DS

This topic has expert replies
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 89
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:29 am
Thanked: 4 times

DS

by danjuma » Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:33 pm
3. On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z. Does z lie between x and y?

a. xyz is less than 0

b.xy is less than 0
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3650
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:27 am
Location: India
Thanked: 267 times
Followed by:80 members
GMAT Score:760

by sanju09 » Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:18 pm
danjuma wrote:3. On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z. Does z lie between x and y?

a. xyz is less than 0

b.xy is less than 0

Given that, x ≠ y ≠ z and x ~ y > x ~ z, hence either y > z or y < z, we never know. The question therefore is:

Is x < z < y or y < z < x?

[1] With x y z < 0, we can deduce the following:

a. None of the variables is 0.

b. Either all three or any one variable is negative.

We cannot allocate x, y, z in correct order on the number line with this much info. Insufficient

[2] Either x or y is negative, and z is definitely positive, and the positive amid x and y may be less or more than z, hence z could be second or third in the ascending order of x, y, z. Insufficient

Since [2] is just an annex of [1], [spoiler]mixing won't serve any purpose.


E
[/spoiler]
The mind is everything. What you think you become. -Lord Buddha



Sanjeev K Saxena
Quantitative Instructor
The Princeton Review - Manya Abroad
Lucknow-226001

www.manyagroup.com