GMATPrep 1:

According to a survey of graduating medical students conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges, minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice in socioeconomically deprived areas.
(A) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice
(B) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than other graduates who plan on practicing
(C) minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as other graduates to plan on practicing
(D) it is nearly four times more likely that minority graduates rather than other graduates will plan to practice
(E) it is nearly four times as likely for minority graduates than other graduates to plan to practice

The correct answer is C.
I chose A.
1. Could you please clarify the difference bt "four times more likely than" and "four times as likely as"?
2. Is "plan to" a wrong idiom? is "plan on" the correct idiom?

Thanks so much!

Jamie

please help! you skipped my question :-(
thanks,
j

replicated from this post. this post addresses more than just your question, but your answer is in there:

heh.

mathematically speaking, there's a difference between '4 times more likely' and '4 times as likely'. Specifically, '4 times more likely' is actually the same as '5 times as likely', although even experts accidentally conflate the two constructions on occasion.

but this is a verbal question, so let's set the mathematical nitpicking aside; there is no language-based reason to prefer one or the other of these constructions.

the biggest problem with D is its poor idiomatic construction. you don't say 'it is X times MORE likely that A will happen, RATHER THAN B'; 'more' is supposed to go with 'THAN', and is incompatible with 'rather than'. the proper construction would be 'it is X times more likely that A will happen than that B will happen.' better than either of these, though, is the more compact form: 'A is X times more likely to happen than is B.'

hth.



no, "plan to" is fine.
but you missed the idiom that actually _is_ incorrect in this sentence: "likely ... in planning" (incorrect, in (a)) vs. "likely ... to plan" (correct, in (b)).
"likely" must be used with an infinitive. in their usual dastardly way, the gmat writers have camouflaged this poor idiomatic usage behind not only lots of noise (the words between "likely" and "in"), but also a second, correct idiom (the one you singled out).
that's tough.

In B outside the times ... than and likely on practicing errors, the sentence compares tries to say minority graduates are 4 times .. likely to graduates <who>..

Since who modifies the previous noun graduates ( acts as a restrictive modifier)
and hence the comparison in numbers doesn't make sense ..

Minority grads are 4 times more likely than < some special set of grads..>

Some special set of grads == grads who ...

Is this a correct analysis ?

I'm not entirely clear what you're asking. Here's what I can tell you about B, though, and I hope it answers your question:

By converting to the word "who," we place all of the following information as a modifier of the second word "graduates," as you say. This causes a major problem, though, as we never finish the preceding clause: "more likely ..." to what? You cannot just say: "These people are more likely." You can call an outcome more likely. But to call people more likely does not work; we need to know what they are more likely to do.

Does that help?

Very clear, thanks!

Thanks for nice explanation.

i had one query.

Would option A be right, if it were written as follows :


minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates to plan on practicing....

Or following will be correct ?

minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than other graduates to plan on practicing....


I have just removed .....are ......from second choice.......Just wanted to know......which comparison is correct ?

they're both correct, but the one without the helping verb is a little better (because it's more concise).

in general, you shouldn't include such helping verbs, in parallel constructions unless they're NECESSARY.
pretty much the only way in which one of these helping verbs can be necessary is if it gets rid of ambiguity.

for instance:
i know more about shakespeare than my brother
is incorrect, because we don't know whether this means (1) my knowledge of shakespeare is superior to my brother's, or (2) i know more about shakespeare than i know about my own brother.

if you change this to
i know more about shakespeare than does my brother
then the ambiguity is removed.

if you have
i am taller than my brother
then you don't need "...is my brother", since there's no ambiguity to start with.

in your example, there's no such ambiguity in the first place, so you don't need the helping verb.
although it's certainly not wrong to include that verb.

--

Ron,

Excellent post.

Regarding your point, "A is X times more likely to happen than is B.", do we need the second "is"?

I ask because the correct answer choice C omits the second "are", i.e., correct choice C: "minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as [are] other graduates to plan on practicing"

Should the take-aways then be:
1. If I see "more X than ", then I should have verbs on both sides.
2. If I see "as X as", then I should not repeat the verb.

thanks.



nah. wrong issue.

here's the takeaway:
you only need the 2nd helping verb if the sentence is ambiguous without it.

here's an example:
james is more likely to meet with thomas than lydia
--> unacceptable, because there are two meanings.
in this case, you have to add a helping word to dispel the ambiguity:
james is more likely to meet with thomas than is lydia (meaning #1)
james is more likely to meet with thomas than with lydia (meaning #2)

but
james is more likely to drive to work than lydia
you don't need "is" here, since this sentence can only mean one thing. (it's not wrong to include "is" -- just not necessary.)

Ron,

Why is E wrong, it has the correct idiom, and "plan to " is correct, its because it sound awkward?

Thanks

the big, huge, colossal error in choice (c) is its pairing of "four times as likely" with "than".
that's bad -- it's "four times AS likely AS"; you can't say "as likely than".

(note: in the choices that say “four times more likely”, that should be followed by “than”.)

--

also, apparently we shouldn't be concerned with mathematical issues -- technically, "four times as likely as X" is 4X, while "four times MORE likely than X" is actually 5X. apparently, this is not a big deal on the verbal section.

Ahhhhh - I didn't see that, thanks Ron for the help

Good to hear!

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor

i had two questions here.

i have known that the sentence below is correct

minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates to plan on practicing....

but if i complete the sentence above.is it right?

minority graduates are to plan on practicing....
nearly four times more likely than are other graduates (to plan on practicing....)

I have just added "to plan on practicing "at the first part of the sentence and " likely " at the second of the sentence.Just wanted to know
is the sentence i complete right???

in addition, i have a question about the sentence below.

minority graduates are to plan on practicing ....
nearly four times more likely than are other graduates....

is the helpng verb "are" necessary in the second part of the sentence? is the phrase "to plan " be the object of the first part of the sentence.



i'll be appreciate if someone can help me.