Comparisons

Lesson 4

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Comparisons

Comparisons must be:

✔Grammatically parallel

✔Logically parallel

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Comparison Markers

Common Signals
Like/Unlike As/As…as

More/Less Than In contrast to

Adj.-ER + Than
Compared Whereas
to/with

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Like vs. As

Like: compares NOUNS.

✔Like the GMAT, the GRE is

difficult.

As: compares CLAUSES.

✔As did my friend, I studied.

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Question 1

Like many self-taught artists, Perle Hessing

did not begin to paint until she was well into
middle age.

A. Like
B. As have
C. Just as with
D. Just like
E. As did

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Question 2

Like Byron at Missolonghi, Jack London was

slowly killed by the mistakes of the medical
men who treated him.
A. Like Byron
B. Like Byron's death
C. Just as Byron died
D. Similar to Byron
E. As did Byron

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AS…AS
As (adjective) as

✔The GMAT is as difficult as the GRE.

As (adverb) as

✔I study as frequently as my friends.

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Question 3

Last year, land values in most parts of the pinelands

rose almost so fast, and in some parts even faster than
what they did outside the pinelands.

A. so fast, and in some parts even faster than what

they did
B. so fast, and in some parts even faster than, those
C. as fast, and in some parts even faster than, those
D. as fast as, and in some parts even faster than,
those
E. as fast as, and in some parts even faster than what
they did

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Question 4

A migraine typically afflicts one side of the head, lasts

for hours or days, and may recur as infrequently as
once every other month or often, as daily.

A. as infrequently as once every other month or

often, as
B. as infrequently as once every other month or as
often as
C. infrequently, as often as once every other month,
or often, like
D. infrequently, like once every other month, or
often, like
E. infrequently, like once every other month, or as
often as

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Logical Comparisons
Like/Unlike + noun, subject + verb.

✔Like the GMAT, the GRE is difficult.

In contrast to + noun, subject + verb.

✔In contrast to the GMAT, the GRE has

two essays.

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Question 5

Unlike a typical automobile loan, which requires a

fifteen- to twenty-percent down payment, the lease-
loan buyer is not required to make an initial deposit on
the new vehicle.

A. the lease-loan buyer is not required to make

B. with lease-loan buying there is no requirement of
C. lease-loan buyers are not required to make
D. for the lease-loan buyer there is no requirement of
E. a lease-loan does not require the buyer to make

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Question 6

In contrast to large steel plants that take iron ore through all the
steps needed to produce several different kinds of steel, processing
steel scrap into a specialized group of products has enabled small
mills to put capital into new technology and remain economically
viable.

A. processing steel scrap into a specialized group of products has

enabled small mills to put capital into new technology and
remain
B. processing steel scrap into a specialized group of products has
enabled small mills to put capital into new technology, remaining
C. the processing of steel scrap into a specialized group of products
has enabled small mills to put capital into new technology,
remaining
D. small mills, by processing steel scrap into a specialized group of
products, have been able to put capital into new technology and
remain
E. small mills, by processing steel scrap into a specialized group of
products, have been able to put capital into new technology and
remained

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Comparative Adjectives

More/Less + THAN

✔The GMAT is more difficult

THAN the GRE.

Adjective- ER + THAN

✔My GMAT score is higher

THAN your score.

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Question 7

The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more

quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus allowing
it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its
feeding depth of between 300 and 700 meters.
A. The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness
more quickly than any other animal yet tested, thus
allowing it
B. The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness
more quickly than does any other animal yet tested,
allowing them
C. The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness
more quickly than do those of any other animal yet
tested, allowing it
D. Because they adapt to darkness more quickly than
any other animal yet tested, the eyes of the elephant
seal allow it
E. Because the eyes of the elephant seal adapt to
darkness more quickly than do those of any other
animal yet tested, it allows them
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Question 8

The question of whether to divest themselves of stock

in companies that do business in South Africa is
particularly troublesome for the nation's 116 private
Black colleges because their economic bases are often
more fragile than most predominantly White colleges.

A. than
B. than those of
C. than is so of
D. compared to
E. compared to those of

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Question 9

She was less successful after she had emigrated to New

York compared to her native Germany, photographer
Lotte Jacobi nevertheless earned a small group of
discerning admirers, and her photographs were
eventually exhibited in prestigious galleries across the
United States.

A. She was less successful after she had emigrated to

New York compared to
B. Being less successful after she had emigrated to
New York as compared to
C. Less successful after she emigrated to New York
than she had been in
D. Although she was less successful after emigrating
to New York when compared to
E. She had been less successful after emigrating to
New York than in
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Multiplications
X times AS…AS…

✔She is two times AS old AS you.

Comparative + THAN

✔She is OLDER THAN you.

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Question 10

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 than 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

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Question 11

Today, because of improvements in agricultural

technology, the same amount of acreage produces
double the apples that it has in 1910.

A. double the apples that it has

B. twice as many apples as it did
C. as much as twice the apples it has
D. two times as many apples as there were
E. a doubling of the apples that it did

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The Correlative Comparative
The more…, the more…
✔The more you study, the more
you learn.

The Adj-ER…, the Adj.-ER…

✔The faster you learn, the
better you do on the exam.

The more…, the Adj.-ER…

✔The more you study, the
better you do on the exam.

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Question 12

Dr. Hakuta's research among Hispanic children in the

United States indicates that the more the children use
both Spanish and English, their intellectual advantage
is greater in skills underlying reading ability and
nonverbal logic.

A. their intellectual advantage is greater in skills

underlying reading ability and nonverbal logic
B. their intellectual advantage is the greater in skills
underlaying reading ability and nonverbal logic
C. the greater their intellectual advantage in skills
underlying reading ability and nonverbal logic
D. in skills that underlay reading ability and
nonverbal logic, their intellectual advantage is the
greater
E. in skills underlying reading ability and nonverbal
logic, the greater intellectual advantage is theirs
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Question 13

Manufacturers rate batteries in watt-hours; if they rate

the watt-hour higher, the longer the battery can be
expected to last.

A. if they rate the watt-hour higher, the longer

B. rating the watt-hour higher, it is that much longer
C. the higher the watt-hour rating, the longer
D. the higher the watt-hour rating, it is that much
longer that
E. when the watt-hour rating is higher, the longer it is

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Exceed

X exceed Y: X and Y must be parallel

✔ My GMAT score exceeds that of my best

friend.

✔Her expectations exceeded those of her

boss.

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Question 14

Some scientists have been critical of the

laboratory tests conducted by the Federal Drug
Administration on the grounds that the amounts
of suspected carcinogens fed to animals far
exceeds those that humans could consume.

A. far exceeds those that humans could consume

B. exceeds by far those humans can consume
C. far exceeds those humans are able to
consume
D. exceed by far those able to be consumed by
humans
E. far exceed those that humans could consume

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Answer Keys
1. A
2. A
3. D
4. B
5. E
6. D
7. C
8. B
9. C
10. C
11. B
12. C
13. C
14. E

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