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Bill took 4 math tests, and each test received a score out of 100

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by BTGModeratorVI » Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:50 am

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Bill took 4 math tests, and each test received a score out of 100. What was Bill's average (arithmetic mean) score for all 4 tests?

(1) Bill's first 3 tests received an average score of 50.
(2) Bill's last 2 tests received an average score of 50.

Answer: E
Source: Magoosh
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Source: — Data Sufficiency |

BTGModeratorVI wrote:
Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:50 am
Bill took 4 math tests, and each test received a score out of 100. What was Bill's average (arithmetic mean) score for all 4 tests?

(1) Bill's first 3 tests received an average score of 50.
(2) Bill's last 2 tests received an average score of 50.

Answer: E
Source: Magoosh
Target question: What was Bill's average (arithmetic mean) score for all 4 tests?

Statement 1: Bill's first 3 tests received an average score of 50.
Since we don't have any information about the 4th test, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: Bill's last 2 tests received an average score of 50.
Since we don't have any information about the first two tests, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statements 1 and 2 combined
There are several scnenarios that satisfy BOTH statements. Here are two:
Case a: The 4 test scores, in order, are {50, 50, 50, 50}. In this case, the answer to the target question is The average score for all 4 tests is 50
Case b: The 4 test scores, in order, are {0, 50, 100, 0}. In this case, the answer to the target question is The average score for all 4 tests is 150/4
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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Target question => What was Bill's average (arithmetic mean) score for all 4 tests?

Statement 1 => Bill's first 3 tests received an average score of 50
The score of the last test is unknown so the target question cannot be answered. Statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2 => Bill's last 2 tests received an average score of 50
The score of the first 2 tests is unknown so the target question cannot be answered. Statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Combining both statements together =>
From the information in statement 1 and 2, there are two possible scenarios
If the score in the 4 tests = 50, 50, 50, 50;
Average of first 3 test = 50; average of the last 2 test = 50; average of the 4 test = 37.5

The information available cannot give an exact value/answer to the target question. Both statements together are NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer = E
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