BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Orphaned Socks

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 758
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:32 pm
Location: Bangalore,India
Thanked: 67 times
Followed by:2 members

Orphaned Socks

by sumanr84 » Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:20 am
From a drawer containing black, blue and gray solid-color socks, including at least three socks of each color, how many matched pairs can be removed?

(1) The drawer contains 11 socks.

(2) The drawer contains an equal number of black and gray socks.

Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient.
Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient.
Both statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER one ALONE is sufficient.
EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.
Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient.

MGMAT ( 600-700)

Help : - what option do you guys generally guess in DS questions when there is abs no clue ?
I am on a break !!
Top
Source: — Data Sufficiency |
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1578
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 am
Thanked: 128 times
Followed by:34 members
GMAT Score:760

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:25 am
I would choose E

(1) Insufficient: We know that there are at least 3 of each sock. By the statement telling us that there are 11 socks, we do not know if the last two socks are a pair. Eliminate A and D

(2) Insufficient: there could be 3 black socks and 3 gray socks, or there could be four of each. Without knowing anything about the number of blue socks or the exact number of black and gray socks, we can't answer the question. Eliminate B.

(1) and (2) Insufficient: We still do not know how many pairs are in the drawer. Lets say there are 3 black socks 3 gray socks, that would mean that there are 4 blue socks, which would mean that there are 4 pairs. But lets say that there are 4 black socks, 4 gray socks, and 3 blue socks. That would mean that there are 5 pairs. Thus both statements are insufficient. Choose E



When guessing, and I feel that the question is a higher level question, I usually look to choose one of the answer choices or D. I read in Princeton Review that the higher level DS questions have a higher percentage chance of being A, B, or D.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html

Brandon Dorsey
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep

Buy any Veritas Prep book(s) and receive access to 5 Practice Cats for free! Learn More.
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1275
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:13 pm
Location: Arabian Sea
Thanked: 125 times
Followed by:2 members

by ajith » Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:24 am
sumanr84 wrote:From a drawer containing black, blue and gray solid-color socks, including at least three socks of each color, how many matched pairs can be removed?

(1) The drawer contains 11 socks.

(2) The drawer contains an equal number of black and gray socks.


MGMAT ( 600-700)

Help : - what option do you guys generally guess in DS questions when there is abs no clue ?
Help first - I go for C

1) insufficient - we do not know the composition

2) insufficient - to determine the composition

A&B together also fails to give the no of gray black and blue socks - 3,3, 5 or 4,4,3 both are possible

E
Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn't expect to be paid back.
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2623
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:17 am
Location: Montreal
Thanked: 1090 times
Followed by:355 members
GMAT Score:780

by Ian Stewart » Fri Feb 12, 2010 12:19 pm
osirus0830 wrote: I read in Princeton Review that the higher level DS questions have a higher percentage chance of being A, B, or D.
I've heard of a few guessing strategies like this over the years, and they are all completely useless. There's a published research report which explains how carefully answer choice frequency is controlled on the GMAT, and they've made sure that any strategy as simplistic as 'guess D!' is not going to improve your score -- you'll get the right answer 20% of the time, just as you will if you guess E or B.

If you're stuck on a question, but have some understanding of what it's asking, you can almost always eliminate some answer choices; that's a much better idea than guessing D and moving on.
For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

ianstewartgmat.com
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3650
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:27 am
Location: India
Thanked: 267 times
Followed by:80 members
GMAT Score:760

by sanju09 » Sat Feb 13, 2010 5:47 am
sumanr84 wrote:From a drawer containing black, blue and gray solid-color socks, including at least three socks of each color, how many matched pairs can be removed?

(1) The drawer contains 11 socks.

(2) The drawer contains an equal number of black and gray socks.

Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient.
Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient.
Both statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER one ALONE is sufficient.
EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.
Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient.

MGMAT ( 600-700)

Help : - what option do you guys generally guess in DS questions when there is abs no clue ?
The minimum number of socks in the drawer is 9, when 3 socks of each color are there. So long, only 3 matched pairs can be removed. Not sure, really.

(1) The 2 odd socks generate only two possibilities, one is same color and the other is otherwise. This could make the number of possible removals to be 4 or 5, respectively. Insufficient

(2) This is howling about some bring in right till the end. Insufficient

Taken together, now it's known that the drawer contains 11 socks with the following possible distributions:

3 Black, 5 Blue, 3 Gray OR 4 Black, 3 Blue, 4 Gray

4 matched pairs OR 5 matched pairs

Still insufficient

[spoiler]E[/spoiler]

Ian's tips are really worth a note. No wild guesses on GMAT. Never rely on flukes on GMAT. Just let the best part of brain be at work even in the difficulties during the test. Never panic on test, rather be steady and focused on the enchanted road of this test. Every best
The mind is everything. What you think you become. -Lord Buddha



Sanjeev K Saxena
Quantitative Instructor
The Princeton Review - Manya Abroad
Lucknow-226001

www.manyagroup.com
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1