* No less an authority than

[ankit.ankitagrawal]

No less an authority than Richard Smith has reported that half of all Americans never read a book.
(A) No less an authority than
(B) Nonetheless an authority
(C) Nevertheless authoritarian
(D) Not less an authority than
(E) An authority not less than

Can anybody please help?? I am lost.. :(

[cfaking]

BCD can be eliminated easily as they are wordy and un idiomatic
Here comparison is with "Richard Smith"

hence A because "No less an authority" is appropriate.

[ankit.ankitagrawal]

BCD can be eliminated easily as they are wordy and un idiomatic
Here comparison is with "Richard Smith"

hence A because "No less an authority" is appropriate.

How can a person be comapared with authority??

[ashish.jere]

Richard Smith is not compared to authority. The sentence says - Richard Smith is an authority.

authority = an expert on a subject

Example : He is an authority on baseball.

[Ben Ku]

Please cite the source (author) of this problem. We cannot reply unless a source is cited (and, if no source is cited, we will have to delete the post!). Thanks.