Three out of every four

[li.xi811]

GMAT PREP SC

Three out of every four automobile owners in the United States also own a bicycle.

A Three out of every four automobile owners in the United States also own a bicycle.
B Out of every four, three automobile owners in the United States also owns a bicycle.
C Bicycles are owned by three out of every four owners of automobiles in the United States.
D In the United States, three out of every four automobile owners owns bicycles.
E Out of every four owners of automobiles in the United States, bicycles are also owned by three.

OA A

I eliminated Choice A because I thought the subject "three out of every four auto owners" requires a plural object "bicycles" instead of "a bicycle."

Could someone help me understand why Choice A is correct and why Choice C is wrong?

Thanks in advance.

[RonPurewal]

I eliminated Choice A because I thought the subject "three out of every four auto owners" requires a plural object "bicycles" instead of "a bicycle."

No. In constructions like this one, it's understood that "a bicycle" refers to a bicycle for each owner.
That's not unique to this sentence:
Most students at this university ride a bicycle to class.
It's December, so 9 out of 10 New Yorkers will be wearing a black overcoat.
etc.
The context of these sentences is pretty obvious: one item per person.

If you're thinking that the sentence is ambiguous and could actually mean that multiple people are sharing one bicycle ... well, no. (It's the correct answer, so it's correct. If you disagree, then adjust your thinking accordingly.)

In fact, the "shared" kind of situation is rare enough to warrant specific language, e.g., My five brothers share a bicycle.

[RonPurewal]

The problem with C is that it becomes a statement about bicycles, and thus takes on an unreasonable meaning.

Here's what I mean: Consider the following two statements.
1/
Teenage girls are concerned with fashion.
2/
Fashion is a concern of teenage girls.

The first statement is about teenage girls. I.e., according to #1, teenage girls in general are concerned with fashion, i.e., it's relatively rare to find a teenage girl who is unconcerned with fashion.
#1 says nothing about whether other demographics (e.g., teenage boys, middle-aged adults) are concerned with fashion.

The second statement is about fashion. According to #2, fashion is largely confined to teenage girls, and it's rare to find someone else (a boy or an adult) who is concerned with fashion.
#2 says nothing about whether most teenage girls are concerned with fashion.

Note the wide divergence between the two. In fact, #1 is basically true while #2 is false.

That's the problem with C: it implies that the ownership of bicycles is largely confined to people who also own cars. Weird.
(You can also eliminate it because it's needlessly indirect, but that's the real reason.)

[li.xi811]

No. In constructions like this one, it's understood that "a bicycle" refers to a bicycle for each owner.
That's not unique to this sentence:
Most students at this university ride a bicycle to class.
It's December, so 9 out of 10 New Yorkers will be wearing a black overcoat.
etc.
The context of these sentences is pretty obvious: one item per person.

Thanks for the excellent explanations, Ron!

For the examples you provided above, would you ever say "Most students at this university ride bicycles to class." or "9 out of 10 New Yorkers will be wearing black overcoats." to express the idea of "one item per person"? Does this construction change the meanings of the sentences?

[RonPurewal]

For the examples you provided above, would you ever say "Most students at this university ride bicycles to class." or "9 out of 10 New Yorkers will be wearing black overcoats." to express the idea of "one item per person"? Does this construction change the meanings of the sentences?

That's not the kind of thing that GMAC would ever test. Much too subtle.
When differences in meaning are tested, you'll notice, they are essentially always big differences.

So, you don't really have to worry about this. But, if you're talking about a situation in which it's reasonably common for people to have more than one of the thing in question, then you'll probably see the plural.
For instance, 60% of the married couples in this city have children. --> Many of these couples will have more than one child, so this wording makes more sense than "...a child".

[li.xi811]

Thanks a lot, Ron. Your posts are always very helpful!

[RonPurewal]

Thanks a lot, Ron. Your posts are always very helpful!

You're welcome.

[AbhilashM94]

Sorry Ron,

But I cant get your example about teenage girls and how there is a shift in emphasis. Maybe because I'm a non-native. Or just maybe because I'm not a teenage girl :)

[RonPurewal]

Sorry Ron,

But I cant get your example about teenage girls and how there is a shift in emphasis. Maybe because I'm a non-native. Or just maybe because I'm not a teenage girl :)

I gave an exhaustive explanation of the difference in meaning between those two examples. In fact, I individually explained the meaning of each of them.
So, you'll have to say what you don't understand.

[RonPurewal]

As far as the following comment ("In fact, #1 is basically true while #2 is false")"”"”
First, it's irrelevant to understanding the difference between the two preceding sentences.
Second, it's not an issue of the country you're from, unless you're from a country where teenage girls actually don't care about clothes. (I doubt that such a country exists anywhere.)

[AllenY389]

Hi, Ron,
I want to figure out a stupid question.
er,is " three out of every four owners" plural?

I'm not native speaker and not familiar with this structure.
I remember in the manhattan 5th edition SC book, every+noun is singular.

how to understand this "three out of every four owners"?

many thanks!

[RonPurewal]

"three" + modifiers. so, plural.

of every 4 days, 3 are sunny and 1 is rainy.
1 of every 4 days is rainy.
3 of every 4 days are sunny.

[Lujiaz275]

Is C also wrong for the following reason:
three out of every four owners of automobiles in the United States
could mean
1) owners in the US
2) automobiles in the US

I thought this was ambiguous but wasn't sure if I am right.

Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

well... that's definitely WORSE than the CORRECT answer (which is completely unambiguous)—so that's certainly another point in favor of A and against C.

this is a very nice illustration, by the way, of why it's so important to make RELATIVE JUDGMENTS.
it would be VERY hard to see this sort of thing randomly, if you were just looking at choice C on its own... but, if you are COMPARING choices A and C, you can actually notice the difference somewhat readily.

nicely done.