【求问】GWD-TN-24-8

晓野的野

Employment costs rose 2.8 percent in the 12 months that ended in September, slightly less than they did in the year that ended in the previous quarter.

A.less than they did

B.less than it did

C.less than they were

D.lower than

E.lower than they were

答案是A

为什么不是D呢？
costs应该是个可数的吧。
而且我不记得是在哪里看到的了，比较的主语谓语相同的话，可以只留时间状语。
所以，这个D错在哪里呢？

呼唤各路大侠的帮助~

晓野的野

忽然看到以前问的旧题，想想现在自己能回答了。
lower是不对的，在后面的那个时间，costs也是涨了的，只是涨的量比以前少
less是一个副词在修饰动作。

也可以参考下manhattan上面的解释，非常详尽。
这一部分专门解释的less 和 lower的问题

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Although I don't think it is the relevant issue in this one, "employment costs" might be either countable or uncountable, depending on the context. You could count the various components (employment costs = hiring + training + salary + benefits + etc.). On the other hand, you could lump all of these costs into one amount, which would be uncountable.

Uncountable is probably the intended meaning here, as it says the costs "rose" not "increased in number."

Either "less" or "lower" could work with an uncountable quantity, so what do we really need to know about these words?
--"less" is a comparative that means "smaller in size, amount, degree, etc."
--"lower" is a comparative that is the opposite of higher.

I think the relevant amount is not the "employment costs" but the percent by which the costs rose. I think "less than" more clearly conveys the idea that employment costs rose 2.8% in the year ending in September, while employment costs rose <2.8% in the year ending in June.

If you wanted to use "lower than" correctly, you would need a noun in the second part of the comparison (e.g. "2.8% is lower than the percent for last quarter). Both (D) and (E) can be eliminated on this basis. (D) has no noun in the second part of the comparison. (E) has "they" = costs, which is the wrong noun, in the second part of the comparison.

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同时附上链接
http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/employment-costs-rose-2-8-percent-in-the-12-months-t6388.html

mark838308

解釋得很好啊!

这笔钱

弱问啊，TN是什么意思啊?

lordvictoryang

谢谢解答，一针见血的解决了我的迷惑

autumn-cho

晓野的野 发表于 2013-11-22 00:20
忽然看到以前问的旧题，想想现在自己能回答了。
lower是不对的，在后面的那个时间，costs也是涨了的，只是 ...

Mark一下！