Hi All,
We're told that Rabia must earn an AVERAGE (arithmetic mean) score of S percent to pass her physics course, the average score on the first 60 percent of her assignments was (S + 10) percent, and each of her assignments is weighted equally. We're asked for the MAXIMUM percentage BELOW S that she can earn on her remaining assignments and still pass the course. Since this is a 'ratio' question, it can be approached in a number of different ways, including by TESTing VALUES.
Since 60% is 3/5, we can start by saying that there are 5 total assignments.
Let's also TEST S = 70, meaning that Rabia needs an average of 70% over the 5 assignments to pass.
On the first 3 of those assignments, she averaged (70+10) = 80 percent.... In simple terms, she needs 5(70) = 350 points and she already has 3(80) = 240 points. To put it another way, she is 3(10) = 30 points AHEAD of what she needs to pass the course. She would need another 350 - 240 = 110 points to pass.
With 2 assignments remaining, she would need to average 110/2 = 55 points to pass. That is 70 - 55 = 15 points BELOW S.
Final Answer: [spoiler=]B[/spoiler]
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
