Idioms

[Anand]

Q 10: Though margarine was introduced as a supposedly healthful alternative to butter, recent studies suggest it is as harmful or worse than butter.

it is as harmful or worse than butter
it is just as harmful or even worse than butter
that it is as harmful as or worse than butter
it is as harmful as if not worse than butter
that it is as harmful if not worse than butter

a)In the Option E, isn’t " as" after as harmful understood and hence not mentioned.

b)If the same option would have been " that it is as harmful as if not worse than butter" then would that be a correct sentence?

Source: MGMAT SC tests

[JonathanSchneider]

Anand,
The "as" is not understood. It is part of the comparative form: "as _______ as", where the long _________ can represent any adjective.

Yes, your rephase works well. Note that the version closest to it here is C (the correct choice). Youa re only switching the "or" for "if not." Because of the meaning of the sentence (the second option being a more severe case than the first), this would be a fine rephrasing, as it does not really change the meaning of the sentence.

[netcaesar]

Why option B is wrong? Is there any change in the meaning?

[JonathanSchneider]

B is wrong for the same reason that A is wrong: parallelism. We have only part of the comparison "as harmful as." B, like A, finishes this off with "than" (by extension with the "or worse than" phrase), an ending that is incorrect. In other words, you can't say "as harmful than."