Over 75 percent of the energy produced in France derives from nuclear power, while in Germany it is just over 33 percent.
4 Explanations
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Cydney Seigerman, Magoosh Tutor
Hi Prasadcp!
Happy to clarify :) In C, the phrase "33 percent of the energy produced in Germany" clearly indicates that we are referring to a certain percentage of Germany's energy and the phrase maintains parallelism with the phrase "75 percent of the energy produced in France." Conversely, D is written in such a way that it seems like "33 percent of the energy" of France is produced in Germany. In other words, "the energy" in D may refer to a percentage of France's total energy, not to Germany's.
Hi Saurav,
The "the" in "the energy" for (C) and the placement of "In Germany" at the very end creates the incorrect meaning that "33% of the energy" refers to energy in France that comes from nuclear power generated in Germany.
In contrast, in (C), "33%" clearly refers to "of the energy produced in Germany."
I was wondering whether the "compared to" structure is a valid one on the GMAT. For instance, would a phrasing such as "compared to Germany's energy production, where nuclear energy accounts for just over 33%" be correct on the GMAT?
Excellent question! Yes, the phrase "compared to X, Y..." is a valid way to make a comparison on the GMAT. We discuss this and other comparison in this blog post: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-idioms-of-comparison/ and I definitely recommend you check it out! :D
Now, while we can use "compared to" on the GMAT, the phrase "compared to Germany's energy production, where nuclear energy accounts for just over 33%" would not be correct. That's because "where" is modifying "Germany's energy production" and not Germany.
4 Explanations