We shouldn't do a bunch of math unless we have to. An important skill in DS is NOT doing math.
Also, long before going to the statements we should focus on the question stem, and determine what information would be needed to answer the question. (Step 1 of the Kaplan method for DS).
Here, the question asks for her sales, and we are told that her commission is 20% of sales in excess of $1,500. So, we should say to ourselves: "Because her commission is 20% of sales in excess of $1,500, if I know her commission I can compute the sales in excess of $1,500...and I would only need to add $1,500 to that to get to total sales. So, if I know her commission, I know her sales."
NOW, go to the statements...then both (1) and (2) are clearly sufficient....don't even need to touch your scratchpaper if you don't want to!
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Strategy note: we were told the base salary in the question stem. Thus, both statements are giving us the EXACT SAME information. Either that information is or else it is not sufficient. Thus, in this situation, the answer will be either D or E.
Kaplan Teacher in Toronto