Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars

[RonPurewal]

Choice A doesn't have that issue. ("Their" in choice A is fine.)

The problem with choice A is that it suggests that manufacturers are retooling existing small cars, rather than creating new ones that are better.

E.g.,
I'm going to make air conditioners quieter. --> I'm going to modify existing air conditioners so that they make less noise.

I'm going to make quieter air conditioners.
I'm going to make air conditioners that are quieter.
--> I'm going to make a new model that makes less noise.

A is like the first one of these, so it doesn't make sense in context.

[Haibara]

Ron, I've read all this whole thread. Your elaborations are fabulous.
However, I still have several questions and I also want to range in order all the errors in each choice, which scatter here and there in different corners of this thread.

I initially choose A.
#1 Choice A is grammatically fine, right? "they" in choice A ,without doubt, refers to "manufacturers" and assumes no ambiguity, right?
The problem with choice A is more of meaning than of grammar?
Choice A seems to imply that manufacturers have recalled all the smalls cars currently on the road and start installing these recalled small cars ,perhaps, with some new engines, to make them now running more fuel-effiently than ever before. Choice A mentions nothing about the new fuel-efficient cars that manufacturers are now producing, right? It diverges from what GMAC want to convey in this question, so Choice A is wrong.

To imitate choice A，I made up two sentences as below：

The new computer-based system allows GMAC to make GMAT tests more difficult now than at any other time in its history.

The new computer-based system allows GMAC to make GMAT tests more difficult now than they were at any other time in its history.

Lee’s championship in the 500meters Short Track Speed "‹"‹Skating Final at the 2014 winter Olympic Games makes her mother prouder than at any other moment in her mother's life.

Lee’s championship in the 500meters Short Track Speed "‹"‹Skating Final at the 2014 winter Olympic Games makes her mother prouder than she was at any other moment in her mother's life.

Are above sentences all correct, grammatically and meaningly?

#2 "they" and "their " in choice B grammatically have to refer to the same antecedent? Whether the antecedent is "small cars" or "manufacturers", they can't make sense either way. So B is wrong.

#3 About the OA, I have the same question as joannat, whose post I now quote below and whose question, from my perspective, has not been positively addressed by Tom.

Hi Ron,

First I want to thank you for your help. It's just amazing to see that you have been spending so much time and effort replying to our questions.

I have a question, in this post, since-1990-the-global-economy-has-grown-more-than-it-did-t552.html, you mentioned that by using "that/those", the sentence structure needs to be exactly parallel.

if the second half says 'that during 10,000 years', then the preceding half must say 'the growth of ___ during something else'

Now in this question:
Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in production history.

If we use those here, aren't we missing something like "small cars now" in the preceding part ?

Thank you!

Also, If I add "were" in choice C as below:
Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than were those at any other time in production history.

Is it still correct?

Ron, sorry for such a long post and appreciate every word of your reply. Thank you very much.

[RonPurewal]

That seems ok to me.

[thanghnvn]

[quote="GMAT 5/18"]Source: Gmat Prep, mba.com, Test II

Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel efficient now than at any time in their production history.

a. Same as above
b. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
c. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
d. more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
e. more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in

Ron, Please, confirm my following idea

the elliptical entities, which do not appear in the second half of comparision, or the entities which are replaced with "they", "it" must be, grammartically, the same entities which are in the first half of the comparision. IS THAT RIGHT?

from this rule, in choice A, the same car must be understood in the second half of comparision. This is not logic

Am I right?

[thanghnvn]

Choice A doesn't have that issue. ("Their" in choice A is fine.)

The problem with choice A is that it suggests that manufacturers are retooling existing small cars, rather than creating new ones that are better.

E.g.,
I'm going to make air conditioners quieter. --> I'm going to modify existing air conditioners so that they make less noise.

I'm going to make quieter air conditioners.
I'm going to make air conditioners that are quieter.
--> I'm going to make a new model that makes less noise.

A is like the first one of these, so it doesn't make sense in context.

thank you Ron, but why choice B, the oa, in the following sentence is considered correct.

Soaring television costs accounted for more than half the spending in the presidential campaign of 1992,// a greater proportion than it was// in any previous election.

A. a greater proportion than it was
B. a greater proportion than
C. a greater proportion than they have been
D. which is greater than was so
E. which is greater than it has been

B is ellipsis similar to choice A in the origianal sc problem. why A is wrong and B is right? pls explain

Please, make full the choice B.

[RonPurewal]

Choice A doesn't have that issue. ("Their" in choice A is fine.)

The problem with choice A is that it suggests that manufacturers are retooling existing small cars, rather than creating new ones that are better.

E.g.,
I'm going to make air conditioners quieter. --> I'm going to modify existing air conditioners so that they make less noise.

I'm going to make quieter air conditioners.
I'm going to make air conditioners that are quieter.
--> I'm going to make a new model that makes less noise.

A is like the first one of these, so it doesn't make sense in context.

thank you Ron, but why choice B, the oa, in the following sentence is considered correct.

Soaring television costs accounted for more than half the spending in the presidential campaign of 1992,// a greater proportion than it was// in any previous election.

A. a greater proportion than it was
B. a greater proportion than
C. a greater proportion than they have been
D. which is greater than was so
E. which is greater than it has been

B is ellipsis similar to choice A in the origianal sc problem. why A is wrong and B is right? pls explain

Please, make full the choice B.

This is a different problem. Please search the forum for a thread on this problem.
Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

Source: Gmat Prep, mba.com, Test II

Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel efficient now than at any time in their production history.

a. Same as above
b. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
c. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
d. more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
e. more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in

Ron, Please, confirm my following idea

the elliptical entities, which do not appear in the second half of comparision, or the entities which are replaced with "they", "it" must be, grammartically, the same entities which are in the first half of the comparision. IS THAT RIGHT?

from this rule, in choice A, the same car must be understood in the second half of comparision. This is not logic

Am I right?

Yes.

Note that this has nothing to do with comparisons in particular; you're just using the normal criteria for pronouns. (Pronouns in comparisons don't behave any differently than do other pronouns.)

[RonPurewal]

Can I simply compare 'at any other time' with 'now' ? Will the sentence make sense?

Yes.

Just check whether they are comparable in terms of (a) meaning and (b) mechanics.

Meaning: Sure; both are timeframes.

Mechanics:
I can't go to the office now.
I can't go to the office at any other time.
Same function. We're good.

[AbhilashM94]

Good work identifying the pronoun error. To clarify, however, it is not an error in number (it v. their) but an error in ambiguity. In this case, "their" could refer either to "manufacturers" or "cars"; thus, we can eliminate any answer choices that include "their."

I also agree that the primary error in (e) is redundancy - Because the sentence is discussing "today's" technology it is redundant to say "now." I also think that the meaning of (e) is ambiguous: are manufacturers making cars that are more fuel efficient, or are manufacturers simply making more cars (number of cars)?

-dan :roll:

Source: Gmat Prep, mba.com, Test II

Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel efficient now than at any time in their production history.

a. Same as above
b. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
c. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
d. more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
e. more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in

For this question, I began by eliminating all choices ending in "their" - manufacturers require "it" or something similar, but definitely not "their". This left answer choices c. and e. Then, I chose c. over e. because of 2 reasons:

1. e. says that manufacturere are making "more" f-e cars now, and I feel this changes the meaning of the original sentence
2. e. has the wording "now" which I think is redundant as "today's" has already been stated

Is my logic and reasons for choosing c. over e. correct, or did I just get lucky (correct answer is c)? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

How do you what the intended meaning is supposed to be?
I picked E - I though they were talking about numbers.

Help pls?

[RonPurewal]

Choice E is still wrong, because it doesn't say "any other time".
"Any time" includes now. So, according to choice E, they can make more cars now than at any time"”"”including now!
Nonsense. X can't be more than X.

[RonPurewal]

Another example:
Death Valley is in California. In the summer, it's the hottest place in the U.S. (and quite often the hottest place in the entire world).

Summers are hotter in Death Valley than anywhere in Nevada.
Makes sense. DV is not in Nevada, so it really is hotter than ANYWHERE in Nevada.

*Summers are hotter in Death Valley than anywhere else in Nevada.
Nonsense; implies that Death Valley is in Nevada. It's not; it's in California.

Summers are hotter in Death Valley than anywhere in California.
Nonsense. DV is in California, so, according to this sentence, DV is hotter than itself.

Summers are hotter in Death Valley than anywhere else in California.
Makes sense.


Or:
Chris is taller than any boy in the class.
Either
1/ Chris is a girl, and she is taller than any boy in the class,
or
2/ Chris is not in the class.

Chris is taller than any other boy in the class.
Chris is one of the boys in the class. He's taller than any of the others.

[VaibhavA375]

Ron,
In reply to a query, you wrote:
the comparison is between some cars ("small cars") and some other cars ("those [= cars] at any other time...") -- these cars are more fuel-efficient than those cars.
Thus, a form of "to be" is not required in the 2nd part of choice C.

But if I write:
Today's technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than the small cars were at any other time in production history.

Is the sentence correct?? If yes, how can be omit the verb "were"??

[momo32]

Dear Ron，

I still cannot understand “those” in choice c.
Can you explain it.
In my mind, we just use those when we do comparisons "that of, those of". we will not use those o refer to a subject. in which situation, we can use those to refer to.

thx

[RonPurewal]

Momo32, I don't really understand your question.

The part that says "We use these in comparisons" is correct.

[RonPurewal]

In general, the point of "that" and "those" is to stand for nouns without any attached modifiers/descriptions.
There's an explicit contrast with "it" and "they", which stand for a noun with all of the attached modifiers.

E.g.,
The government of Country X is more stable than it was two years ago.
"It" = "the government of country X"
It is impossible to use "it" to stand for government in general. In this context, "it" can refer only to the government of country X.

Vs.
The government of Country X is more stable than that of Country Y.
"That" = "the government". NOT the government of country X.

The whole point of comparisons, of course, is to compare two different things. So, these pronouns are extremely useful because they're designed to do exactly that-- to stand for only the parts that are actually the same.