alanforde800Maximus wrote:Georgia, who lives in a cold area, has 13 pairs of matched gloves in different patterns. If she loses 9 individual gloves, what is the greatest number of pairs of matched gloves she can have left?

a) 9
b) 8
c) 7
d) 6
e) 5

Please assist with above problem.

We want to get the maximum number of paired gloves with Georgia, so she needs to be lucky. She should wish that the gloves she lost were paired ones. Out of 9 individuals gloves, one can have only 4 paired set. The 9th individual glove's counterpart is also useless for Georgia, so for her 4 + 1 = 5 pairs are useless.

=> She can max have 13 - 5 = 8 paired gloves

OA: B

What is the question had been:

Georgia, who lives in a cold area, has 13 pairs of matched gloves in different patterns. If she loses 9 individual gloves, what is the least number of pairs of matched gloves she can have left?

Well, in that case, we assume that the none of the 9 individual gloves had a pair.

=> 9 pairs are useless => least number of pairs of matched gloves she can have left = 13 - 9 = 4

Hope this helps!

-Jay

_________________
Manhattan Review GMAT Prep

Locations: New York | Tokyo | Manchester | Geneva | and many more...

Schedule your free consultation with an experienced GMAT Prep Advisor! Click here.