A Confusing Multiple Choice Question

[NancyQu]

I am an ESL learner from China. I came across the following question when I was taking an English exam today.

The Yangtze River is much longer than _______ in China.
A) any rivers B) any others C) any of other rivers D) any other river

The key is D). I know why D) is correct, but I don't know why B) is incorrect. Is that because "any" can not be followed by plural nouns?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Gillnetter]

I am an ESL learner from China. I came across the following question when I was taking an English exam today.

The Yangtze River is much longer than _______ in China.
A) any rivers B) any others C) any of other rivers D) any other river

The key is D). I know why D) is correct, but I don't know why B) is incorrect. Is that because "any" can not be followed by plural nouns?

Thanks a lot in advance!

B is incorrect because the Yangtze River is singular and "any others" is plural. Also, the others in "any others" does not tell us what others is about. In D, other is about a river, this is not true in B.

[NancyQu]

Thank you so much, Gillnetter! I am clear about it now.

[Raymott]

B is incorrect because the Yangtze River is singular and "any others" is plural. Also, the others in "any others" does not tell us what others is about. In D, other is about a river, this is not true in B.

Your second reason sounds valid and correct.
Are you sure about the first? You can't compare a singular thing to plural things?
That would make "He is taller than any of his brothers" wrong.

Also, I think you could make the case that "any others" is singular here, because it means "any one of the others".

[Tdol]

Couldn't the logic be that River is part of the name so others can't refer to it?