MGMAT CAT Test question

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MGMAT CAT Test question

by dinesh19aug » Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:45 pm
Q: Susie can buy apples from two stores: a supermarket that sells apples only in bundles of 4, and a convenience store that sells single, unbundled apples. If Susie wants to ensure that the total number of apples she buys is a multiple of 5, what is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store?

Options:
a) 0
b) 1
c) 2
d) 3
e) 4

The answer is A = 0. I do not think that question is correct. It should state that if Susie buys X bundles from super market then what is minimum she should buy from convnience store. However the question is open ended.

Susie can opt to buy 1 bundle (4 apples) from super market and so she needs to buy 1 apple from C store
Susie can opt to buy 5 bundle (20 apples) from super market and so she needs to buy 0 apple from C store
Susie can opt to buy 3 bundle (12 apples) from super market and so she needs to buy 3 apple from C store

and so on.

Is my argument correct or am I missing something in the question??

Thanks,
Dinesh

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by kmittal82 » Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:18 am
I think you are right in suspecting the question, it should definitely say that she needs to buy apples from both the places.

If it states that she must buy the apples from the convenience store alone, then she must purchase atleast 5 applies to make it a multiple of 5.

Purchasing 0 apples is technically correct, but makes no sense to "buy" 0 of something :)

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by akdayal » Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:35 am
Question is correct and clear. Its our task that we understand question correctly.
I highlighted the main point of question that needs to be taken care while answering this question
Susie can buy apples from two stores: a supermarket that sells apples only in bundles of 4, and a convenience store that sells single, unbundled apples. If Susie wants to ensure that the total number of apples she buys is a multiple of 5, what is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store?

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by kmittal82 » Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:06 pm
hmm, now that you have explained it that ways, I guess it makes sense :)

If she must have 5 apples, then the minimum number she needs to buy from the convenience store is 0, since she can just buy 5 bundles of 4 apples from the supermarket, making it 20 apples in total, which is a multiple of 5.

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by dinesh19aug » Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:11 pm
Thanks. It is clear now.

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by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:55 am
Susie can buy apples from two stores: a supermarket that sells apples only in bundles of 4, and a convenience store that sells single, unbundled apples. If Susie wants to ensure that the total number of apples she buys is a multiple of 5, what is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store?

Options:
a) 0
b) 1
c) 2
d) 3
e) 4
The key to solving this problem is to focus on the word minimum. If Susie were to buy 5 bags of apples at the grocery store she would have a total of 20 apples. In that case she wouldn't need to purchase any apples from the convenience store. Thus, 0 is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store.

Answer: A

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]

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