Although people in France consume fatty foods at a rate

[RonPurewal]

if this is true, then you just need to spend more time studying the correct answers to official problems.

Haha, you are right Ron! It appears that I have one more thing I need to unlearn.

... and, more importantly, start learning from the correct answers.

see, there's this fundamental asymmetry:

• in an incorrect answer, you can't really say what's right and what's wrong unless either (i) someone else tells you or (ii) you've already mastered the issue.
(ii) is just running in place, and (i) gets time-consuming and, quite possibly, expensive.

• in a correct answer, on the other hand, EVERYTHING is correct.
... and, as a result, you should be able to figure out how any given construction works by looking at correct examples of it.
you can rest assured that any construction used in a correct answer is grammatically viable-- and, since its meaning must agree with the common-sense interpretation of the sentence, you can learn how it's used, too.

[gbyhats]

Thank you guys for these replies! ;)

Keep working at it! Glad you're getting some real benefit out of the forums.

I'm so happy that I keep learning ;)

• in a correct answer, on the other hand, EVERYTHING is correct.
... and, as a result, you should be able to figure out how any given construction works by looking at correct examples of it.

Can't agree anymore! Numerous correct answers prove that wordiness, awkward, passive voice, pronounce ambiguity, "preposition+noun" structure, or even seemingly misplaced modifier are not mistakes, or at least, are mistakes depended on context.

[RonPurewal]

Can't agree anymore!

careful with the spacing... makes a big difference here

"i can't agree anymore" = i've agreed with you up to this point, but no more; now i can't agree with you.

"i can't agree any more" (= "i can't agree more") = i agree 100 percent.

in this particular case, by omitting a space, you're inadvertently declaring pretty much exactly the opposite of what you meant.

(:
language is fun.

[RonPurewal]

Numerous correct answers prove that wordiness, awkward, passive voice, pronounce ambiguity, "preposition+noun" structure, or even seemingly misplaced modifier are not mistakes, or at least, are mistakes depended on context.

not the first two.

• you will NEVER see an official correct answer that's UNNECESSARILY more "wordy" than an incorrect answer.
if the correct answer has extra words, then, for some reason, those words will be necessary.
(this is why "wordiness", despite not constituting an actual error, can still be used for elimination--as a relative judgment. NEVER try to judge whether individual choices are "wordy".

• "awkwardness" is pretty much impossible for non-native speakers (of any language, not just english) to judge accurately on any sort of consistent basis.
so, if english is your 2nd (or 3rd, or 4th, or ...) language and you're classifying things as "awkward", you're basically guessing.

[gbyhats]

not the first two.

• you will NEVER see an official correct answer that's UNNECESSARILY more "wordy" than an incorrect answer.
if the correct answer has extra words, then, for some reason, those words will be necessary.
(this is why "wordiness", despite not constituting an actual error, can still be used for elimination--as a relative judgment. NEVER try to judge whether individual choices are "wordy".

• "awkwardness" is pretty much impossible for non-native speakers (of any language, not just english) to judge accurately on any sort of consistent basis.
so, if english is your 2nd (or 3rd, or 4th, or ...) language and you're classifying things as "awkward", you're basically guessing.

Oops...making mistakes again. I will bear these in mind! Very interesting!!! Thank you Ron!

[RonPurewal]

sure.

[neetub951]

Hi Ron,

Besides meaning error in D, ( the rate of fatty foods consumed in France and the United States is about the same, the)--> it should be "are", right?

[RonPurewal]

'rate' is singular, so, no.

[douyang]

Hi Ron, why C is incorrect?

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron, why C is incorrect?

C has many issues; the two closest to the ground are these:

1/
"their" would have to stand for 'people in France', which doesn't work (it's nonsense/redundant) because 'France' is already in the second part.

2/
"the US's" does not refer to anything.
this sort of omission is ok ••IF•• there is a clear, similarly structured referent elsewhere in the sentence—e.g., Tammy's husband is taller than Roberta's. but that doesn't happen here (there's no "france's xxxx" to correspond to "the US's").

[YangX393]

Hi Ron,
I still don't quite get why D is wrong.

Thanks in advance.

[Chelsey Cooley]

Here's one problem with it. It's illogical to simply say that a singular subject 'is the same' without specifying what it's the same as. Even though the subject logically refers to two different rates, so you can tell that it's trying to compare them with each other, the subject uses the singular word 'rate' and therefore is technically singular. You can either say '(singular) is the same as (something else)', or '(plural) are similar', but you can't just say '(singular) is similar' and be done with it.

So, these sentences are correct:

The rate of obesity in America is the same as the rate in France.

The color of this apple is the same as the color of my convertible.

The height of this child and the height of that child are the same.

The colors of these three apples are the same.

And more interestingly, these sentences are wrong:

The height of this child and that child is the same.

The poverty rate in Nebraska and Mississippi is the same.

[RonPurewal]

...but you CAN say the following:

The poverty rates of Mississippi and Alabama are the same.

Mississippi and Alabama have the same poverty rate.

[RonPurewal]

...so, the point is that it's not just 'singular vs. plural'; you have to look at how the sentence is presenting things.

choice D says 'two rates are the same' (or at least that's what D is supposed to say).

on the other hand, these things CAN be singular... if they say something like "Two people do something at the same [ONE] rate". (see my second example above.)

[RonPurewal]

as always, it's easier to look at examples than to dither around with 'rules'.

both of the following are correct:

The poverty rates in Mississippi and Alabama are identical.
("TWO rates are identical TO EACH OTHER")

Mississippi and Alabama have the same poverty rate.
("These two places SHARE ONE THING")