In 1990 a total of x earthquakes occurred worldwide

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In 1990 a total of x earthquakes occurred worldwide, some but not all of which occurred in Asia. If m o f these earthquakes occurred in Asia, which of the following represents the ratio of the number of earthquakes that occurred in Asia to the number that did NOT occur in Asia?

A) x/m
B) m/x
C) m/(x-m)
D) x/(x-m)
E) 1- (m/x)

[spoiler]OA=C[/spoiler].

Why is C? I think the correct answer should be B. Can any expert help me here?
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by [email protected] » Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:48 pm
Hi Gmat_mission,

We're told a total of X earthquakes occurred worldwide and M of these earthquakes occurred in Asia. We're asked for the ratio of the number of earthquakes that occurred in Asia to the number that did NOT occur in Asia. This question can be solved by TESTing VALUES.

IF....
X = 5, M = 3
Of the 5 total earthquakes, 3 were in Asia and 2 were NOT.
Thus, the ratio is 3/2.
There's only one answer that matches...

Final Answer: C

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by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Wed Mar 21, 2018 3:27 pm
Gmat_mission wrote:In 1990 a total of x earthquakes occurred worldwide, some but not all of which occurred in Asia. If m o f these earthquakes occurred in Asia, which of the following represents the ratio of the number of earthquakes that occurred in Asia to the number that did NOT occur in Asia?

A) x/m
B) m/x
C) m/(x-m)
D) x/(x-m)
E) 1- (m/x)
Since there are m earthquakes that occurred in Asia and there are x earthquakes that occurred worldwide, there are (x - m) earthquakes that occurred outside of Asia. Thus, the ratio of earthquakes that occurred in Asia to those that did not occur in Asia is m/(x - m).

Answer: C

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
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