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by Akansha » Thu May 26, 2011 9:46 am
A company was paid $500,000. The costs were Labor & Materials. Was
the company's profit greater than $150,000?
a. Total cost was three times cost for materials
b. Profit was greater than cost of labor

OA is C
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu May 26, 2011 10:41 am
Akansha wrote:A construction company was paid a total of $500,000 for a construction project. The company's only costs for the project were for labor and materials. Was the company's profit for the project greater than 150,000?

(1) The company's total cost was three times its cost for materials.
(2) The company's profit was greater than its cost for labor.

OA is C
This question is from GMATPrep. I've amended the quote above to reflect the true wording of the question.

Let L = Labor, M = Materials.
Total Cost = L+M.

To make the math easier:
Let Revenue = 500, Desired Profit = 150.

Actual Profit = Revenue - Cost = 500 - (L+M).

For the Actual Profit to be greater than the Desired Profit of 150:
500 - (L+M) > 150.
L + M < 350.

Question rephrased: Is the total cost of L+M < 350?

Statement 1: Total Cost=3M.
L+M = 3M
L=2M.
No way to determine whether L+M<350.
Insufficient.

Statement 2: The profit was greater than its cost for labor.
500 - (L+M) > L
500 - L - M > L
2L+M < 500.
No way to determine whether L+M<350.

Statements 1 and 2 combined: L=2M and 2L+M<500.
Substituting L=2M into 2L+M<500, we get:
2(2M) + M < 500.
5M < 500.
M < 100.

Since M<100, and Total Cost=3M, we know that Total Cost < 300.
Sufficient.

The correct answer is C.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Fri May 27, 2011 2:18 am, edited 4 times in total.
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by pemdas » Thu May 26, 2011 10:43 am
this is not GMAT problem as the question contains undefined terminology costs, total costs, profit
BUT the most logical to advance here would be
st(a) Total Cost=Materials+Labor, 3*Materials=Materials+Labor <> 2*Materials=Labor, and this isn't sufficient to find profit which is (logically) 500,000-Total Costs, as we don't know neither Profit/Total Costs nor quantities of Labor, Materials
st(b) Profit>Labor, not sufficient, as we don't know the Labor
Combined st(a&b): still not sufficient as we don't know quantities of Labor, Materials

I would effectively ignore the source of such problems
Akansha wrote:A company was paid $500,000. The costs were Labor & Materials. Was
the company's profit greater than $150,000?
a. Total cost was three times cost for materials
b. Profit was greater than cost of labor

OA is C
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu May 26, 2011 10:46 am
pemdas wrote:this is not GMAT problem as the question contains undefined terminology costs, total costs, profit
BUT the most logical to advance here would be
st(a) Total Cost=Materials+Labor, 3*Materials=Materials+Labor <> 2*Materials=Labor, and this isn't sufficient to find profit which is (logically) 500,000-Total Costs, as we don't know neither Profit/Total Costs nor quantities of Labor, Materials
st(b) Profit>Labor, not sufficient, as we don't know the Labor
Combined st(a&b): still not sufficient as we don't know quantities of Labor, Materials

I would effectively ignore the source of such problems
Akansha wrote:A company was paid $500,000. The costs were Labor & Materials. Was
the company's profit greater than $150,000?
a. Total cost was three times cost for materials
b. Profit was greater than cost of labor

OA is C
This question is from GMATPrep.
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I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
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by pemdas » Thu May 26, 2011 11:00 am
really, i'm surprised then, definitions are missing
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by prateek_guy2004 » Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:36 pm
Yeah a gmat prep problem

IMO C
Don't look for the incorrect things that you have done rather look for remedies....

https://www.beatthegmat.com/motivation-t90253.html
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