Executive PrepLab · V5 Practice · Axis 6

Comparisons

Three layers, in order. Layer 1 isolates the decision with nothing else in the way. Layer 2 hides it inside a full item, the way the exam does. Layer 3 reads your errors back to you and says what to repeat.

Work them in sequence — the diagnosis at the end only means something if you have your Layer 2 results in front of you.

Layer 1

Isolated drills

Layer 1 · 10 drills

Choose the correct form and say what is being compared to what.

D1. The annual rainfall in the highlands is greater than .

D2. Her results proved more consistent than .

D3. her predecessor had done, she opened with a procurement review.

D4. her predecessor, she opened with a procurement review.

D5. The costs of the second phase exceeded .

D6. This alloy behaves quite differently the one used previously.

D7. The new engine consumes less fuel than the old one .

D8. The population of the island is smaller than .

D9. The findings are consistent earlier work in the field.

D10. He runs his brother.

The full answers — subject, verb and why — are in Model answers below, as one block. Work the set as a run before you open it.

	Form	What is compared
D1	that of the lowlands	rainfall to rainfall
D2	those of her predecessor	results to results — plural, so those
D3	As	a clause with a verb follows
D4	Like	a bare noun follows
D5	those of the first phase	costs to costs
D6	from	different from, never different than
D7	does	the verb stands in for consumes
D8	that of Malta	population to population
D9	with	consistent with
D10	as fast as	as … as, never faster as

The three substitutes to have automatic: that of for a singular noun, those of for a plural one, and does / do / did for a verb. Almost every comparison item in this format turns on one of them.

Layer 2

Full items

Now the same decision, buried in a sentence with other things going on. Read the whole sentence, find where the options split, settle one axis at a time.

Item 1

The annual rainfall recorded in the highland catchments is considerably greater than the lowland stations.

Rainfall is singular, so the substitute is that of. A compares rainfall to stations. B uses the plural those for a singular antecedent. D compares rainfall to stations again, now with a verb. E is a vaguer construction that avoids the comparison rather than making it.

Item 2

Her results across the three trials proved more consistent than her predecessor.

Results is plural, so those of. This is the mirror of item 1 and the pair is worth reading together: same structure, different number, different substitute. A compares results to a person. C uses the singular. B compares results to a person who was.

Item 3

Like her predecessor had done, she opened her tenure with a review of procurement.

Her predecessor had done is a clause with a subject and a verb, so it takes as. A and B use like before a clause. C is a prepositional phrase that does not connect to the following clause. E adds what, which turns the clause into a noun phrase and still uses like.

Item 4

The costs of the second phase exceeded the first phase by a wide margin.

Costs is plural. A compares costs to a phase; B uses the singular substitute for a plural noun; C introduces a verb the sentence cannot accommodate after exceeded; E trails off.

Item 5

This alloy behaves quite differently than the one used previously under sustained load.

Different from, and behaves differently from follows the same pattern. A is the most common error in English and the most common wrong answer here. B uses the British different to, which the format does not accept. D and E avoid the construction rather than fixing it.

Item 6

The new turbine consumes less fuel than the old one does at every operating speed.

Correct as written. Does stands in for consumes, making the comparison verb-to-verb. B uses the wrong auxiliary. C drops the comparative than that less requires. D inserts a redundant what. E uses a noun substitute where a verb substitute is needed — that of would compare fuel to fuel, but the sentence compares consuming to consuming.

Item 7

The population of the smaller island is now less than Malta.

Population is singular, so that of. A compares a population to a country. B compares a population to what Malta has, which is a different claim. D is plural. E is padding.

Item 8

Not since the 1930s has the region experienced a drought of comparable severity.

Correct as written, and the point is inversion. When a sentence opens with a negative expression — not since, never, rarely, not only, under no circumstances — the subject and auxiliary invert. B and E use normal word order after the negative opener. C uses did where the since construction needs a perfect. D uses the past perfect with no earlier event to sequence against.

Answer as many as you like, then check — it scores what you have answered so far.

Layer 3

Diagnosis

Check your Layer 2 answers against this. The pattern of what you missed matters more than how many.

If you missed	It means	Repeat
1, 4, 7	The that of / those of substitutes are not automatic	D1, D2, D5, D8
1 and 2 together	You are not checking singular against plural	D1, D2
3	Like / as not fixed	D3, D4
5	Different from not fixed	D6, D9
6	Verb substitutes not recognised	D7
8	Inversion after a negative opener not recognised	— new; see below

On item 8. Inversion is not really a comparison rule; it appears here because not since items look like comparisons and are not. When a sentence begins with a negative expression, expect the auxiliary before the subject. Add it to your mental list alongside the three substitutes.