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100 points for $49 worth of Veritas practice GMATs FREE VERITAS PRACTICE GMAT EXAMS Earn 10 Points Per Post Earn 10 Points Per Thanks Earn 10 Points Per Upvote ## Agela has 15 pairs of matched socks. If she loses 7... tagged by: AAPL ##### This topic has 4 expert replies and 0 member replies ### Top Member ## Agela has 15 pairs of matched socks. If she loses 7... Angela has 15 pairs of matched socks. If she loses 7 individual socks, which of the following is NOT a possible number of matched pairs she has left? A. 8 B. 9 C. 10 D. 11 E. 12 The OA is E. I think if Angela loses 7 individual socks, then she is bound to have lost minimum of 3 pairs and 1 individual sock, in this way she is left with only 11 pairs of socks (15-(3+1)). Hence, 12 cannot be the answer as maximum is 11. Can any experts help me, please? Thank in advance! ### GMAT/MBA Expert GMAT Instructor Joined 08 Dec 2008 Posted: 13033 messages Followed by: 1251 members Upvotes: 5254 GMAT Score: 770 Top Reply AAPL wrote: Angela has 15 pairs of matched socks. If she loses 7 individual socks, which of the following is NOT a possible number of matched pairs she has left? A. 8 B. 9 C. 10 D. 11 E. 12 We can also systematically eliminate 4 of the 5 answer choices. Let's say the 15 PAIRS of socks are as follows: AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, FF, GG, HH, II, JJ, KK, LL, MM, NN, OO Let's first see what happens if we "lose" 7 unmatched socks. Say, we lose, A, B, C, D, E, F, G We get: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, HH, II, JJ, KK, LL, MM, NN, OO We have 8 pairs remaining. So, we can ELIMINATE A Now let's see what happens if we "lose" 1 pair of matched socks and 5 unmatched socks. Say, we lose, AA, B, C, D, E, F We get: B, C, D, E, F, GG, HH, II, JJ, KK, LL, MM, NN, OO We have 9 pairs remaining. So, we can ELIMINATE B Let's see what happens if we "lose" 2 pairs of matched socks and 3 unmatched socks. Say, we lose, AA, BB, C, D, E We get: C, D, E, FF, GG, HH, II, JJ, KK, LL, MM, NN, OO We have 10 pairs remaining. So, we can ELIMINATE C Let's see what happens if we "lose" 3 pairs of matched socks and 1 unmatched sock. Say, we lose, AA, BB, CC, D We get: D, EE, FF, GG, HH, II, JJ, KK, LL, MM, NN, OO We have 11 pairs remaining. So, we can ELIMINATE D By the process of elimination, the correct answer is E Cheers, Brent _________________ Brent Hanneson â€“ Creator of GMATPrepNow.com Use my video course along with Sign up for free Question of the Day emails And check out all of these free resources GMAT Prep Now's comprehensive video course can be used in conjunction with Beat The GMATâ€™s FREE 60-Day Study Guide and reach your target score in 2 months! ### GMAT/MBA Expert Legendary Member Joined 14 Jan 2015 Posted: 2666 messages Followed by: 125 members Upvotes: 1153 GMAT Score: 770 AAPL wrote: Angela has 15 pairs of matched socks. If she loses 7 individual socks, which of the following is NOT a possible number of matched pairs she has left? A. 8 B. 9 C. 10 D. 11 E. 12 The OA is E. I think if Angela loses 7 individual socks, then she is bound to have lost minimum of 3 pairs and 1 individual sock, in this way she is left with only 11 pairs of socks (15-(3+1)). Hence, 12 cannot be the answer as maximum is 11. Can any experts help me, please? Thank in advance! You could also think about it like this: She starts with 15 pairs, or 15*2 = 30 socks. She loses 7 leaving her with 23 socks. In order to have 12 pairs, she'd have to have 12*2 = 24 socks. But she's only got 23!. So the answer is E _________________ Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor Veritas Prep Reviews Save$100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

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AAPL wrote:
Angela has 15 pairs of matched socks. If she loses 7 individual socks, which of the following is NOT a possible number of matched pairs she has left?

A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12
15 matched pairs = 30 socks.

E: 12
If Angela has 12 matched pairs left -- for a total of 24 socks -- then the number of socks lost = 30-24 = 6.
Not viable, since Angela must lose 7 socks.

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### GMAT/MBA Expert

GMAT Instructor
Joined
25 May 2010
Posted:
15380 messages
Followed by:
1872 members
13060
GMAT Score:
790
GMATGuruNY wrote:
AAPL wrote:
Angela has 15 pairs of matched socks. If she loses 7 individual socks, which of the following is NOT a possible number of matched pairs she has left?

A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12
When the prompt includes the phrase which of the following, the correct answer is likely to be D or E.
15 matched pairs = 30 socks.

E: 12
If Angela has 12 matched pairs left -- for a total of 24 socks -- then the number of socks lost = 30-24 = 6.
Not viable, since Angela must lose 7 socks.

_________________
Mitch Hunt
Private Tutor for the GMAT and GRE
GMATGuruNY@gmail.com

If you find one of my posts helpful, please take a moment to click on the "UPVOTE" icon.

Available for tutoring in NYC and long-distance.
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

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