a basic question

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a basic question

by tohellandback » Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:40 am
when we say even numbers, Can we consider negative numbers too?
same question regarding multiples. can we consider negative numbers as multiples of a positive number?


I used to think "NO" as the answer to both the questions and then I saw this:

What is the sum of the numbers in a list of m even integers?

(1) The largest integer on the list is 12.

(2) The list consists of 6 consecutive multiples of 4.

and the OA is C
The powers of two are bloody impolite!!

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by sreak1089 » Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:08 am
I also used to think that even numbers or odd numbers are only positive. But when I attended my GMAT class, first thing that my GMAT instructor told me that in GMAT, even numbers or odd numbers could be both +ve and -ve. The key word in the question below is "integer" hence even number can be both +ve or -ve.

Regarding your second question, I guess yes -ve no. can be considered as multiple of +ve no. as long as it has another -ve factor also.

Regarding the question, sum of m even "integers" can be obtained by both statements as -8 + -4 + 0 + 4 + 8 + 12 = 12.

Hence, C is the answer.