A rise in robberies suggests that

[manhhiep2509]

A rise in robberies suggests that the gangs might not be as weak as some analysts previously thought.

This is an example that is similar to an correct answer choice A of the question 16 in OG 13. I modified it from an example of Stacey for the same question in a threat in Beatthegmat.com

My question is that what is compared to "the gangs"? It seems that the answer omitted something between "as weak as" and "some analysts" but I cannot find what it is.

Is "A rise in robberies suggests that the gangs might not be as weak as have been previously thought by analysts" correct?

Kindly explain.

Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

Officially correct answers are correct!
Do not question them!

Don't fight the official answers. Complete waste of time.

"Is this correct?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers. The answer is always yes.

"Is this wrong?" / "Is this X type of error?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers. The answer is always no.

Instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"Why is this correct?"
"How does this work?"
"What understanding am I lacking that I need to understand this choice?"

This is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking. You will find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you retire the idea that they might be wrong.

--

In general, comparisons are very flexible, because they have to be. (There are lots and lots and lots of different things/ideas that people might want to compare, so we need constructions that can handle all of them.)
As a result, there are some constructions that don't actually contain parallel elements, but that you'll nonetheless just have to recognize as correct.

E.g., all of the following are acceptable sentences:
Bob must have worked out hard today, since he is eating so much more food than usual.
Marissa is much better at basketball than I had thought before I saw her play.
Thomas is happier than ever before.

The good news is that these exceptional constructions are very unlikely to be the centerpiece of a GMAC problem. When comparisons are a primary item in a SC problem, you can bet that you'll be able to use normal parallelism.
(In the actual OG problem #16, this unusual construction appears in every choice, and is thus a non-issue.)