When drive-ins were at the height of their popularity in the

[RonPurewal]

correct.

[BOw541]

prep: In the major cities of industrialized countries at the end of the nineteenth century, important public places such as theaters, restaurants, shops, and banks had installed electric lighting, but electricity was in less than one percent of homes, where lighting was still provided mainly by candles or gas.
The full question is here: http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/in- ... -t541.html
in case, anyone is interested

wow, that's a great find. i'd buy you a beer for that one if you were in front of me.

that usage is, indeed, inconsistent with the gmat's other usage, which i've detailed in the post above.

here's the saving grace, though: it's not a split.
in other words, ALL of the choices say "less than 1% of homes", so you're not making decisions based on that particular construction. my hypothesis: because they're not splitting that construction, they just didn't pay as much attention to it as they should have.

in a split between "less than 1% of homes" and "fewer than 1% of homes", i strongly suspect that the correct answer would contain the latter.
we can only wait and see.

HI, Ron
am i getting your point?
1)
We see from this question between A and B a split
A. there are less than one-quarter that many
B. there are fewer than one-quarter as many
2)
But such structure:
"A. there are less than one-quarter that many"/
"less than 1% of homes"
would also be acceptable, if there is no alternative as i mentioned in 1)

And is there more mistakes in A?

[RonPurewal]

in the "less than %1 of homes" problem, honestly, 'less' is a mistake. my only guess is that they probably didn't edit that part quite as carefully, because it wasn't at issue in the problem.
(i think this is the only time i've seen an actual error in an official problem.)

if you see "less than [%/fraction] of [THING YOU CAN COUNT]" versus "fewer than [%/fraction] of [THING YOU CAN COUNT]", then "less" is wrong and "fewer" is right.

[JustinCKN]

if Option C was constructed as:
There are fewer than one-quarter of that number

1) Would it be a right construction?

That would work ok.

If so then
2) How should i choose between B and C? or should i choose B over C because it is more concise

How should you choose between two correct answers? Well, you can't. They're two correct answers.

No GMAT problem will have more than one correct answer.

Dear Ron:
I read the discussion between you and tkotw79.
You agree that "There are fewer than one-quarter of that number " is right construction.

According to your earlier analysis :
"if the noun in question is already an explicitly numerical quantity, then you should use neither "much" nor "many". instead, you should just use "twice" or "double" by itself.
e.g., twice the increase --> "increase" is an explicitly numerical quantity"

therefore,is the construction " There are fewer than one-quarter that number" also right?
Sorry, do I express the meaning explicitly?

Thanks advanced.
JustinCKN.

[RonPurewal]

are you asking whether the construction would still be OK without "of"?

if so, then, probably yes -- although this is the sort of thing that definitely won't be tested. if it shows up as a distinction in the choices, it's DEFINITELY there as a distraction.
if you actually see this as a difference between choices, IGNORE IT AND LOOK FOR SOMETHING EASIER / MORE FUNDAMENTAL.

[JustinCKN]

are you asking whether the construction would still be OK without "of"?

if so, then, probably yes -- although this is the sort of thing that definitely won't be tested. if it shows up as a distinction in the choices, it's DEFINITELY there as a distraction.
if you actually see this as a difference between choices, IGNORE IT AND LOOK FOR SOMETHING EASIER / MORE FUNDAMENTAL.

Dear Ron：
I get your point. Thanks for your valuable explanation. Have a nice day!
JustinCKN.

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

[JustinCKN]

--

[JustinCKN]

But I want to know when I can use "as many" without another "as". Or even more general, when I can say "as [adjective]/[adverb]" without another "as".

Thanks in advance.

in general, you won't need the second half of that construction if you have already mentioned the data elsewhere in the sentence.
the earlier part of this sentence already mentions the # of drive-ins in the u.s. in the 1950's, so it is not stated again. since it is not stated as part of an actual parallel construction, you don't need the second "as".

--

examples:
there were once 20 shirts on this shelf, but, now, barely half as many are left. --> i already mentioned the data (i.e., 20 shirts) earlier in the sentence, so it's not mentioned again.

there are barely half as many shirts on this shelf [i]as there were last week.[/i] --> i didn't mention this comparison point earlier, so i'm mentioning it now.

Hi Ron：
I am sorry. I think my internet browser goes wrong. I actually click the button of "edit post" ,but the post repeat . I do not intend to repeat it. I apologize.
---
there are barely half as many shirts on this shelf as there were last week.

Can I modify the sentence above like this:
There are barely half as many shirts on this shelf as there were 20 shirts last week. [ namely I add "20 shirts" to "there were" _ last week.]

Thanks
Sincerely
JustinCKN.

[RonPurewal]

Can I modify the sentence above like this:
There are barely half as many shirts on this shelf as there were 20 shirts last week. [ namely I add "20 shirts" to "there were" _ last week.]

no.

also, remember—there's no point in trying to learn to WRITE comparison sentences for this exam!
that's an irrelevant skill; at best it's a waste of your time, and at worst it's a dangerous distraction that will make you score lower.

you only need to be able to make RELATIVE judgments.

[JustinCKN]

Can I modify the sentence above like this:
There are barely half as many shirts on this shelf as there were 20 shirts last week. [ namely I add "20 shirts" to "there were" _ last week.]

no.

also, remember—there's no point in trying to learn to WRITE comparison sentences for this exam!
that's an irrelevant skill; at best it's a waste of your time, and at worst it's a dangerous distraction that will make you score lower.

you only need to be able to make RELATIVE judgments.

I will try my best to learn the experiences given by you.
Thanks .
Have a nice day !

[RonPurewal]

you too.

[WenshanW541]

in the "less than %1 of homes" problem, honestly, 'less' is a mistake. my only guess is that they probably didn't edit that part quite as carefully, because it wasn't at issue in the problem.
(i think this is the only time i've seen an actual error in an official problem.)

if you see "less than [%/fraction] of [THING YOU CAN COUNT]" versus "fewer than [%/fraction] of [THING YOU CAN COUNT]", then "less" is wrong and "fewer" is right.

Hi Ron,
I cannot easily agree with you that OG made a mistake. I think that both "less than one percent of homes" and "fewer than one-quarter as many" are correct if we consider the meaning of these two sentences. A note from The New Times: https://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/fewer-vs-less/?_r=0, which is written by Philip B. Corbett, the associate managing editor for standards, who is also in charge of The Times’s style manual.

I copy a part of the post:
"We slipped on this point two days in a row recently:

•••

Jon M. Chu’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’’ is billed as a concert documentary, but fewer than half of its 105 minutes are devoted to Mr. Bieber onstage.

The point was not to enumerate the number of individual minutes, but to describe the extent or span of time. Make it “less than half of its 105 minutes is …”

•••

The resignation of President Hosni Mubarak is a stunning accomplishment for the country’s courageous youth-led opposition. In fewer than three weeks, they forced a largely peaceful end to his 30-year autocracy.

Here, too, we meant to describe the extent of time, not to count the number of weeks. Make it “less.”"

Based on the above note, i.e., Meaning, OG uses "less than one percent of homes" in order to show the range of homes that use electricity; OG uses "fewer than one-quarter as many" to show the number of drive-ins that has been decreased during 1950 - now.

Just my two cents... Please advise.

[RonPurewal]

FOR THIS EXAM, there is no need to consider such tiny nuances. IF THIS ISSUE IS GOING TO BE TESTED, the difference between "countable" and "not countable" will be COMPLETELY OBVIOUS.

in other words -- since the phrase in question appears in the non-underlined part of this question, just ignore it.
if you actually see "less" in some choices and "fewer" in other choices, THEN you'll need to think about the difference. in any such problem, the difference will be completely unambiguous.

[SrishtiM905]

Hi Ron,
Follwoing is my thinking while doing the question. Please advise whether I am correct.

‘some 4,000 existed in the United States’ is a non essential modifier. Hence if it is omitted, then also the sentence should make sense.

So consider it omitted. Now the subject of ‘but’ clause is ’the number’. To what does this ’the number’ refers to : ‘the numbers of drive-ins’ or ‘4000’? Cant refer to 4000, because that has been omitted. It has to be ‘the number of driveins’.