Laos has a land area

[BG]

Laos has a land area about the same as Great Britain but only 4 million in population, where many are members of hill tribes ensconced in the virtually inaccessible mountain valleys of the north.

A. about the same as Great Britain but only 4 million in population, where many
B. of about the same size as Great Britain is, but in Laos there is a population of only 4 million, and many
C. that is about the same size as Great Britain’s land area, but in Laos with a population of only 4 million people, many of them
D. comparable to the size of Great Britain, but only 4 million in population, and many
E. comparable to that of Great Britain but a population of only 4 million people, many of whom

Ans is E, I chose C.

I can not figure out the sentense structure. Say, "a population of only 4 million people" after "but" is used for what?

[RonPurewal]

I can not figure out the sentense structure. Say, "a population of only 4 million people" after "but" is used for what?

the "but" creates parallelism between the 2 nouns describing things that laos has.

with choice (e), the sentence reads as follows:
laos has a land area comparable to that of Great Britain but a population of only 4 million people, many of whom...

so, basically, laos has X but Y, where X and Y show some kind of contrast with each other. (the contrast here is apparent, as great britain certainly has more than four million inhabitants.)

and the "many of whom..." clause modifies "4 million people", as such clauses are wont to do.

[hmgmat]

Hi Ron,

What are the problems in C?
C looks and sounds awkward, but I can't see any other problem. Maybe I am missing something?
Thanks in advance.

[JonathanSchneider]

A few things:

First of all, we have some concision issues at the outset:
"that is about the same size..." unnecessarily inserts a new tensed version of "to be." This is a violation of our Concision Pattern #6.

We then have a repetitiveness issue. C repeats the words "land area." While this is certainly clear, it is repetitive. E replaces the second "land area" with the word "that," our "new copy" pronoun.

Finally, C repeats "Laos" again. This is unnecessary.

[hmgmat]

thanks

[JonathanSchneider]

: )

[stanbinev]

Can someone please elaborate on what the problem with D is. Thanks a lot!

[RonPurewal]

Can someone please elaborate on what the problem with D is. Thanks a lot!

* "comparable to the size of...", while not incorrect, is inferior to "comparable to that of..."
i.e., it's better to compare a land area to another land area (that of...) than to the somewhat ambiguous "size".

the more important reasons:

* "4 million in population" is not idiomatic.

* it's not clear to what "many" refers.

* "and" is an inappropriate transition; it suggests that there is no essential connection between "many..." and the previous mention of population.
- this is hard to think about at first, because this is the way it's done in spoken language. for instance:
spoken language: there were 50 women, and many of them were brunettes. --> this is considered incorrect in written language.
written language: there were 50 women, many of whom were brunettes.

[vineetbatra]

Ron,

Can you please explain why E will not be a run on sentence. It has a subject Many of whom and a verb are.

Thanks,

Vineet

[RonPurewal]

Ron,

Can you please explain why E will not be a run on sentence. It has a subject Many of whom and a verb are.

Thanks,

Vineet

"many of whom" is not a subject pronoun; it's a relative pronoun. it has EXACTLY the same grammar as plural "which".

if you understand why
i adopted two dogs, which weigh approximately 100 pounds each
or
i adopted two dogs, each of which weighs approximately 100 pounds
is not a run-on sentence, then you also understand why (e) is not a run-on sentence.

--

by contrast, if the sentence had contained "many of them", then it would be a run-on.
so:
*i adopted two dogs, they weigh approximately 100 pounds each
is a run-on sentence (--> incorrect). for the same reason,
*i adopted two dogs, each of them weighs approximately 100 pounds
and
*... a population of only 4 million people, many of them are members of hill tribes...
would also be run-on sentences (--> incorrect).

[klm.tseng]

Dear Ron,
I have a question about your example:

i adopted two dogs, each of which weighs approximately 100 pounds
is not a run-on sentence, then you also understand why (e) is not a run-on sentence

Should we use "weigh", rather than "weighs", because this "which" refers to "two dogs"?
Thank you!

[RonPurewal]

Dear Ron,
I have a question about your example:

i adopted two dogs, each of which weighs approximately 100 pounds
is not a run-on sentence, then you also understand why (e) is not a run-on sentence

Should we use "weigh", rather than "weighs", because this "which" refers to "two dogs"?
Thank you!

nope.
it's "each of which", not just "which".
"each" (and therefore "each of which") is singular.

viz.:
the dogs are large.
each of the dogs is large.

[sissizhx]

dear Ron,

The OG suggested that in C "the reference of them is unclear" would you please explain how?

And I assume "but" could introduce another sentence, in this case, begins with "many of them"?

Thanks,

[stevefeiner5]

Hi Ron,

Sorry to bump this up but in choice D and E, why is there no ambiguity about who's population it is. I understand that its obvious that it is Laos and not GB but I still thought it was unclear.

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

The OG suggested that in C "the reference of them is unclear" would you please explain how?

What is "them" referring to? It can't be referring to either country; a country would take a singular pronoun. Logically, it should be referring to Laotians, or Laotian people... but those words are not in the sentence.

And I assume "but" could introduce another sentence, in this case, begins with "many of them"?

I'm not sure I fully understand your question. None of the choices introduces a second sentence, of course. Some of the choices use the word "but" to introduce another clause in the sentence. Is that what you meant?