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i don't agree with the explanation (kaplan book)

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i don't agree with the explanation (kaplan book)

by davedecibel » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:00 pm
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At Consolidated Foundries, for a resolution to become policy, a quorum of at least half the 20 directors must pass the resolution by at least a two-thirds makority. At a meeting of the board of directors, did resolution X pass or fail?

(1) Ten directors voted for the resolution

(2) Seven directors voted against the resolution
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

this was an easy one, but i got it wrong. after reading the explanation, well, i don't really agree and i think that either i got the right answer, or the question is not formulated properly.

i'm gonna explain the reason (probably not to hard to guess) after i get some feedback... what would you answer?
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by beat_gmat_09 » Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:13 pm
davedecibel wrote:------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Consolidated Foundries, for a resolution to become policy, a quorum of at least half the 20 directors must pass the resolution by at least a two-thirds makority. At a meeting of the board of directors, did resolution X pass or fail?

(1) Ten directors voted for the resolution

(2) Seven directors voted against the resolution
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

this was an easy one, but i got it wrong. after reading the explanation, well, i don't really agree and i think that either i got the right answer, or the question is not formulated properly.

i'm gonna explain the reason (probably not to hard to guess) after i get some feedback... what would you answer?
20/2 = 10
2/3*(10)=6.66 = 6
stmt 1 : 10 voted for resol. minimum req is 6. sufficient.
stmt 2: 7 voted against, 13 voted for, min is 6, sufficient.
Pick D.
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by Rahul@gurome » Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:27 pm
Solution:
Let us first consider statement (1) alone.
Ten directors voted in favor of the resolution but we do not know how many attended the meeting. If x people attended, 10/x should be at least 2/3. Since we do not know x, statement (1) alone is not sufficient.
Next consider (2) alone.
Seven voted against the resolution. Let the total number who attended the meeting be n.
If resolution has to pass (n-7)/n >= 2/3 or n >= 21 which is not possible because the maximum value of n is 20. This means resolution fails.
Or statement (2) alone is sufficient.

The correct answer is (B).
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by davedecibel » Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:00 am
rahul's answer and explanation are correct, according to the book.

but i'm still not sure about this: data sufficiency general description clearly states "based on the statements and your knowledge of everyday facts"

2/3 of 20 equals 13.33 (periodical). Since we're figuring out the mininum number of votes needed for a resolution to pass, you need to round that. And as far as i know, it's common practice to round decimals minor or equal than .5 down. So the minimum number of votes for a resolution to pass, if all 20 directors voted, should be 13.

Hence the two statements alone would be sufficient to say that the resolution didn't pass:a total of ten directors voted, but 7 voted against. On the other hand statement 2 alone wouldn't be sufficient: 7 voted against, but if every director voted and the other 13 voted for the resolution to pass, the vote result would be a pass - but we don't know how many directors voted and if they voted for or against -> not sufficient.

that's my opinion. any feedback?
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by Rahul@gurome » Wed Nov 10, 2010 6:46 pm
2/3 of 20 equals 13.33 (periodical). Since we're figuring out the mininum number of votes needed for a resolution to pass, you need to round that. And as far as i know, it's common practice to round decimals minor or equal than .5 down. So the minimum number of votes for a resolution to pass, if all 20 directors voted, should be 13.
Here 13.33 should not being rounded up to the nearest decimal.
By what you write we get that the mininum number of votes needed for a resolution to pass >= 13.33.
Note that the mininum number of votes needed for a resolution to pass has to be an integer.
So we need an integer which is >= 13.33.
The closest integer is 14 and not 13.
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by niraj92 » Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:59 pm
davedecibel wrote:------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Consolidated Foundries, for a resolution to become policy, a quorum of at least half the 20 directors must pass the resolution by at least a two-thirds makority. At a meeting of the board of directors, did resolution X pass or fail?

(1) Ten directors voted for the resolution

(2) Seven directors voted against the resolution
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please explain the meaning of

''a quorum of at least half the 20 directors must pass the resolution by at least a two-thirds majority''
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by KapTeacherEli » Thu Nov 11, 2010 12:32 pm
niraj92 wrote:
davedecibel wrote:------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Consolidated Foundries, for a resolution to become policy, a quorum of at least half the 20 directors must pass the resolution by at least a two-thirds makority. At a meeting of the board of directors, did resolution X pass or fail?

(1) Ten directors voted for the resolution

(2) Seven directors voted against the resolution
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please explain the meaning of

''a quorum of at least half the 20 directors must pass the resolution by at least a two-thirds majority''
Hi niraj,

Rahul's got an explanation for the math--he's dead on--but I'll happily step in for some vocabulary. A 'quorum' refers to a number of attendees sufficient for a vote to be held. If there are fewer than 10 execs present, the resolution will neither pass nor fail, as it cannot be brought to vote. Assuming there is a full quorum of 10 or more executives, then a vote will be held. If a minimum of two thirds (66 2/3%) of the executives who are present vote for the resolution, it becomes policy; otherwise it fails.

In this case, 1) is insufficient. With ten 'yes' votes, we could have had a total attendance of 10, and therefore 100% of the executives present voted yes and the resolution succeeded. However, we could also have had a total attendance of 20, in which case only 50% of the executives present voted 'yes' and the resolution failed. Thus, the information in 1) doesn't tell us if the resolution was successful or not.
Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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