42. 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

Can you please why the answer is C and not D?

Thx

Problems with D

1. 'It' is ambigous
2. Also the verb tense 'will plan' is in future though the original sentencce is in present.

On the flip side (C) correctly compares 'minority graduates' with 'other graduates'

ThANKS FOR YOUR POINTS. i THINK THEY ARE VALID. However is '4 times as likely' correct? Shouldn't it be '4 times more likely'?

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.'

Hope that helps.

Hi

Can you please expalin why A is incorrect

Thanks
DCE

Hi:

I also remember reading somewhere that 'plan on' as an idiom is incorrect. I therefore chose A because it uses 'plan to'. Can one of the tutors please clarify?

thanks,

Goutham

42. 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

between A & C,
whats wrong in A

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