Directions: The following question presents a sentence, part of which or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.

Last year, land values in most parts of the pinelands rose almost so fast, and in some parts even faster than what they did outside the pinelands.

The correct comparative structure is 'as fast as' for equal comparisons. Option D correctly uses 'as fast as, and in some parts even faster than, those' to compare land value increases. The phrase 'rose almost as fast as, and in some parts even faster than, those outside the pinelands' maintains proper comparison structure. Options A and B incorrectly use 'so fast' which doesn't properly form comparisons. Option C uses 'as fast' but incorrectly omits the second 'as.' Option E redundantly uses 'what they did' instead of simply using 'those' to refer to land values.