Help need on MGMAT SC guide

by **sp19** Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:37 am

Parallelism
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1.)The students did poorly on the test more because they hadn't studied than not understanding the material.

Answer in MGMAT SC guide
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The students did poorly on the test more because they hadn't studied than because they didn't understand the material.

My Question - Why the answer cannot be as follows :

The students did poorly on the test more because they hadn't studied than because they hadn't understood the material.

COMPARISONS
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2.)The tycoon contributed more to the candidate's campaign than anyone else in the industry.

Answer in the MGMAT SC Guide
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- The tycoon contributed more to the candidate's campaign than did anyone else in the industry.

My Question - Why the answer cannot be as follows:

The tycoon contributed more to the candidate's campaign than anyone else did in the industry.

Can anyone please clarify me ?

Many thanks!

by **StaceyKoprince** Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:30 pm

The SC guide offers one possible way to correct the sentence, but there are many ways to write a correct sentence. Both of your alternate sentences are fine, though on the second one, the GMAT will prefer "than did anyone else" to "than anyone else did" - primarily because the comparison itself is the action: what the tycoon DID to what the others DID. So using "than did" makes clear that the action is what we're comparing.