Napoleon entered Russia in June, 1812, with an army half a million str

Question

Napoleon entered Russia in June, 1812, with an army half a million strong, but  leaving in December, 1812, with just less  than 30,000 troops.

(A) leaving in December, 1812, with just less

(B) just left in December, 1812, with fewer

(C) left in December, 1812, with just less

(D) left just in December, 1812, with less

(E) left in December, 1812, with just fewer

kungfury42 · Answer

Since troops are countable, fewer should be used instead of less. That eliminates options A, C, and D.

B conveys an incomplete meaning by saying that Napoleon "just" left in December implying that he could've done a lot more but instead chose to just leave. The correct usage of just is in option E where just is describing the significant reduction in the count of troops.

Hence, E.

saarthakkhanna04 · Answer

Opted foe E. Fewer is used with countable number

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PrachiiPrasaad · Answer

Chose E option because of fewer and meaning

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Bunuel · Answer

Magoosh Official Explanation:

Split #1:  countable vs. uncountable . Troops are countable, so we need to use “fewer,” not “less.” We can eliminate (A), (C), and (D) on the basis of this error.

Split #2: One of the more subtle logical splits on GMAT Sentence Correction involves the placement of adverb modifiers. In this sentence, where should the “just” fall? What do we want to denote as significantly limited? Choice (B) has “just left,” as if we expected Napoleon to do something else, something more complicated or exalted, than the act of leaving; that interpretation is not the meaning, because the sentence is not contrasting the intensity of that action with any other.

By contrast, “just fewer than 30,000” retains the meaning of the prompt and emphasizes the shocking reduction in Napoleon’s army, which is the point of the sentence.

The best answer is (E).

Ghostrider3147 · Answer

Fewer is preferred than less for countable nouns.
Eliminate A,C,D.

Entered.....but left ....is correct parallelism. 
Eliminate-B

E - correct.

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VerbalBot · Answer

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Napoleon entered Russia in June, 1812, with an army half a million str

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Napoleon entered Russia in June, 1812, with an army half a million str

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