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Difficulty: MediumComparatives and Superlatives

The following sentence contains an underlined portion:

'Although Venus and Mars are both terrestrial planets with rocky compositions, Venus possesses a much denser atmosphere than that of Mars, which traps heat and creates surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead.'

Which choice best completes the sentence grammatically?

  1. NO CHANGEAnswer
  2. B
    much denser atmosphere then Mars
  3. C
    much denser atmosphere than Mars
  4. D
    much denser atmosphere then that of Mars

Answer

NO CHANGE
The correct option correctly applies the comparative adjective 'denser' to compare the atmospheres of two planets. It uses the correct comparative conjunction 'than' and introduces 'that of' to refer back to the atmosphere, maintaining a logical and parallel comparison.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the items being compared in the sentence.
The sentence compares the atmosphere of Venus to the atmosphere of Mars.
To ensure a logical comparison, the two items compared must be of the same type (atmosphere to atmosphere, not atmosphere to planet).
2
Determine the correct comparative modifier and conjunction.
Since two planets are compared, the comparative form 'denser' must be paired with the conjunction 'than'.
The comparative form is used for comparing exactly two items, and 'than' is the correct conjunction for comparisons (unlike 'then', which indicates time).
3
Verify parallel structure and logic.
The phrase 'that of Mars' acts as a pronoun replacement for 'the atmosphere of Mars', completing the parallel comparison.
Omitting 'that of' results in an illogical comparison because Venus's atmosphere cannot be logically compared to the physical planet Mars.

Key Concept

Comparatives and Superlatives
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Topics

Comparatives and Superlatives

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