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Is the question flawed

by Mo2men » Mon Feb 27, 2017 12:55 am
If -6 < k < 6, is k > 1 ?

(1) 1/k > 1
(2) -k < -2

S1) 1/k >1 implies that 1/k is Positive. To be larger than 1, is must be fraction.

than multiply by k..... K<1. Answer is No.

Sufficient

S2 ) -k < -2....k>2>1 then Answer is yes

Sufficient

The answer should be D. However, both answers are contradicting each other. Is it allowable in GMAT? is the question flawed?

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Feb 27, 2017 3:41 am
If -6 < k < 6, is k > 1 ?

(1) 1/k > 1
(2) -k < -2
Statement 1 implies that 0 < k < 1, while Statement 2 indicates that k > 2.
Since the two statements contradict each other, the problem seems flawed.
Also, the constraint in red seems irrelevant.
Each statement on its own is sufficient to determine whether k > 1, regardless of the constraint in red.
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by [email protected] » Mon Feb 27, 2017 1:17 pm
Hi Mo2men,

Your evaluation of this question is correct. On the Official GMAT, each of the two Facts will 'point' to the actual answer to the given question (although they might 'point' to a different answer as well - and it's your job to prove whether the answer is consistent or inconsistent). However, the two Facts will NEVER contradict one another in the way that they do in this question. What is the source of this prompt?

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by Jay@ManhattanReview » Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:26 pm
Mo2men wrote:If -6 < k < 6, is k > 1 ?

(1) 1/k > 1
(2) -k < -2

S1) 1/k >1 implies that 1/k is Positive. To be larger than 1, is must be fraction.

than multiply by k..... K<1. Answer is No.

Sufficient

S2 ) -k < -2....k>2>1 then Answer is yes

Sufficient

The answer should be D. However, both answers are contradicting each other. Is it allowable in GMAT? is the question flawed?

Thanks
Hi Mo2men,

Your assessment is correct; the problem is flawed. I agree with Rich's and Mitch's insight.

An official DS question comprising the prompt, statement 1 and statement 2 demonstrates a holistic situation. A result from a statement must not contradict that from the other statement. If the answer to the questions is D for a "Yes/No" type of question, and statement 1 renders "Yes," statement 2 must also render "Yes;" and if statement 1 renders "No," statement 2 must also render "No."

In this question, we have two issues: 1. Answer from statement 1 is "No," while that from statement 2 is "Yes." This is not possible in an official DS question. 2. Mitch rightly pointed out that there is no bearing of the information -6 < k < 6 given in the prompt. It's redundant. An official question will not have this scenario.

Hope this helps!

Find great DS questions here: Manhattan Review GMAT Data Sufficiency Guide

-Jay
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by Matt@VeritasPrep » Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:47 am
It's possible that the first statement was meant to be 1/k < 1: it's so easy to accidentally flip a sign and miss the mistake when writing/editing a batch of math problems.
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