The Environmental Protection Agency frequently puts mandator

[sheetal]

The Environmental Protection Agency frequently puts mandatory controls on toxic substances that present as little risk as one in a million chances to cause cancer

A) as little risk as one in a million chances to cause

B) as little risk as one chance in a million of causing

C) as little risk as one chance in a million that it will cause

D) a risk as little as one chance in a million for causing

E) a risk as little as one chance in a million for it to cause

I chose A, which is incorrect. B is the OA. Could someone explain why A is wrong?

[StaceyKoprince]

How many chances are we discussing - one or a million? In this case, we're trying to say something about the one chance, so "chance" should be singular and go with the word one.

[tina_2c]

but why is D wrong?
what the difference between "as little risk as" and "a risk as little as"
thanks!

[ranjeet1975]

but why is D wrong?
what the difference between "as little risk as" and "a risk as little as"

Please, Ron, shed some light on this aspect.

[sarfrazyusuf]

but why is D wrong?
what the difference between "as little risk as" and "a risk as little as"

Please, Ron, shed some light on this aspect.

D is incorrect because of the use of risk 'for' causing.

There's always a risk 'of' something happening and not risk 'for'.

Cheers!

[StaceyKoprince]

sarfrazyusuf has it; the reason you should eliminate D is based on the idiom error. something has a risk OF causing something else, not a risk FOR causing something else.

Note that D is a bit wordier than B ("a risk as little as" vs. as little risk as) but this is NOT why you should eliminate D. Brevity is only preferred if there are absolutely no grammar or meaning errors. (And I assume that they stretched D out a bit more to make it less obvious that they changed the preposition from "of" to "for" - they make it harder to "hear" the error by putting a lot of junk in between.)

[violetwind]

sarfrazyusuf has it; the reason you should eliminate D is based on the idiom error. something has a risk OF causing something else, not a risk FOR causing something else.

Note that D is a bit wordier than B ("a risk as little as" vs. as little risk as) but this is NOT why you should eliminate D. Brevity is only preferred if there are absolutely no grammar or meaning errors. (And I assume that they stretched D out a bit more to make it less obvious that they changed the preposition from "of" to "for" - they make it harder to "hear" the error by putting a lot of junk in between.)

Hi, instructor, I'm still wondering the correctness of "as little risk as", should the "a" be eliminated when the risk is put in between "as little as" I don't understand this point. I dropped B at first because I think there should be an "a " there.

could you give me some further explanation on this? Thank you very much!

[messi10]

Hi violetwind,

I don't think removing the article makes that answer choice incorrect. Remember that on GMAT, right answer choice is always right.

Also, try and look for the best possible answer of the 5 that are given. If we bypass the "risk vs a risk" issue, all the other incorrect answer choices have a clear grammatical error. When you are not sure about a split then try and find another one. If you end up eliminating answer choices based on what sounds better then you will end up eliminating the correct answer in many cases.

Regards

Sunil

[jnelson0612]

As always, very sound advice from Sunil. Violet, are you squared away now?

[violetwind]

As always, very sound advice from Sunil. Violet, are you squared away now?

Thanks for Sunil's advice.
However, it doesn't solve my problem, I'm here trying to understand the usage of "risk" as being confirmed about the usage of this word will save me some time from pondering over this split.

so Jamie, you mean both"as little risk" or "a risk as little" are both right? Can I say "as a little risk as...."

Hope I've made myself clear~~~

Thank you in advance.

[jnelson0612]

As always, very sound advice from Sunil. Violet, are you squared away now?

Thanks for Sunil's advice.
However, it doesn't solve my problem, I'm here trying to understand the usage of "risk" as being confirmed about the usage of this word will save me some time from pondering over this split.

so Jamie, you mean both"as little risk" or "a risk as little" are both right? Can I say "as a little risk as...."

Hope I've made myself clear~~~

Thank you in advance.

The first two can both be used correctly. You cannot say "as a little risk as". Adding the "a" creates an idiom problem.

[violetwind]

As always, very sound advice from Sunil. Violet, are you squared away now?

Thanks for Sunil's advice.
However, it doesn't solve my problem, I'm here trying to understand the usage of "risk" as being confirmed about the usage of this word will save me some time from pondering over this split.

so Jamie, you mean both"as little risk" or "a risk as little" are both right? Can I say "as a little risk as...."

Hope I've made myself clear~~~

Thank you in advance.

The first two can both be used correctly. You cannot say "as a little risk as". Adding the "a" creates an idiom problem.

got it~thank you Jamie~

[RonPurewal]

good stuff

[abemartin87]

The Environmental Protection Agency frequently puts mandatory controls on toxic substances that present as little risk as one in a million chances to cause cancer

A) as little risk as one in a million chances to cause

B) as little risk as one chance in a million of causing

C) as little risk as one chance in a million that it will cause

D) a risk as little as one chance in a million for causing

E) a risk as little as one chance in a million for it to cause



Hey Ron,

I was torn between answer choices (B) and (D). I unfortunately fell for the trap :(. My justification for eliminating (B), despite the correct idiom "as little risk .... of causing cancer", was the usage of "as + one word adjective + as".

In (A) the adjective used was two words "little risk" opposed to just a one word adjective (as + little + as, as + great + as, as + important + as", etc). Could you please elaborate on the correct usage of "as + something + as"?

Ron your the man. Thank you for your patience and your extraordinary help!

[RonPurewal]

In (A) the adjective used was two words "little risk" opposed to just a one word adjective (as + little + as, as + great + as, as + important + as", etc). Could you please elaborate on the correct usage of "as + something + as"?

i'm not sure whether i can articulate rules in words that would make any sense, so here are a few examples instead.

direct comparison between 2 things:
james is as old as thomas -- both people are the same age.

comparison between 2 things but stated in terms of some 3rd thing that both have:
james has as many books as thomas does -- here, "as many books as" (a construction that you should certainly recognize as correct) is the same construction as "as little risk as" in the problem above.

statement of an extreme quality:
i've never seen as beautiful a sight as Iguazu Falls

i hope these examples help; i have absolutely no idea how to state a general rule in this case.