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This is a good example of a DS question in which much of the thinking work can be done upfront, before even reading the statements. We are told here that X is divisible by 4, so that guarantees that X is even. That's the knowledge we need to be equipped with before we go into the statements.a) If X is divisible by 4, is Y odd?
1) y = x + 3
2) x = 4
This one is quite similar to the last one, with one key difference: here, we go to the statements not knowing nearly as much. The fact that W is divisible by 7 doesn't guarantee anything one way or the other as to W's oddness or evenness -- or, more generally, being a multiple of an odd number gives no guarantee as to what kind of number you are -- in contrast to being a multiple of an even number, an attribute that guarantees that you yourself are even.b) If W is divisible by 7, is Z even? (I have taken off the wording "or odd," because the GMAT would write this simply as a yes/no question (i.e. it would either ask "is Z even?" or "is Z odd?").)
1) Z = W+1
2) W = 7
[/quote]Ashley@VeritasPrep wrote:Hi there,
First question first:This is a good example of a DS question in which much of the thinking work can be done upfront, before even reading the statements. We are told here that X is divisible by 4, so that guarantees that X is even. That' the knowledge we need to be equipped with before we go into the statements.a) If X is divisible by 4, is Y odd?
1) y = x + 3
2) x = 4
Now, Statement (1) tells us that y = x + 3, so in other words, y = some even number plus 3. An even plus an odd will ALWAYS give you what? -- an odd. So we're all set with Statement (1).
Statement (2) just tells us x = 4, but it tells us NOTHING about y. So there's no way it will let us answer the question about y.
Sorry about that, the question actually was asking for odd only. Thanks for the correction.Ashley@VeritasPrep wrote:Second question: There's a typo somewhere, either in the answer or in the writing of the problem (though the typo may exist in the original material). But the problem as written should not have the answer given. Can you check?
Whenever one statement is sufficient alone, it will, of course, *always* be possible to answer the question using both statements; after all, you're then using the statement that was sufficient on its own in addition to the information in the other statement. It is crucially important to understand the exact wording of the answer choices in GMAT DS questions. The third answer choice reads:strain15 wrote: What if we combine statement 1 and 2 on this question? Wouldn't that work too?
When both statements combined give you the answer, but neither statement alone does, the correct answer is the third answer choice, not the fourth. The answer choices aren't labelled with letters on the actual GMAT, but normally on forums we call the third answer choice 'C'.casperkamal wrote:But for the second question i guess the answer is D. Both statement combined should give the answer
the answer for #2 is confirmed to be C correct?strain15 wrote:Hello, can anyone please help me on this? Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.
a) If X is divisible by 4, is Y odd?
1) y = x + 3
2) x = 4
[spoiler]Ans: A[/spoiler]
b) If W is divisible by 7, is Z even or odd?
1) Z = W+1
2) W = 7
[spoiler]Ans: E[/spoiler]
yjeezle wrote:the answer for #2 is confirmed to be C correct?strain15 wrote:Hello, can anyone please help me on this? Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.
a) If X is divisible by 4, is Y odd?
1) y = x + 3
2) x = 4
[spoiler]Ans: A[/spoiler]
b) If W is divisible by 7, is Z even or odd?
1) Z = W+1
2) W = 7
[spoiler]Ans: E[/spoiler]
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