If on a fishing trip Jim and Tom each caught some fish, which one caught more fish?

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Gmat_mission: Legendary Member; Posts: 1622; Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:22 am; Followed by:2 members

If on a fishing trip Jim and Tom each caught some fish, which one caught more fish?

by Gmat_mission » Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:03 am

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If on a fishing trip Jim and Tom each caught some fish, which one caught more fish?

(1) Jim caught 2/3 as many fish as Tom.
(2) After Tom stopped fishing, Jim continued to fish until he caught 12 fish.

Answer: A

Source: Official Guide

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:03 am

deloitte247: Legendary Member; Posts: 2214; Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:22 pm; Followed by:5 members

Re: If on a fishing trip Jim and Tom each caught some fish, which one caught more fish?

by deloitte247 » Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:09 am

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Target question => Which one caught more fish?

Statement 1 => Jim caught 2/3 as many fish as Tom
i.e Jim's fish is greater than Tom's fish, hence, Jim has the greater fish. Statement 1 is SUFFICIENT

Statement 2 => After Tom stopped fishing, Jim continued to fish until he caught 12 fish
The total number of fishes caught by Tom before stopping is unknown. Since the number of individual fish caught by Tom and Jim is unknown, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Since only statement 1 is SUFFICIENT,
Answer = A

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Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; Followed by:1268 members; GMAT Score:770

Re: If on a fishing trip Jim and Tom each caught some fish, which one caught more fish?

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Dec 03, 2021 7:31 am

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Gmat_mission wrote: ↑
Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:03 am
If on a fishing trip Jim and Tom each caught some fish, which one caught more fish?

(1) Jim caught 2/3 as many fish as Tom.
(2) After Tom stopped fishing, Jim continued to fish until he caught 12 fish.

Answer: A

Source: Official Guide

Given: Jim and Tom each caught some fish

Target question: Which one caught more fish?

Statement 1: Jim caught 2/3 as many fish as Tom.
If Jim had caught 3/3 as many fish as Tom, then Jim and Tom would have caught the same number of fish
However, since Jim caught 2/3 as many fish as Tom, we know that Jim caught fewer fish than Tom caught.
So, the answer to the target question is Tom caught more fish
Since we can answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: After Tom stopped fishing, Jim continued to fish until he caught 12 fish.
This statement tells us that Jim caught 12 fish, but it tells us nothing about the number of fish Tom caught.
As such, there's no way to answer the target question with certainty.
Statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer: A

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com