People suffering from multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder that affects the structure of the nervous system, feel almost twice as much unexpressed anger as do those in the general population.


A. as do those in the general population
B. as the general population
C. as does the general population
D. than do those in the general population
E. than the general population

(A) The original sentence is correct as written. The sentence presents a comparison between the amounts of unexpressed anger felt by people suffering from multiple sclerosis versus those in the general population. Both elements of the comparison must be in the same form: “People suffering from multiple sclerosis” and “those [people] in the general population.” Choices (B), (C), and (E) remove “those in” from the latter phrase, which makes it seem as though the comparison is between people suffering from multiple sclerosis and the general population at large, whereas it is actually between people with multiple sclerosis and people in the general population. Choice (D) introduces an idiom error; the grammatical structure of the comparison should be “twice as much…as,” not “twice as much…than.” (A) is the best choice.

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The wording of this statement doesn't make sense. Functionally, the sentence reads:

People (MS) = 2x UA (General Population)

People (MS) and People (No MS) together comprise the general population. As such, BOTH ARE "IN" THE GENERAL POPULATION.

The proper referent is between People (MS) and People (No MS). The comparison, as it is structured here, is between People (MS) and the general population. This is CONTRARY to the intended comparison and is in fact syntactically incorrect.

You seem to be implying that MS sufferers and the general population must be mutually exclusive to be compared, but this is not true. Just because MS sufferers are part of the general population, does not mean we cannot compare them to the general population.

Consider this example as illustration: Professional basketball players have a higher average height than the average height of the general population. Of course pro basketball players are a subset of the population, so their average height contributes to the average height of the general population, but the two can still be compared.