Is Fred taller than Wilma?

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Source: — Data Sufficiency |

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by Jay@ManhattanReview » Sun Nov 12, 2017 11:47 pm
lheiannie07 wrote:Is Fred taller than Wilma?

(1) Fred is taller than Barney.

(2) Wilma is taller than Betty, who is taller than Barney.

What's the best way to determine whether statement 1 is sufficient?

OA E
(1) Fred is taller than Barney.

No information about Wilma. Insufficient.

(2) Wilma is taller than Betty, who is taller than Barney.

=> Wilma is taller than Barney. But we do not have any information about Fred. Insufficient.

(1) and (2) combined:

From both the statements, we get that Fed and Wilma are taller than Barney, but we cannot compare between Fred and Wilma. Insufficient.

The correct answer: E

Hope this helps!

-Jay
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:19 pm
lheiannie07 wrote:Is Fred taller than Wilma?

(1) Fred is taller than Barney.
(2) Wilma is taller than Betty, who is taller than Barney.
Target question: Is Fred taller than Wilma?

Statement 1: Fred is taller than Barney.
No information about Wilma is given, so there's no way to answer the target question.
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: Wilma is taller than Betty, who is taller than Barney.
No information about Fred is given, so there's no way to answer the target question.
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statements 1 and 2 combined
The COMBINED statements are not sufficient.
To see why, consider these two conflicting that satisfy both statements:
Case a: the people, arranged from shortest to TALLEST are: Barney, Betty, Wilma, Fred. In this case Fred IS taller than Wilma
Case b: the people, arranged from shortest to TALLEST are: Barney, Betty, Fred, Wilma. In this case Fred is NOT taller than Wilma
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer: E

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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