Ten years ago, scientists predicted that the animal z would become extinct in t years. What is t?
(1) Animal z became extinct 4 years ago.
Statement 1 is sufficient to answer the question
IF ( and a BIG IF) the scientists prediction has come true. Then t = 10-4 = 6 years
Statement 1 is Insufficient to answer the question
IF ( and a BIG IF) the scientists prediction has gone wrong.
(2) If the scientists had extended their extinction prediction for animal z by 3 years, their prediction would have been incorrect by 2 years.
Since, there is no relation between the prediction and the actual time of extinction, Statement 2 is Insufficient to answer the question.
Statement 1 + 2
(Let us assume that the prediction has gone wrong)
If the scientists have extended the prediction by 3 years(t+3 years), the prediction would be incorrect by 2 years i.e the actual extinction is after t+1
((t+3)-2) or t+5
((t+3)+2) years from the time of scientist's prediction.
So, t+1 = 6 or t+5 = 6 (From Statement 1)
t = 5 or t = 1
So, we don't have a single answer to the question.
Correct answer choice =
A IF ( and a BIG IF) the scientists prediction has come true.
Correct answer choice =
E IF ( and a BIG IF) the scientists prediction has gone wrong.
I am not sure if this question qualifies as a GMAT MATH question![/quote]
