Diesel Engines burn as much as 30 percent less fuel than

[Guest]

Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gases that have been implicated in global warming.

A. Same
B. of comparable size as well as emit far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gas having
C. of comparable size, and also they emit far fewer carbon dioxide and other gases that have
D. that have a comparable size , and also they emit far less carbon dioxide and other gases that have
E. that have a comparable size, as well as emitting far fewer carbon dioxide and other gases having.

OA is A. I was not sure why fewer of the other gases is correct. I thought that gas is uncountable noun and should use less.

Can someone clarify this?

Thanks.

[tathagat]

Refer to the thread on the same http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/post13579.html.

[jwinawer]

thanks tathagat!

[healthy312]

Refer to the thread on the same http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/post13579.html.

The requested topic does not exist, I cannot find this topic, could you please advise ?

[healthy312]

Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gases that have been implicated in global warming.

A. Same
B. of comparable size as well as emit far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gas having
C. of comparable size, and also they emit far fewer carbon dioxide and other gases that have
D. that have a comparable size , and also they emit far less carbon dioxide and other gases that have
E. that have a comparable size, as well as emitting far fewer carbon dioxide and other gases having.

OA is A. I was not sure why fewer of the other gases is correct. I thought that gas is uncountable noun and should use less.

Can someone clarify this?

Thanks.

Because carbon dioxide is uncountable, so I eliminate C AND E,
Ron , could you please rule out B and D? especially D

[RonPurewal]

the most straightforward thing in choice B:
"gas" is singular, so "far fewer of the other gas" is nonsense. (you can't have "fewer" unless you can count things, and you can't count things unless they're plural.)

[RonPurewal]

the most straightforward thing in choice D:
"far less carbon dioxide and other gases that have..." appears to indicate that the engines emit other gases (not LESS OF those other gases).
note that you can't read this as "less (carbon dioxide ... and other gases...)", either -- i.e., with "less" applying to both things -- because "less other gases" doesn't make sense.

you could have "fewer gases" (= not as many different kinds), or "less OF the gases" (= a smaller total quantity)... but not "less gases".

[RahulG728]

Hi Ron,

In answer choice A, I do not understand how burn and emitting can be parallel to each other. Please explain.

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

they aren't. from this example, you can learn that 'as well as' is not strictly a parallel marker.

[RonPurewal]

incidentally, in the official correct sentences, i've never seen 'as well as' followed by anything other than a noun. (remember that '__ing' can be a noun; that's the role played by 'emitting' here.)

i wouldn't elevate this to the status of a 'rule', since as well as is also widely used to connect other things, such as adjectives (His review was insightful as well as thorough).

on the other hand, i am comfortable positing these two things:
• don't follow 'as well as' with a verb
• be suspicious of any choice in which 'as well as' is followed by something other than a noun. (if you can't see any other reason to eliminate, use this as a guessing method.)

[neetub951]

@Stacey : I don't remember exactly but somewhere you wrote that carbon dioxide is countable as you can count 1 CO2, 2CO2 etc. then it should be fewer not less.

Also, How to eliminate choice B?

[RonPurewal]

@Stacey : I don't remember exactly but somewhere you wrote that carbon dioxide is countable as you can count 1 CO2, 2CO2 etc. then it should be fewer not less.

there's no way stacey wrote this.

"one carbon dioxide"? "two carbon dioxides"?
these are clearly not things.

if you think stacey wrote this somewhere, please post a link—i'm sure she wrote something else.

[RonPurewal]

Also, How to eliminate choice B?

the most straightforward thing i see is 'fewer of the other gas...'
'fewer' means counting, and so clearly demands a plural form ('fewer gases').

[MoriofMay]

Also, How to eliminate choice B?

the most straightforward thing i see is 'fewer of the other gas...'
'fewer' means counting, and so clearly demands a plural form ('fewer gases').

Hi Ron,
I met this question yesterday. And the choice B I saw is slightly different with the choice posted. The choice I saw is that (B) of comparable size, as well as emit far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gases having. The OA is still A. I am wondering why is choice B still flawed with a plural form. Maybe the constructure having been implicated is not allowed to be modifier referring the noun?

Looking forward to your reply. Thanks a lot.

[RonPurewal]

ok:


SHORT STORY

if you see "noun (no comma) having __ed"...
...don't pick it.



LONG STORY

the distinction betwen "who/that ____" and "having ____ed" is explained here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... ml#p112670
go read that.
.
.
.
.
.
ok, you read it.
so, here's the thing: once you have done something... well, that's true forever.
e.g., if you have seen a certain movie, or if you have smoked cigarettes, or if you have done just about anything... then you never STOP being "someone who has seen the movie", or "someone who has smoked cigarettes", etc.
these descriptions remain true in perpetuity. forever and ever and ever amen.

so, i can't think of a situation in which "having __ed" (without a comma) makes much sense, since that would imply that "having __ed" is a temporary state. hm.

--

NOTE: this DOES NOT apply to "having __ed" after a COMMA, since such a thing could quite well describe the action of the preceding sentence.
e.g.
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... t4380.html