sana.noor wrote:2) Is it true that a > b ?
(1) a > -b
(2) b^2 - 4 > 0
Target question:
Is a > b ?
Statement 1: a > -b
To make things easier, I'll add b to both sides to get: a + b > 0
There are several pairs of values that meet this condition. Here are two:
Case a: a = 4 and b = -3, in which case
a is greater than b
Case b: a = -3 and b = 4, in which case
a is not greater than b
Since we cannot answer the
target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statement 2: b^2 - 4 > 0
In other words, b^2 > 4
This tells us that b > 2 or b < -2
Since there's no information about a, there is no way to answer the
target question with certainty. So statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statements 1 and 2 combined:
There are still several pairs of values that meet this condition. Here are two:
Case a: a = 4 and b = -3, in which case
a is greater than b
Case b: a = -3 and b = 4, in which case
a is not greater than b
Since we still cannot answer the
target question with certainty, the combined statements are NOT SUFFICIENT
Answer =
E
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
