Hi AbeNeedsAnswers,
The standard approach to these types of probability questions is to determine the probability of each individual 'event', then multiply those probabilities together. With this question, there's a minor Number Property 'shortcut' at the end that can save you some time (and it helps if you're paying attention to how the answers are 'spaced out.'
Here, we're told:
-the probability of rain occurring on any individual day = 0.2
-thus, the probability of rain NOT occurring on any individual day = 1 - 0.2 = 0.8
For Malachi to return at the end of the day on Monday, the following series of events must occur:
(No rain on Saturday)(No rain on Sunday)(Rain on Monday).
The probability of that exact chain of events is:
(.8)(.8)(.2)
At this point, you could just multiply those numbers together, but here's that math shortcut I referred to earlier: multiplying any positive number by a positive fraction (between 0 and 1) will result in a SMALLER number. Since we're multiplying 3 positive fractions together, the result WILL be less than 0.2.... Thus, the correct answer MUST be either A or B.
You probably already know that 2x2x2 = 8. IF.... you multiplied (.2)(.2)(.2), you would end up with .008 (re: Answer A) - but this is clearly SMALLER than the product that will actually occur (because two of those .2s are actually .8s), so the correct answer CANNOT be A.
Final Answer: B
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich