<p>For QOTD February 4th:</p>
<p>Besides conserving forest resources, recycling
A<br>
produces fewer pollutants than does the
B<br>
conventional pulping and bleaching processes </p>
<p>that are normally used to create paper. No error
C D E </p>
<p>I chose the right answer (than does "B") but the answer explanation says that it should be "than do". I thought it should just be "than" because it's awkward to have a verb there, so I thought it should've read " Besides conserving forest resources, recycling produces fewer pollutants thanthe conventional pulping and bleaching processes that are normally used to create paper."</p>
<p>HELP! Thanks</p>
<p>If collegeboard used than ,as you suggest,there must have been 'do' after 'paper' ;}</p>
<p>@cr7: saying "If CB said so, it's right." does not help. I already acknowledged that it's right. </p>
<p>Can some1 explain?</p>
<p>Besides conserving forest resources, recycling
A
produces fewer pollutants than does the
B
conventional pulping and bleaching processes </p>
<p>that are normally used to create paper. No error </p>
<p>In this question, they are using the classic incorrect verb tense. You have to make "does" "do" because the thing that is "doing" is plural (processes.) </p>
<p>To address your question as to why there needs to be a verb after "than": if there was no verb after "than", it wouldn't be a proper comparison. You are comparing how many pollutants recycling produces and how many pollutants processes produce. You need to indicate with a verb that the processes are producing the pollutants; that's what the "than" does.</p>