Officials at the Unites States Mint believe that the Sacagawea dollar coin will be used more as a substitue for four quaters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1gms, is far less than four quaters, which weigh 5.67 gms each.

a) same
b) more as a substitute for four quaters than the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1gms, far lighter than
c) as a substitue for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 gms, far less than
d) as a substitue for four quarters more than the dollar bill because its weight of only 8.1gms is far lighter than it is for
e) as a substitute more for four qurters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight , only 8.1gms, is far less than it is for



Ron's comment: Depends on what you're trying to say.
X will be used more as a substitute for Y than Z = ambiguous: could mean either (1) X will be used as a substitute for Y, more than Z will be used as a substitute for Y, or (2) X will be used as a substitute for Y, more than X will be used as a substitute for Z.
You can clear up the ambiguity by adding little words in the right places: if you mean (1), then you'd add '...than will Z', and if you mean (2), then you'd add '...than for Z'.
There's the same problem of ambiguity even if the sequence is written the other way - you'd still want to use extra little words to clear it up (as is done in the correct answer choice here).

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/questions-involving-comparison-a-huge-confusion-t1593.html

My Question: As per your comment "and if you mean (2), then you'd add '...than for Z'" so A construction is: X will be used more FOR X THAN FOR Y








Why is C correct?

Saurabh Malpani

not sure exactly what the question here is; please do clarify. thank you.

it seems there are two issues being presented: the first is parallel / unambiguous construction, and the second is 'why is c correct?'

as for the first, i can't really tell what you're trying to ask.
as for the second, are you asking for
- justification of choice c vis-a-vis a particular one of the other choices,
- the reasons why choice c is a good sentence, or
- reasons why all four of the other choices are wrong?

Ron,

sorry for the confusion. I question is that I don't see any ambiguity here because the constuction is parallel

more as a substitue for four quaters rather than for the dollar

So we don't have any ambiguity in the constuction correct? it's more of the Comparision Problem --Correct?


Saurabh Malpani

oh, you meant that.

you can't combine 'more' with 'rather than' in this way. it's not redundant, but it's actually contradictory: 'more' means that the less desirable option is exercised less, but still some of the time, while 'rather than' excludes the less desirable option altogether.

you could contrive a sentence using those two phrases together correctly - like 'i decided to order more potstickers rather than spring rolls' - but this sentence requires the contextual assumption that i've already ordered some potstickers, and am weighing my options for further appetizer choices. that sort of logic doesn't apply to the sacajawea question.