prep题目关于less和lower 的问题 搜了一些帖子无果，看了RON神的解释貌似更迷茫~

"lower" cannot be used with countable things.

in general, i can only think of three types of nouns for which you can use "lower" as a quantifier:

1/ mathematical quantities (things that can be represented by actual numbers)

e.g.

this number is lower than that other number

this percentage is lower than that other percentage （文中比较的是2.8percent 和现在的percent，岂不是符合了文中用lower???)

this interest rate is lower than that other interest rate

... so, note that one amount of money can be "lower" than another amount of money.

2/ abstract ideas that aren't necessarily numbers, but that can be thought of as somewhat quantitative (i.e., you can conceptualize the idea of "more" or "less" for these things, even though you can't assign numbers to them)

e.g.

i hold Jim in lower esteem than i hold his brother.

these tasks have lower priority than those other tasks

3/ things that are literally (= physically) lower than other things

e.g.

the elevation of Medellín is lower than that of Bogotá

the ceiling in my new apartment is lower than the one in my old house

under no circumstances can a countable plural noun be "lower" than another countable plural noun, unless you are referring to differences in physical height (e.g., my ceilings are lower than yours -- this means that they are physically closer to the ground, not that there are fewer of them!)