Source GMAT prep:
Officials at the United States Mint believe that the Sacagawea dollar coin will be used more as a substitute for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than four quarters, which weigh 5.67 grams each.

A) more as a substitute for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than

B) more as a substitute for four quarters than the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far lighter than

C) as a substitute for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than

D) as a substitute for four quarters more than the dollar bill because its weight of only 8.1 grams is far lighter than it is for

E) as a substitute more for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than it is for

I chose E as Ans and its wrong. What is wrong with E?

I think the correct answer should be (B) because

1) it is idiomatic - more x than y.
2) it weighs is better construction than 'its weight of' as compared to A, D & E.
3) Also it uses 'lighter' to compare weight.

What is OA?

i think its C.

whats the OA?

I have never seen this problem, but that doesn't matter (just as it should not matter for you). As long as we follow our SC process, we have no choice but to answer it correctly! Here are my thoughts, answer choice by answer choice.

A) more as a substitute for four quarters [i]rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than[/i]
-This choice lack parallelism and is unidiomatic (more for X rather than for Y is incorrect). The correct comparison is more for X than for Y.
B) more as a substitute for four quarters than the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far lighter than
-By eliminating the "for" prior to "the dollar bill," This choice creates an ambiguity: Is the dollar coin being used more as a substitute for four quarter than for the dollar bill, or is the dollar coin being used more than the dollar bill as a substitute for four quarters?
C) as a substitute for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than
-CORRECT
D) as a substitute for four quarters more than the dollar bill because its weight of only 8.1 grams is far lighter than it is for
--By eliminating the "for" prior to "the dollar bill," This choice creates an ambiguity: Is the dollar coin being used more as a substitute for four quarter than for the dollar bill, or is the dollar coin being used more than the dollar bill as a substitute for four quarters? Additionally, the pronoun "it" is ambiguous and the "it is" construction is awkward.
E) as a substitute more for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than it is for
--This choice lack parallelism and is unidiomatic (more for X rather than for Y is incorrect). The correct comparison is more for X than for Y. Additionally, the pronoun "it" is ambiguous and the "it is" construction is awkward.

The correct answer is C.

-dan

Hi,

I am a bit confused with all the choices here...

How do we know what is the correct antecedent for "it" in all choices... cant "it" refer to the dollar bill...

or is it because dollar bill is the object of preposition in the first clause...

please help...really confused...

thanks in advance,
Anon

It's a good thing that you are looking at the pronouns here -- that's the first item I looked into when I read the problem, looking for ambiguity. Unfortunately, all five choices use "it" or "its" and for all five I'd argue the antecedents are ambiguous. That forces you to look elsewhere, as Dan illustrated. I hope this helps.

Rey

C. as a substitute for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than four quarters

...it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than four quarters

How can we justify weight comparision here.
I think literal meaning here is "8.1 grams is far less than four quarters"

Could you please explain the comparision.

Pathik

two comments about this:

(1) they make the rules; we don't. therefore, if they say this is ok, then this is ok.

(2) they appear to grant the modifier 'far less than...' a little extra mobility here because it is not anchored by a relative pronoun, such as 'which' or 'that'.
for instance, you could not write '8.1 grams, which is far less than...', because that would have the illogical meaning you've described here.
apparently, though, the gmat allows additional flexibility for modifiers that lack such pronouns, like the one here.