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Word Problem

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by Aman verma » Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:56 am
Q: Mark has a salary of $ 10800 per month. In the first month of the year, he spends 40% of his salary on food, 50% on clothing and saves 11.11% of what he has spent. In the next two months, he saves 9.09% of what he has saved( spending 38.33% of his income on food). In the fourth month, he gets an increment of 11.11% on his salary and spends every single cent on celebrating his raise. But from the fifth month onwards good sense prevails on him and he saves 12.5%, 15%, 20%, 10%, 8.33%, 12.5%, 15%, and 20% on his new income per month. The percentage difference between the sum of his savings for the two months having the highest savings to the sum of the savings for the two months having the lowest savings is :

a) 2.66

b) 5.33

c) 8

d) 9.88

e) None of the above
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Source: — Problem Solving |

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:25 am
Wow, that's a long question! By the time I finished reading it, I was already approaching the 2-minute time limit :-)

In my opinion, this question isn't really up to GMAT standards. The question itself is long and tedious, and the solution requires far too many calculations.

There's even some issues with the wording. For example, in the first month, Mark spent 90% on food and clothes, and he saved "11.11% of what he has spent." Why not just say that he saved the remaining 10%? I ask, because, in actuality, Mark saved 11.11111(repeating) percent, since 10/90 = 11.111(repeating)%. I know it seems like a small point, but I mention it to show why this is not up to the GMAT's high standards.

I'd skip it if I were you.

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by Aman verma » Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:07 am
OAB
800. Arjun's-Bird-Eye
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