Idiom THAN

[OmkarP211]

Hi
I am referring to manhattan prep 5th edition SC guide. In the idiom list on page 175 there is an example that says

Sales are HIGHER this year THAN last year.

I would like to know why we did not use

Sales are HIGHER this year THAN those of last year... or something of that sort.

Doesn't the first statement have an ambiguity that we are comparing sales with last year?

Is it because in the given construction, we should use
"something HIGHER [noun] THAN [noun]" ??
Could anyone please share some more examples of this type?

Thanks a lot :D

[tim]

Your general formula is correct. There is no ambiguity with the correct version. You can't use the "those of" because that would mean you are comparing "this year" to "those of last year".