Solution:
The correct answer is
Option E: No correction required.
Let's break down why the original sentence is grammatically correct and why the other options are incorrect:
Original Sentence: "The population of Tokyo is greater than that of any other town in the world."This sentence is
perfectly correct because it uses the proper structure for comparison:
1.
"greater than": This is the correct
comparative form, used when comparing two things or one thing to a group of others.
2.
"that of": This is crucial. "That" is a
singular pronoun referring back to
"The population". It ensures a logical comparison between
"the population of Tokyo" and
"the population of any other town". Without "that of", you would be comparing "the population of Tokyo" to "any other town" itself, which is illogical (comparing a population to a place).
3.
"any other town": This correctly
excludes Tokyo itself from the comparison group, ensuring you are comparing Tokyo's population to populations of *other* towns, not Tokyo's population to Tokyo's population.
Let's look at why the other options are incorrect:
Option A: greatest among any otherThis option uses the
superlative "greatest" when the sentence requires a
comparative "greater" (because it's comparing one thing to a group, not stating it's the absolute best of all). Also, "among any other" is grammatically awkward and incorrect for a superlative form. Superlative forms usually take "greatest among all" or "greatest of all".
Option B: greater than all otherThis option presents two main issues: First, if it refers to multiple towns, it should be "all other
towns" (plural). Second, it still lacks the precise "that of" to explicitly compare "population" to "population", which the original sentence correctly includes.
Option C: greater than those of any otherThis option incorrectly uses
"those of". "Those" is a
plural pronoun, but it refers back to
"The population", which is
singular. Therefore, "that of" (singular) is correct, not "those of" (plural).
Option D: greater than any otherThis is a very common error in comparisons. If you say "The population of Tokyo is greater than any other town," you are making an
illogical comparison. You are comparing "the population of Tokyo" (an abstract number) to "any other town" (a physical place). To make it logical, you must compare a population to a population. This option
omits the necessary "that of".
Therefore, the original sentence is already grammatically sound, logically coherent, and requires no correction.