Herman Melville's first work, Typee, sold more copies than

Question

Herman Melville's first work, Typee, sold more copies  than any of his books, yet it is the financially unsuccessful Moby Dick that  is considered his greatest achievement.
(A) than any of his books, yet it is the financially unsuccessful Moby Dick that
(B) than any of his books, but it is the financially unsuccessful Moby Dick that
(C) than did any of his books, but the financially unsuccessful Moby Dick
(D) as any other book, but the financially unsuccessful Moby Dick
(E) than did any of his other books, yet the financially unsuccessful Moby Dick

HIGHLIGHT BELOW FOR OA:
 OA is (E) 






I disagree with the OA even though I know it is the best. The OA is wrong grammatically. Please correct me if you find something else. The sentence could be rewritten like this:

  Herman Melville's first work, Typee, which was sold more copies than ...  

We cannot use "did" before "any of his other books". It should be "were any of his other books" instead, as "any of his other books were sold".

Tell me your opinion.

qhoc0010 · Answer

Could you please explain?
Please read my point above, just below the OA.

kdhong · Answer

I selected E by POE. This is a comparison question. In the first part of the sentence, I eliminated A, B, and D because we are comparing how many copies Typee sold to how many his other books sold. When comparing actions, make sure to include both verbs, or the correct subject pronoun. 
For example, we could say Tom hit more homers than Jim  did. 
Or: Tom hit more homers than  did  Jim. 
Not: Tom hit more homers than Jim.

Another example,
Sally works harder than I  do. 
Not: Sally works harder than me. 

So C and E are left. In E, I like the use of yet better than but. So, I picked E. Hope this helps.

ywilfred · Answer

c and e is out, than did suggests the books are selling some other books, which is complete nonscence

use of 'as' in d suggests typee's sale was as good as other sales form herman melville's collection

that leaves us with a and b. i'm inclinced to go with 'yet', as it emphasizes that although moby dick wasn't a hot selling book, it was still considered to be the best work

(A) for me.

Folaa3 · Answer

well i was undecided between C and E. It makes sense why it would be either C or E, but can anyone pls explain when to use 'Yet' and 'but'? I am confused between these two. Not that i do not know the meaning or use of each word, but in GMAT world, what is a better use of But and Yet?

kayser1soze · Answer

E for this one -> we need a verb in the first part of the underlined part before the comma, ... 'than  DID  any of his other books,' 

ex: Dark Side of The Moon sold more copies than DID any of their later albums. 

structure: -   + verb + more than + verb + any of + pronoun ....

also we need to use 'yet' instead of 'but' because 'yet' conveys or expresses the point of the sentence. when in doubt i always use 'yet'

nocilis · Answer

A, B, C can be eliminated simply because 'Typee' cannot sell more copies than any of his books, as Typee is his book. It needs to be 'any other book'.
Between D and E, D is not idiomatic as 'sold more copies as' is not a correct idiom. E is idiomatic and correct

qhoc0010 · Answer

But "Herman Melville's first work" cannot "sold more copies" but " was  sold more copies"
So (E) must be "than  was  any of his other books"

Am I wrong?

saurabhmalpani · Answer

I got with you qoh0c1. you are dear correct in saying that one cannot use "did" in front of the books. It seems as if the BOOKS did the selling business.

HTH
saurabh Malpani

qhoc0010 · Answer

Yes, this does NOT make any sense since the book cannot sell "itself". There must be someone to sell the books.
I wonder what Paul would have explained this.

Praetorian · Answer

I can try to explain. 

In the context of the sentence, "were" would not be correct. note the use of "any". it signifies use of singular verb.. and were is not singular. you are comparing one book to another book in terms of sales. If you say "were" , you would be comparing a group. 

A quick search of google presents the following examples

 Working-age persons  with disabilities, especially those requiring assistance, were more likely to be current smokers than were  those  with no disabilities

In 1940,  unmarried black adults  were much less likely to live in complex family households than were  unmarried white adults 

I hope it helps clarify. 

So, to explain the SC..

Only D and E are possible candidates. Notice that "any of his books" is incorrect. We have to use "any of his OTHER books", otherwise the comparison is flawed. Also, the correct idiom is " more than". Thus, D is also incorrect.

A similar example: 
A is better than everyone. (everyone includes A, so the comparison is illogical)
A is better than everyone else. (clear distinction between one and the other)

E is thus the best answer. It correctly uses " did" to compare the sales of one book to the others.

Praetorian · Answer

IMO, we almost always talk about tickets , albums, books sold in the context discussed here. I dont think its wrong. 

Praetorian

qhoc0010 · Answer

So you mean it is OK to say this

Typee sold 10 copies.

NOT
Typee was sold 10 copies.

Praetorian · Answer

yes, the second one is wrong. 

Also, always use context to see the whole picture. lets try some examples again...

Apple's new product, Ipod, sold more units last year than did any other player in its category. 

Apple's new product, Ipod, is selling well. 
Apple's new product, Ipod, has sold well over the past year.
Apple's new product, Ipod, has been selling well lately.

another one..

The latest album by Bruce Springsteen sold five million copies in the first six months.

hope that helps
Praetorian

qhoc0010 · Answer

How about this?

The house sold for $100,000

AND

The house was sold for $100,000

This second one seems right since we can say "The owner sold the house for $100,000" in active voice.

I am confused now.

kayser1soze · Answer

both the examples in your post are correct if taken by themselves and not in context. we cannot use passive voice as in your second example, in the SC in question. it just sounds awkward.

Herman Melville's first work, Typee, sold more copies than

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