stupid question

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tttrn333: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 25; Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:06 amFollowed by: 1 member

by tttrn333 » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:01 am

Did one of the three members of a certain team sell at least 2 raffle tickets yesterday?

(1) the 3 members sold a total of 6 raffle tickets yesterday
(2) No 2 of the members sold the same number of raffle tickets yesterday

Got this in gmatprep. I am the only one who interpreted this problem as only one of the 3 members got at least 2?

The correct interpretation is did at least one get at least 2. I don't see how you can pick one over the other in this case. I did literal interpretation.

Am I wrong?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:01 am

shankar.ashwin: Legendary Member; Posts: 966; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:06 amFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 230 times

by shankar.ashwin » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:20 am

Answer should be D

From (1) We could have any possibility such as (0,0,6)(1,1,4) or (2,2,2). But atleast one of the 3 should definitely sell a min of 2 tickets. Sufficient

From (2) diff number could be (0,1,5)(1,2,3) (0,2,4). Again one of them surely has to sell atleast 2.

And I think you did interpret the question correctly because it asks if one of the 3 sells and not all 3 sell 2 tickets

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tttrn333: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 25; Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:06 amFollowed by: 1 member

by tttrn333 » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:39 am

From your example, 0,0,6 => has 1 person higher than 2, 1,1,4=> has 1 person higher than 2, but 2,2,2 => has 3 people higher than 2.

So just from those examples there are two possibilities, 1 person higher than 2 and 3 people higher than 2. The question asks, Do one of them have higher than 2? No right? cuz as you demonstrated thats there are at least 2 possibilities.

shankar.ashwin wrote:Answer should be D

From (1) We could have any possibility such as (0,0,6)(1,1,4) or (2,2,2). But atleast one of the 3 should definitely sell a min of 2 tickets. Sufficient

From (2) diff number could be (0,1,5)(1,2,3) (0,2,4). Again one of them surely has to sell atleast 2.

And I think you did interpret the question correctly because it asks if one of the 3 sells and not all 3 sell 2 tickets

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shankar.ashwin: Legendary Member; Posts: 966; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:06 amFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 230 times

by shankar.ashwin » Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:07 am

Ah! like that... No you read the question wrong I guess...

It asks if any of them sell atleast 2 ( not the number as such). They would rephrase the question as "How many of the 3 sold atleast 2 tickets'?

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tttrn333: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 25; Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:06 amFollowed by: 1 member

by tttrn333 » Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:18 am

yeah thats my question. i was wrong cuz the answer suggest otherwise but can u really say that my interpretation is wrong?

shankar.ashwin wrote:Ah! like that... No you read the question wrong I guess...

It asks if any of them sell atleast 2 ( not the number as such). They would rephrase the question as "How many of the 3 sold atleast 2 tickets'?

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shankar.ashwin: Legendary Member; Posts: 966; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:06 amFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 230 times

by shankar.ashwin » Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:52 am

As I said, you misinterpreted the question. For your solution, they would typically frame the question like 'How many' and not just 'Did one of the the three'. I dont think its ambiguous to be misinterpreted. You just need to figure out what they ask, and as for any GMAT word problem, be careful you understand the question correctly, I would spend a little more time to check if they really asked for what I found after solving.

Practice a few word problems and you should be fine.

tttrn333 wrote:yeah thats my question. i was wrong cuz the answer suggest otherwise but can u really say that my interpretation is wrong?

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sl750: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 496; Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:34 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 38 times

by sl750 » Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:44 am

The prompt asks whether 1 of the 3 members sold at least 2 tickets. At least 2 tickets implies 2 or more. Atmost 2 tickets would imply less than 2 tickets

Statement 1
We can have 2,2,2 or 1,2,3 or 0,0,6. In all cases one or more members have sold 2 or more tickets. Sufficient

Statement 2
Let's try out the worst case scenario. Since we are not told how many tickets were sold.
0,1,2, as each member sold a different number of tickets. We can see that one member has sold 2 tickets. Sufficient

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tpr-becky: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 509; Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:08 pmFollowed by: 85 members; Location: Irvine, CA; Thanked: 199 times; GMAT Score:750

by tpr-becky » Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:54 pm

It just says one - it does not specify only or at least so you need to see if one sold the tickts - however, if one sold the tickets it does not limit others from doing so as well - if one did then it is possible for two to sell the same number of tickets. So the proper interpretation would be 1 or more (which can be restated as "at least"). If the test wanted to ask a question about only one it would have to use the word only - Only will never be ambiguous.

Becky
Master GMAT Instructor
The Princeton Review
Irvine, CA

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