justag

“3 times as many E was sold as N”的意思，是3N=E，还是N=3E
Don't be confused, the answer is E=3N.

Take a similiar example from one of my courseworks last semester:
the team should sign at least three times as many strikers as fullbacks
the expression is xs >= 3 xf. If not convinced, you can refer to
http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~sahmed/isye6669/hw/hw5sols.pdf problem 2

justag

as for the difficult grammar problem, it's pretty thrilling. Take the first "as" as hint, a, b and e could be thrown away. c or d? I got confused about the "would", why not "did" in place of "constituted"? then the WWI and 1960 gave me another hint, so I confirm to myself, it's d. What a sentence! It killed so many of my brain cells ((