From GMAT Prep

BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

This topic has expert replies

Post new topic Post Reply

Previous Topic Next Topic

polter: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 16; Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:11 am

From GMAT Prep

by polter » Mon May 09, 2011 3:40 pm

Malik's recipe for 2 servings of a certain dish requires 1 1/2cups of pasta, according to this reciepe, what us the number of cups of pasta that Malik will use the next time he prepares the dish?
(1) The next time he prepares the dish, Malik will make half as many servings as he did the last time he prepared the dish.
(2) Malik used 6 cups of pasta the last time he prepared the dish.

My Logic:
From (1) then next time pasta cups = (current serving/ 2)* (pasta/ serving) = 2/2 * 3/2 * 1/2 = 3/4
From (2) not sure of the servings, hence not sufficient by itself.
Hence A

OA Correct - C

Quote

Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Mon May 09, 2011 3:40 pm

GMAT/MBA Expert

Anurag@Gurome: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3835; Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm; Location: Milpitas, CA; Thanked: 1854 times; Followed by:523 members; GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Mon May 09, 2011 7:15 pm

polter wrote:Malik's recipe for 2 servings of a certain dish requires 1 1/2cups of pasta, according to this reciepe, what us the number of cups of pasta that Malik will use the next time he prepares the dish?
(1) The next time he prepares the dish, Malik will make half as many servings as he did the last time he prepared the dish.
(2) Malik used 6 cups of pasta the last time he prepared the dish.

My Logic:
From (1) then next time pasta cups = (current serving/ 2)* (pasta/ serving) = 2/2 * 3/2 * 1/2 = 3/4
From (2) not sure of the servings, hence not sufficient by itself.
Hence A

OA Correct - C

The language of the questions is a little bit tricky. If you read it again, it is not mentioned in the question that Malik used 1 1/2cups of pasta for 2 servings this time. So, when we don't know about the no. of servings he made this time then we can't say anything about the servings he made next time.
So, (1) is NOT SUFFICIENT.
(2) is also NOT SUFFICIENT.

Combining (1) and (2), we know that he used 6 cups of pasta the last time, so this time he will use 3 cups of pasta.

The correct answer is C.

Anurag Mairal, Ph.D., MBA
GMAT Expert, Admissions and Career Guidance
Gurome, Inc.
1-800-566-4043 (USA)

Join Our Facebook Groups
GMAT with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/272466352793633/
Admissions with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/461459690536574/
Career Advising with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/360435787349781/

Quote

polter: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 16; Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:11 am

by polter » Tue May 10, 2011 2:54 am

Hi Anurag,

Thanks for your response.
But, "for 2 servings of a certain dish requires 1 1/2cups of pasta"
means that 2 servings requires 3/2 cups of pasta, doesn't it?

I am not getting this still.
Appreciate your thoughts/ clarifications.

-Polter

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Anurag@Gurome: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3835; Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm; Location: Milpitas, CA; Thanked: 1854 times; Followed by:523 members; GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Tue May 10, 2011 3:29 am

polter wrote:Hi Anurag,

Thanks for your response.
But, "for 2 servings of a certain dish requires 1 1/2cups of pasta"
means that 2 servings requires 3/2 cups of pasta, doesn't it?

I am not getting this still.
Appreciate your thoughts/ clarifications.

-Polter

That's right, for 2 servings of a certain dish requires 1 1/2cups of pasta, but it is nowhere mentioned in the main question that Malik used 3/2cups of pasta for 2 servings this time. This information is only given in statement 2.

Quote

djiddish98: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 57; Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:01 am; Thanked: 10 times

by djiddish98 » Tue May 10, 2011 4:48 am

This question almost seems like it belongs in the verbal, since getting the answer requires reading the question correctly and not making assumptions.

The recipe is 2 servings requires 3/2 cups of pasta, which is just a proportion.

However, he could have made 100 servings or just 2. As Anurag pointed out, it doesn't mention how many servings he just made.

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Anurag@Gurome: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3835; Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm; Location: Milpitas, CA; Thanked: 1854 times; Followed by:523 members; GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Tue May 10, 2011 4:54 am

djiddish98 wrote:This question almost seems like it belongs in the verbal, since getting the answer requires reading the question correctly and not making assumptions.

The recipe is 2 servings requires 3/2 cups of pasta, which is just a proportion.

However, he could have made 100 servings or just 2. As Anurag pointed out, it doesn't mention how many servings he just made.

Agree, this one is really tricky! One may get confused by its language very easily.

Quote

polter: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 16; Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:11 am

by polter » Tue May 10, 2011 5:54 am

Got it this time.

Bottom-line: if something is needed does not necessarily imply that it was provided.

Thanks a lot for your patience, Anurag.

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Anurag@Gurome: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3835; Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm; Location: Milpitas, CA; Thanked: 1854 times; Followed by:523 members; GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Tue May 10, 2011 6:02 am

polter wrote:Got it this time.

Bottom-line: if something is needed does not necessarily imply that it was provided.

Thanks a lot for your patience, Anurag.

Great. You are welcome!