from the use of a mixture of species  relative to  the average of those species grown together.  Incorrect

correct idioms - .........more ........than........

B)  greater productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species is grown together .  Correct

C)  higher  productivity from the use of a mixture of species  as compared to  the average of those species grown together.  Incorrect

correct idioms - .........higher ........than........
 
D) greater productivity when  a mixture  of species  are  used than the average of those species grown together.  Incorrect

Sv error - a mixture singular, are plural

E) more productivity when a mixture of species is used than when  the average  of those species  are  grown together.  Incorrect

Sv error - the average singular, are plural

private07 · Answer

Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together.

A) more productivity from the use of a mixture of species relative to the average of those species grown together. - Incorrect - idiom more than

B) greater productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species is grown together. -  Correct

C) higher productivity from the use of a mixture of species as compared to the average of those species grown together. - Incorrect - idiom higher .. as compared to .. is incorrect. The correct idiom is higher than

D) greater productivity when a mixture of species are used than the average of those species grown together. - Incorrect - average is singular, so "are used" is incorrect

E) more productivity when a mixture of species is used than when the average of those species are grown together. - Incorrect - average is singular, so "are grown" is incorrect

My answer - B

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

rsvelc · Answer

Hi, I'm a little confused here is 'productivity' a countable noun?

Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show more productivi

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Experiments with wild plant species often seem to show more productivi

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