Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars

[joannat]

Hi Ron,

First I want to thank you for your help. It's just amazing to see that you have been spending so much time and effort replying to our questions.

I have a question, in this post, since-1990-the-global-economy-has-grown-more-than-it-did-t552.html, you mentioned that by using "that/those", the sentence structure needs to be exactly parallel.

if the second half says 'that during 10,000 years', then the preceding half must say 'the growth of ___ during something else'

Now in this question:
Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in production history.

If we use those here, aren't we missing something like "at XXX time" in he preceding part (small cars)?

Thank you!

[tim]

Not really. The context of the sentence ("today's" and "are") is sufficient to inform us that we are dealing with now rather than a point in the past..

[sheetal_smp]

Hello Ron,

I watched the videos on Study Hall and want you to thank you for all the effort you took to explain the SC fundamentals so well.

Using the fundamentals I learnt from the Study Hall I am trying to fix the answer choices for this SC. Please let me know if the comparisions are correct. Iam trying to use the "more X than Y" structure correctly.

A. small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their
>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than they were at any time in their production history.
B. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those were at any time in their production history
C. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in production history.
D. more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make more fuel-efficient small cars than the gas guzzlers
E. more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in
>>Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than they were at any time in their production history.

[RonPurewal]

Hello Ron,

I watched the videos on Study Hall and want you to thank you for all the effort you took to explain the SC fundamentals so well.

thanks

Using the fundamentals I learnt from the Study Hall I am trying to fix the answer choices for this SC. Please let me know if the comparisions are correct. Iam trying to use the "more X than Y" structure correctly.

ok, i'll look

in general, it's not such a good idea to try to fix sentences -- this isn't really a relevant skill set on the exam (despite the name "sentence correction", haha). as long as you can spot errors vs. non-errors, you're good.

>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than they were at any time in their production history.

doesn't work.
the second half of the comparison is "they were at...", i.e., a complete clause, with a subject and verb.
this creates an invalid comparison, since there is no complete clause in the first half to which this can correspond. i.e., you would need something like "small cars ARE more fuel-efficient now... than they WERE..."

also, you need the word "other", since, technically, "any time in their production history" includes the present.

>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those were at any time in their production history

you can't use "those" as a standalone pronoun.
you can use it in a larger construction -- such as "those at any other time..." (as in the correct answer) -- but you can't use it by itself.
since you're using a standalone pronoun here, you should use "they", not "those".

also, you'd need "other", for the same reason as mentioned above.

>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in production history.

this is the same as the given correct answer.

>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make more fuel-efficient small cars than the gas guzzlers

this is awkward -- it'd be better to say "small cars that are more fuel-efficient than the gas guzzlers".
otherwise, this could also be read as "more X than Y" i.e., a quantity comparison.

>>Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than they were at any time in their production history.

i believe that this is the same sentence you have for choice (a) above.

[aishwarya.kachhal]

Hi Ron ,

Watched your video dated Oct 21 on comparision , superb stuff !
It would be great if you can clarify a related to the hall .

The option B has a to be verb "were" in the second part and are in the first part , whereas option C doesnt have a "To be" in the second part but has a to be in the first part . Yet C happens to be the correct choice . Please clarify

Cheers

Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel efficient now than at any time in their production history.

a. Same as above
b. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
c. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
d. more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
e. more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in

[RonPurewal]

The option B has a to be verb "were" in the second part and are in the first part , whereas option C doesnt have a "To be" in the second part but has a to be in the first part . Yet C happens to be the correct choice . Please clarify

Today's techonology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel efficient now than at any time in their production history.

a. Same as above
b. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their
c. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in
d. more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their
e. more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in

the comparison is between some cars ("small cars") and some other cars ("those [= cars] at any other time...") -- these cars are more fuel-efficient than those cars.

[gmwill888]

I have a question...
Is A wrong because "more fuel-efficient" can not just be put after "cars"? Otherwise "more fuel-efficient" will modify the verb "make" and that's wrong...Is my thought correct? Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

I have a question...
Is A wrong because "more fuel-efficient" can not just be put after "cars"? Otherwise "more fuel-efficient" will modify the verb "make" and that's wrong...Is my thought correct? Thanks!

no.

"fuel-efficient", like just "efficient", is an adjective; adjectives cannot modify verbs.

if you wanted to modify a verb with this word, you would have to use the adverb "efficiently".

[ntr1989512]

>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those were at any time in their production history

you can't use "those" as a standalone pronoun.
you can use it in a larger construction -- such as "those at any other time..." (as in the correct answer) -- but you can't use it by itself.
since you're using a standalone pronoun here, you should use "they", not "those".

also, you'd need "other", for the same reason as mentioned above.

hi ron, i think i grasp your idea, but i have some problem above what you said.
in fact, i think in this sentence
"Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those were at any time in their production history"
"those" act a standalone pronoun is ok, but the problem is "those" CAN NOT act as a standalone pronoun to act as the "SUBJECT"or"OBJECT" of clause. in this example, "those" act as SUBJECT, so that is not ok.

and i say "those" act a standalone pronoun is ok, since i see many correct answer using those act a standalone pronoun. for example:
"Many teenagers undergo stress, but results of a recent study indicate that the patterns of stress that girls experience are more likely to result in depression than are THOSE that boys experience."

"those" refer to "the patterns of stress", also, "those" is a a standalone pronoun . but "those" DON'T act as an "Subject"or"OBJECT" in this sentence

[ntr1989512]

>> Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those were at any time in their production history

you can't use "those" as a standalone pronoun.
you can use it in a larger construction -- such as "those at any other time..." (as in the correct answer) -- but you can't use it by itself.
since you're using a standalone pronoun here, you should use "they", not "those".

also, you'd need "other", for the same reason as mentioned above.

hi ron, i think i grasp your idea, but i have some problem above what you said.
in fact, i think in this sentence
"Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those were at any time in their production history"
in comparison strcuture "those" act a standalone pronoun is ok, but the problem is "those were" is not parallel to "small cars that" unless the sentence is "small cars are...".
but in any other strcuture "those" act a standalone pronoun is NOT ok, "those" must be followed by some nouns.

and i say "those" act a standalone pronoun in comparison strcuture is ok, since i see many correct answer using those act a standalone pronoun. for example:
"Many teenagers undergo stress, but results of a recent study indicate that the patterns of stress that girls experience are more likely to result in depression than ARE THOSE that boys experience."
"those" refer to " the patterns of stress " and in this sentence have"are" before the "those" just like
"Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than THOSE WERE at any time in their production history"

[agarwalmanoj2000]

In "more X than Y" structure, X and Y should be parallel. Plugging the correct option C in question stem:

C. small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in

Today's technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in their production history.

X stands for "fuel-efficient", and Y stands for "Other small cars". They are not parallel.

Please advice, what I am missing here.

Thanks in advance.

[tim]

ntr, i'm not sure what your question is. please work on being more clear and grammatically correct in your posts so we can help you better..

Manoj, "more X than Y" is okay if X and Y are parallel, but they are not required to be. the sentence may instead say "Z is more X than Y", in which case it is okay if Z and Y are parallel..

[HanzZ]

Hello experts,

I am just wondering what is 'those' parallel to in the correct answer? Small cars? or small cars that satisfy the comparison?

If it's parallel to the latter, I feel that the comparions is not explicit, namely, you cannot find exactly what those stands for before the parallel marker 'than'. Please correct me if this is wrong.

Today's technology allows manufacturers to make small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in production history.

Also, it seems that 'now' is removed in the correct answer. Is it because it's just an adv. and not a part of the comparions so it's ok (meaning we are not explicitly comparing 'now' with 'in production history')

Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

Hello experts,

I am just wondering what is 'those' parallel to in the correct answer? Small cars? or small cars that satisfy the comparison?

In this context, "small cars".

When it comes to these comparison pronouns -- those of, that of, and so on -- it's important not to nitpick. The entire point of comparison sentences is that you aren't talking about the same thing on both sides of the comparison; that's why it's a comparison!
Accordingly, you can afford these pronouns a decent bit of flexibility. They need a noun to point at, but, as long as that noun is actually there, they generally work.

Also, it seems that 'now' is removed in the correct answer.

The context says "Today's technology allows xxxxx", which clearly implies that we're talking about now.

If you wanted to include "now", you'd have to remove "Today" (Technology now allows xxxxx). With both, the sentence is redundant.

[Suapplle]

@ alvin1839

Excellent explanation! Only one further question to help me understand better: Why can't I understand choice A as below:

'small cars' is a noun phrase that's not specific meant for today's or previous, but just meant to say small cars in general.
And I compare 'now' with 'at any time'; I chose the wrong choice A, because I ever remembered that there were other prep questions that actually compares 'time';
'their' just refer to the 'small cars' in general.

unfortunately, that's not the way it works.
ironically, the curse here is that we humans are too smart: we can use context to figure out what the sentence is actually supposed to say, even if that's not what it actually says.

for instance, look at my (correct) example with taxpayers in the following post:
post42496.html#p42496
in that case, it should be obvious that the pronoun does not stand for taxpayers in general.
the same holds for the choice that you are analyzing.

Can I say if I see answer choices split 'those/that' vs 'they/it' in comparison Questions, 'those/that' are always correct.

nope.

in SC in general, if you try to formulate any rule that says "word X is always correct, and word Y is always incorrect", independently of context, then, 99.99% of the time, your rule will be invalid.

Hi,Ron,in the taxpayer case, the taxpayer has the modifier, "who..." So the pronoun does not stand for taxpayers in general.
However,in choice A,"small cars" don't have a modifier,so why "they" can't refer to small cars in general?i am very confused,please help,thanks a lot!