Question
A surge in new home sales and a drop in weekly unemployment claims suggest that the economy might not be as weak as some analysts previously thought.
Option A
Option B
Option C
Option D
Option E
(This question is from Official Guide. Therefore, because of copyrights, the complete question cannot be copied here. The question can be accessed at GMAT Club)
Solution
Sentence Analysis
The sentence says that:
Two things (a surge in new home sales and a drop in weekly unemployment claims) suggest that the economy might not be as weak as some analysts previously thought.
Everything is fine with this sentence. “suggest” is not acting as a bossy verb, which will demand subjunctive form; it is acting as a synonym of “indicate”. The comparison is also correct in the sentence.
Option Analysis
(A) Correct.
(B) Incorrect. For the following reasons:
- The singular verb “suggests” doesn’t agree with the plural compound subject (a surge and a drop)
- The use of present perfect “have thought” is incorrect since “previously” indicates that we are talking about an action completed in the past. We need to use simple past here.
(C) Incorrect. For the following reasons:
- There is no plural subject for the plural verb “have been previously thought”. The only subject in the comparison is the singular “economy”.
- Also, the use of present perfect tense “have been” with “previously” is incorrect, as explained in Error no. 2 of option B.
(D) Incorrect. For the following reasons:
- There is no main verb in this sentence.
- “suggesting about the economy that the economy might not be…” is overly wordy. The same meaning can be communicated by eliminating “about the economy”.
(E) Incorrect. For the following reasons:
- There is no main verb in this sentence.
- The phrasing “previously thought to be by some analysts” is much wordier than the phrasing in the original sentence even though both communicate the same meaning.
While I agree Option (A) is the answer I would like to ask a question given the current sentence structure.
“the economy might not be as weak as some analysts previously thought”
Out here, If you look from the grammar point of view, we have “The economy” is not as weak as “some analysts previously thought”.
The logical comparison is between “the economy” and “What analysts thought about the economy”
With the current structure, wouldn’t someone mistaken this comparison with “the economy” and “some analysts”
Do you mean somebody may think “the economy is as weak as some analysts”?
Is the use of “so weak as” correct in option B
Yes. “not so weak as” is fine.
yes
About the option (A)
Is is it clause + clause comparison?
Clause 1 + as + clause 2:
[the economy might not be as weak] as [some analysts previously thought]
Confused with ‘as X as Y’, with Y being a clause
Yes. It’s a comparison across clauses. What is the confusion?
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