When adjusted for body weight, children of various age groups in the United States have a caffeine intake that ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average amount consumed by adults . (A) children of various age groups in the United States have a caffeine intake that ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average amount consumed by adults (B) the caffeine intake of children of various age groups in the United States ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average amount consumed by adults (C) various age groups of children in the United States range in caffeine intake from 36 to 58 percent of that consumed by the average adult (D) in the United States, children of various age groups have a caffeine intake that ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average adult’s consumption (E) in the United States, the caffeine intake of children in various age groups ranges from 36 to 58 percent of that consumed by the average adult SC65561.01 Consumer Reports October 1981: Caffeine Cautions Caffeine: What It Does, and How to Consume Less . Consumer Reports, October 1981, pp. 595-599 On the basis of milligrams consumed per kilogram of body weight, the average caffeine intake of the various age groups ranged from 36 to 58 percent of the average dose for adults .

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When adjusted for body weight, children of various age groups in the

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jlo1234

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GMATNinja ExpertsGlobal5 EMPOWERgmatVerbal

Can I ask how B is different from E in terms of the below structure?

Choice B: the caffeine intake of children... ranges from 36-58% of the average amount consumed by adults.
For me, this sentence is essentially saying that the caffeine intake of children is different from the average amount (of caffeine intake) consumed by adults.

Choice E: ... the caffeine intake of children... ranges from 36-58% of that consumed by the average adult.
For me, this sentence is saying that the caffeine intake of children is different from (the caffeine intake) consumed by the average adult.

I understand the meaning distortion of "average amount consumed by adults" and "amount consumed by the average adult". However, I'm seeing the same thing for both choices in terms of comparing caffeine intake of children to the "caffeine intake consumed by adults", which is redundant for both choices. How can you assume/know that the "average amount" in choice B is referring to "caffeine" and not "caffeine intake"? The "caffeine" in choice B is just an adjective for the noun "intake", so how can we assume that "amount" refers to "caffeine"? Please advise.

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29 Dec 2021, 23:39

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jlo1234
In B, we are comparing intake levels: the intake of children vs. the amount consumed by adults. We know what the amount is of (caffeine), since there's nothing else for "amount" to refer to.

In E, we have "that," and this relative pronoun needs to refer to a previous noun. Since the noun in the first part of the comparison is "intake," "that" has to be mean "intake." So the sentence is now comparing the intake of children to the intake consumed by adults. But adults don't consume an intake; they consume caffeine! This may seem trivial, but the GMAT has used this trick repeatedly. You can't say "Your taste in music is similar to that of mine." That may be more obvious, but in both cases we have a redundancy that messes up the meaning.

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jlo1234

Hello jlo1234,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

As DmitryFarber has written, in E "that" refers back to the noun "caffeine intake", illogically implying that the adults consume "caffeine intake" rather than "caffeine".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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When adjusted for body weight( Verb-ed modifier modifying Children), children( Main Subject) of various age groups( Prepositional Phrase modifying Children) in the United States( Prepositional Phrase modifying Children ) have ( Main Verb) a caffeine intake that( starting of DC, that is the subject of the DC referring to Caffeine intake) ranges( DC Verb) from 36 to 58 percent of the average amount consumed by adults.

(A) children of various age groups in the United States have a caffeine intake that ranges from 36 to 58 per cent of the average amount consumed by adults ( Verb-ed modifier adjusted is wrongly modifying Children. So meaning distortion)

(B) the caffeine intake of children of various age groups in the United States ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average amount consumed by adults ( Correct )

(C) various age groups of children in the United States range in caffeine intake from 36 to 58 percent of that consumed by the average adult

1) adjusted is wrongly modifying various age groups

2) SV agreement does not make sense ( age groups range in caffeine intake )

3)“Amount consumed by the average adult” makes less sense than “average amount consumed by adults”

(D) in the United States, children of various age groups have a caffeine intake that ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average adult’s consumption

1) The placement of "in the united states is wrong (The entity to be modified should follow right after the initial modifier (unless we have a list of parallel modifiers at the beginning).

2) Error of option A

(E) in the United States, the caffeine intake of children in various age groups ranges from 36 to 58 per cent of that consumed by the average adult

1) First error of option D

2)

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Hi DmitryFarber RonTargetTestPrep zhanbo sayantanc2k avigutman DmitryFarber AnishPassi ReedArnoldMPREP - I keep reading that the initial modifier CANNOT modify "Children" ?

I fail to see why not

Why cant children themselves be adjusted for body weight ?

Women vs Men are adjusted for body weight all the time (This happens all the time by Nutritionists ,prescribing how much to eat in order to lose weight)
This article here is adjusting body weight of ants vs humans Article here
In fact the above article says, Ants can carry more weight than humans can carry [Once Ants are adjusted by their body weight]

Furtheremore, below is a screenshot for exmaple regarding how men vs women are adjusted by body weight by nutritionists.

So , I thought the same idea must be happening.

Children once adjusted for body weight , drink as much coffee as adults drink

Counter point -- what is more likely to be "Adjusted for body weigiht" -- the children OR the caffeine intake ?

Frankly, i thought "Children" made more sense to be adjusted for body weight

"Caffeine intake" did not make much sense to be adjusted for body weight - I have never heard of intangible objects being adjusted for body weight

For example

If we say -- When adjusted by body weight, amount of meat eaten by lions IS LESS compared to amount of meat eaten by humans
What exactlly is being adjusted for body weight ? Its not the amount of meat. That doesnt make sense. -- it is the weight/height of the lion vs the weight/height of the human being that is being adjusted by body weight
The weights of the meat itselves are not being compared

Simirlarly, - i thought -- the weight / height of children vs weight / height of adults are being adjusted -- thus "Children" are being adjusted by body weight.

i chose (A) over (B)

Source of screenshot: Link here

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jabhatta2

Women vs Men are adjusted for body weight all the time (This happens all the time by Nutritionists ,prescribing how much to eat in order to lose weight)
This article here is adjusting body weight of ants vs humans Article here
In fact the above article says, Ants can carry more weight than humans can carry [Once Ants are adjusted by their body weight]

If we say -- When adjusted by body weight, amount of meat eaten by lions IS LESS compared to amount of meat eaten by humans
What exactlly is being adjusted for body weight ? Its not the amount of meat. That doesnt make sense. -- it is the weight/height of the lion vs the weight/height of the human being that is being adjusted by body weight
The weights of the meat itselves are not being compared

There's a lot here. I think I'll just look at this one point:

Quote:

What exactlly is being adjusted for body weight ? Its not the amount of meat. That doesnt make sense. -- it is the weight/height of the lion vs the weight/height of the human being that is being adjusted by body weight

I think the amount of meat is what is adjusted for body weight, not the weight of the lion or the weight of the human being.

The lion itself certainly isn't. The human certainly isn't. You would really—to be as precise as possible—need to specify that the height/weight of the lion/human is being adjusted.

The sentences here only ever offer "children" or "groups of children" to be adjusted for body weight. You're probably right, that in 'The Real World,' such a sentence as "When adjusted for body weight, men and women eat the same amount of meat" would be okay.

What a sentence really should say is:

"Men and women eat the same amount of meat, when adjusted for body weight."

Meaning:

"Men and women eat the same amount of meat, when [the amount of meat] is adjusted for [the] body weight [of men and women]."

This seems like one of those times where common-parlance uses a construction that, looked at under stricter rules, does not imply the meaning the sentence is clearly going for. As I'm sure you've seen, many respected written publications will allow the word 'which' to refer to a *clause* rather than a noun, **which is** what makes it so hard to spot the error on the GMAT.

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Thanks ReedArnoldMPREP - if i understand, this is what you mean :

Lets say
Men weigh 100 kgs on average whereas women weigh 50 kgs on average
Men drink 2.5 litres of milk daily whereas women drink 2 litre of milk daily

When scientists say : Men drink less milk compared to women when adjusted for body weight

What is the scientist ‘adjusting’ exactly?

(I) The scientist is first adjusting/changing body weight of women (50 kgs) to the body weight of men (100 kgs) - i.e. double
And/Then
(II) The scientist is adjusting/changing the amount of milk drunk by women (currently 2 litres) to double ( 4 litres, which is 100 % more) and then comparing 4 litres to 2.5 litres?

I think the scientist is probably doing BOTH actions when adjusting for body weight

Would you agree?

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jabhatta2

I don't know. We're in the weeds on a super minor issue that has a one in ten thousand chance of actually showing up on the test. But it seems to me that what gets adjusted is the **amount** of milk drunk, according to the body weight of men and women. What does not get adjusted are the people themselves.

The scientist is saying, I think, "If we adjust the amount of milk drunk in proportion to body weight--that is if we scale the weight of women up to the weight of men, and then scale the amount of milk down by the same factor..." So the body weight ratio determines the factor, and the amount of milk drunk is **adjusted** according to that factor. The body weight doesn't 'adjust,' it determines how the 'amount of milk' is adjusted.

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ReedArnoldMPREP

jabhatta2

Thanks so much ReedArnoldMPREP – I agree that the specifics wont be tested on the exam

Going back to the original question – would you agree this question COULD BE MUCH harder if after the initial modifer - you had “children’s weight” ?

Children's weight COULD certainly be adjusted for body weight

Thank you

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jabhatta2

ReedArnoldMPREP

jabhatta2

No, I don't think it makes sense to adjust children's weight for body weight. It kind of seems like that, because it's like "Aren't we adjusting their weight so that they weigh the same?" But that's not the goal. The goal is not to adjust their weight so that they weigh the same... The goal is to adjust the amount of milk they drink *as if* they weigh the same.

Mathematically, what we're trying to express is.

Children weight : Adult weight = 2 : 3

Children Milk : Adult Milk = 8 : 5

Children Milk (weight adjusted) : Adult milk (weight adjusted) = 12 : 5

We use the 'weight' ratio to determine how we ADJUST the 'milk' ratio. Yes, this "The ratio of milk drunk if the ratio of weight was 1:1," so it feels like you're adjusting the 'weight' ratio to be 1:1, but really, you're using that scalar to adjust the milk drunk ratio, because the ratio we're actually trying to compare.

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egmat MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja Can you please explain why option a) is wrong. I don't get it why cant 'when adjusted for body weight' modify 'children'.

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NakulDiwakar10

Can you please explain why option a) is wrong. I don't get it why cant 'when adjusted for body weight' modify 'children'.

Hi Nakul.

Let's take a look at the (A) version:

When adjusted for body weight, children of various age groups ... have a caffeine intake that ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average amount consumed by adults.

That version suggests that, when the children themselves are adjusted, their caffeine intake ranges from 36 to 58 percent of the average amount consumed by adults.

See the issue? Would the children be adjusted? How? Do children have adjustment screws that we could turn? No.

So, the meaning conveyed by that version is illogical since the children themselves would not be adjusted. Something else has to be adjusted for body weight, perhaps a number, such as the number that represents the quantity of caffeine they consume.

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