drive-ins

[ashish.jere]

1. When drive-ins were at the height of their popularity in the late
1950's, some 4,000 existed in the United States, but today there are
less than one-quarter that many.

A. there are less than one-quarter that many
B. there are fewer than one-quarter as many
C. there are fewer than one-quarter of that amount
D. the number is less than one-quarter the amount
E. it is less than one-quarter of that amount

ron,

help needed here in eliminating each answer choice and arriving at (A).

[muralidharin]

A. there are less than one-quarter that many
B. there are fewer than one-quarter as many
fewer is used with count (fewer than 100) - wrong
C. there are fewer than one-quarter of that amount
fewer is used with count (fewer than 100) - wrong
D. the number is less than one-quarter the amount
amount is used to refer to quantity that cannot be counted (an enormous amount)
E. it is less than one-quarter of that amount
amount is used to refer to quantity that cannot be counted (an enormous amount)

POE - A

[kevinluocw]

GMAT Prep says the OA is B, can someone please explain?

[ashish.jere]

I am sorry to say, I do know the source. A friend passed this question to me and she told me OA is A.

Help needed to arrive at the right answer.

[esledge]

Can someone please confirm the source and official answer to this one? We have both A and B cited above. I'm reluctant to arbitrate, as the two answers are really close, unless we can confirm that this is from a reputable source and is transcribed exactly as intended.

Also, if this is from GMATPrep, let us know. We'll then move this thread to the appropriate folder. Thanks!

[luc2r4]

This question belongs to GMAT prep

OA ( B )

(A) can not be the answer since LESS is used for UNcountable nouns,
Then , FEWER should be used because :

***...drive-ins were...some 4000 existed... -> COUNTABLE
***you could say one-quarter, three-quarters etc. -> COUNTABLE

Also:

*** AS MANY -> COUNTABLE

Then if you choose A you would be contradicting yourself by later using MANY .

[tim]

Good analysis. "As many" is appropriate for a comparison, and there are definitely FEWER drive-ins now and not LESS drive-ins..

[violetwind]

Can anyone explain, why C is not right?

I thought C was clearer than B.

Thank you very much!

[mschwrtz]

Amount is correctly used only with uncountable objects. You have an amount of trouble, time, love, etc., but you have a number of troubles, hours, lovers, etc.

[abhinavsid]

I too think it should be B.
Fewer should be used with countable nouns instead of LESS.

As far as why B over C is because of wordiness. To me, B is more concise than C. Hope it helps. Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

As far as why B over C is because of wordiness. To me, B is more concise than C. Hope it helps. Thanks!

this is incorrect.
it's incorrect to use "amount" for things like drive-in movie theaters, which are countable, so (c) is out.
this reason was explained by michael in the post directly above yours, which was posted three hours before your post.

people!
read the other posts on the thread before you post!
thank you!

[devansh.anand]

C.) there are fewer than one-quarter of that number

if I use number for option C, will it be correct? is the usage of 'that' correct here?

Ron,
I've been messing up comparison/quantity sentences, mostly because I'm too skeptical to use a pronoun in the comparison. I've found that most of the times the pronoun does not have a legitimate antecedent. Can you please cite a few examples, showing how a pronoun (generally that/it/those) should be used in these constructions.

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

Ron,
I've been messing up comparison/quantity sentences, mostly because I'm too skeptical to use a pronoun in the comparison. I've found that most of the times the pronoun does not have a legitimate antecedent. Can you please cite a few examples, showing how a pronoun (generally that/it/those) should be used in these constructions.

Thanks!

"it" is used to refer to exactly the same noun, including all attached modifiers, in both parts of the comparison.
e.g.
The air quality in Los Angeles was higher in 2000 than it had been in any of the preceding thirty years.
--> correct, since "it" is actually meant to refer to the air quality in LA and not just air quality.

"that"/"those" are used to refer to the noun used previously, but WITHOUT the attached modifiers -- i.e., if the attached modifiers don't apply anymore when you get to the second half of the comparison.
generally, when this happens, those modifiers/descriptions will be replaced by other modifiers/descriptions/context, in order to lend a reasonable meaning to the comparison.
In 2005, the air quality of Los Angeles was worse than that of Houston.
--> correct. here, that is just air quality, NOT the air quality of LA.

make sure you can write your own sentences with these constructions; it's not good enough just to recognize them in other people's.

[KAOM514]

Hello, Ron, so I am not native english speaker, I have no idea about driven-ins, which are movie theaters. So there is no way to solve this problems??

[RonPurewal]

Hello, Ron, so I am not native english speaker, I have no idea about driven-ins, which are movie theaters. So there is no way to solve this problems??

^^ there's no reason why you would have to understand what a "drive-in" is.

all you need to understand is that "drive-ins" are things that can be COUNTED -- and that, at least, is perfectly obvious from the context of the sentence.