SC--controversy

Question

please compare the following two questions, I thinks it is a little controversial. 

 question1: 
According to a government study, the lush swamps and marshes of the Mississippi delta, among the finest wetlands in the world, are vanishing at a rate of 39 square miles a year,  as fast as two and a half times the rate that was  previously thought. 

(A) as fast as two and a half times the rate that was 
(B)two and a half times as fast as it had been 
(C)two and a half times faster than 
(D)a rate two and a half times as fast as 
(E)which is a rate two and a half times faster than had been

 question2 
For several years, companies in the United States have increased spending for research  far faster than the inflation rate .

(A)far faster than the inflation rate
(B)exceeding by far the rate of inflation
(C)far faster than rising inflation
(D)far faster than the rising of the inflation rate
(E)at a rate far exceeding the rate of inflation

venksune · Answer

Question 1 is discussed here https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... ht=marshes

Question 2: E would be my choice.

I think I understand what you mean by the similarity in the questions. 'rate' is removed from repeat use in 1 and 'rate' forced in the sentence in 2. IMO That's what would be right in their respective context.

chunjuwu · Answer

Hi, can you explain why in question2 "rate" is needed ? 

thank you

twixt · Answer

I think venksune point of view is based on //ism ETS is sensitive to.

hardworker_indian · Answer

I still cannot beleive answer choice for question1 is C, where they compare rate and thought. Also, it says "times faster" which is not correct.
What is the source of these questions and do you have an OE?

I do have an explanation if the answer choices are question1: B and question2: E.

question1:
...are vanishing at a rate  , *** two and a half times as fast as it had been...

If you notice the sentence after ignoring the preosition, there is a rate already and we dont need to add another rate in *** on the same side (left hand side).
As for the right hand side of comparision "it" stands for the rate and hence we are okay.


question2:
have increased spending for research *** far faster than the inflation rate

This sentence has a rate on the RHS. But for LHS it is a spending and we need to have a rate to compare apples to apples.
Adding a rate in the *** makes it balanced.

twixt · Answer

Hardworker,

I remember a great post from vithal where he explained how to use times -fold, more ... 

Q1 : C as OA is weird... Theory finding is B or D
B : it is awkward
D : no verb in the final subsentence (btw is it right that this is a killer concern ?)

Q2 : Agree with E and //ism (What are LHS et RHS ?)

hardworker_indian · Answer

Left hand side and Right hand side :-D

chunjuwu · Answer

Hi, twixt, 

could you show me the link you said? thank you. 

BTW, the OA in question 1 is indeed (C)

sdanquah · Answer

According to a government study, the lush swamps and marshes of the Mississippi delta, among the finest wetlands in the world, are vanishing at a rate of 39 square miles a year, as fast as two and a half times the rate that was previously thought. 

(A) as fast as two and a half times the rate that was 
(B)two and a half times as fast as it had been 
(C)two and a half times faster than 
(D)a rate two and a half times as fast as 
(E)which is a rate two and a half times faster than had been 


I think C shd be the right answer to this question.

Hjort · Answer

I picked C as the best answer to 1) but I am a bit disturbed by this answer. 

Read the original prompt carefully- it appears that 39 miles^2 per year is 2.5 times the predicted rate. Thus 2.5x = 39, x = 15.6.

Now read C carefully- it appears that C states that 39 miles^2 per year is x + 2.5x (the predicted rate + 2.5 time the predicted rate), thus 3.5 x = 39, x = 11.1

This changes the meaning of the sentence and thus should not be the answer to a properly validated test question.

Hjort

chunjuwu · Answer

Hello, could anyone explain it more clearly? 

I'm a bit confused. 

thank you.

venksune · Answer

My approach for either of the sentences were like this..

1. '.... lush swamps .... are vanishing at a rate ......,...... faster than previously thought' .

Read the above as though thats all the sentence is made up of. Does it sound right and square? Sure does. Lets look for addl info now. How much faster? two-and-a-half times. Lets plug that answer after the comma. We then have
 '....lush swamps....are vanishing at a rate......,two and a half times faster than previously thought' .

2. Same approach for question2.

 '.....United States have increased spending for research....faster than....inflation' 

Does it sound ok? No. If I simply add,  at a rate faster than rate of inflation . Will it sound good? Sure does. Lets plug in


 '.....United States have increased spending for research  at a rate  faster than  rate of  inflation' .

The sentence is also grammatically fine - parallelism, comparison all fine.

Hjort · Answer

Was I the only one who perceived the problem mentioned in my post above regarding altering the meaning of the sentence?

Hjort

hardworker_indian · Answer

The same meaning was discussed in the below link. Btw, chunjumu, here is the link you requested. https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... light=fold

kok72 · Answer

IMO, the answer is A not C.

B is wrong becasue of "it". "it" refers what?
C is wrong because it is not clear what is "previously thought"

saurya_s · Answer

I think C for Q1 is right. whole of the part to be corrected is a modifier and it modify the preceding rate correctly.
S

chin_min · Answer

for Q1 I too find C not convincing
where the comparision is not clear 
it compares rate with thought

i find A better 

can u provide OE for Q1

SC--controversy

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