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Word Problem

by Aman verma » Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:24 am
Q: A shopkeeper told me when I asked about the total number of cellphones in his shop , that he had all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3. The number of cellphones he had is

a)24

b) 256







Note: Unfortunately, I don't have all the options ; only had a portion of the problem. But all I know that the answer is definitely determinable and none of the above ,unfortunately don't have the answer either. Can anybody find the correct answer.
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:25 am
hmmm...you can't do this unless you are leaving out information. Without the total number of phone of each brand, you cannot determine this.
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by harsh.champ » Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:58 am
Aman verma wrote:Q: A shopkeeper told me when I asked about the total number of cellphones in his shop , that he had all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3. The number of cellphones he had is

a)24

b) 256







Note: Unfortunately, I don't have all the options ; only had a portion of the problem. But all I know that the answer is definitely determinable and none of the above ,unfortunately don't have the answer either. Can anybody find the correct answer.
Well,it is quite apparent that he had 4 cellphones:-1 of each brand.
Hence,it will satisfy the statement:-
all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3
So, the answer will be 4.

Note:-I am assuming that a cellphone belongs to a unique brand and no partnership is there among the companies.
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:02 pm
LMAO...hahahhahahahahha. You know what, continue to cheat, you definitely need that class...wow..lol
harsh.champ wrote:
Aman verma wrote:Q: A shopkeeper told me when I asked about the total number of cellphones in his shop , that he had all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3. The number of cellphones he had is

a)24

b) 256







Note: Unfortunately, I don't have all the options ; only had a portion of the problem. But all I know that the answer is definitely determinable and none of the above ,unfortunately don't have the answer either. Can anybody find the correct answer.
Well,it is quite apparent that he had 4 cellphones:-1 of each brand.
Hence,it will satisfy the statement:-
all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3
So, the answer will be 4.

Note:-I am assuming that a cellphone belongs to a unique brand and no partnership is there among the companies.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html

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by money9111 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:06 pm
Aman verma can you state where you got this question from? It seems as though there's some confusion... is this a GMAT question? even if this post doesn't count towards my contest post count.. i'm curious now..

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by beatthegmat » Thu Feb 18, 2010 4:44 pm
Please keep the discussion civil, guys. Remember, we're all here to learn and encourage each other!
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by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Thu Feb 18, 2010 6:55 pm
Aman verma wrote:Q: A shopkeeper told me when I asked about the total number of cellphones in his shop , that he had all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3. The number of cellphones he had is

a)24

b) 256
There are two possible correct answers.

He could have 3 cellphones that are none of the above, or he could have 1 of each brand; so, the answer could be 3 or 4.

If we know that those are the only 4 brands that he carries, then the answer is 4 (1 of each).

This isn't a real GMAT question, since the GMAT doesn't use brand names.
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by money9111 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 7:14 pm
lolol well that explains it Stuart thanks!
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by Aman verma » Fri Feb 19, 2010 2:31 am
Stuart Kovinsky wrote:
Aman verma wrote:Q: A shopkeeper told me when I asked about the total number of cellphones in his shop , that he had all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3. The number of cellphones he had is

a)24

b) 256
There are two possible correct answers.

He could have 3 cellphones that are none of the above, or he could have 1 of each brand; so, the answer could be 3 or 4.

If we know that those are the only 4 brands that he carries, then the answer is 4 (1 of each).

This isn't a real GMAT question, since the GMAT doesn't use brand names.
Well !! Let me clarify. The question just mentioned A,B,C,D instead of the brand names ,I just plugged in those names for the sake of easy understanding and solving ,otherwise students might have got confused in A,B,C,D. I generally never make any changes to the questions & post them as they are. Did that only for the sake of simplicity in solving.
Also,GMAC does not allow posting of actual GMAT questions on the Net.
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by harsh.champ » Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:16 am
Stuart Kovinsky wrote:
Aman verma wrote:Q: A shopkeeper told me when I asked about the total number of cellphones in his shop , that he had all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3. The number of cellphones he had is

a)24

b) 256
There are two possible correct answers.

He could have 3 cellphones that are none of the above, or he could have 1 of each brand; so, the answer could be 3 or 4.

If we know that those are the only 4 brands that he carries, then the answer is 4 (1 of each).

This isn't a real GMAT question, since the GMAT doesn't use brand names.
Hey stuart,
I didn't understand the 2nd answer.
How could he have 3 cellphones?It doesn't satisfy all the conditions listed in the question.
I think the only answer should be 4.
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by Aman verma » Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:04 am
harsh.champ wrote:
Stuart Kovinsky wrote:
Aman verma wrote:Q: A shopkeeper told me when I asked about the total number of cellphones in his shop , that he had all Sony Erickson except 3,all Nokia except 3,all Samsung except 3 and all L.G except 3. The number of cellphones he had is

a)24

b) 256
There are two possible correct answers.

He could have 3 cellphones that are none of the above, or he could have 1 of each brand; so, the answer could be 3 or 4.

If we know that those are the only 4 brands that he carries, then the answer is 4 (1 of each).

This isn't a real GMAT question, since the GMAT doesn't use brand names.
Hey stuart,
I didn't understand the 2nd answer.
How could he have 3 cellphones?It doesn't satisfy all the conditions listed in the question.
I think the only answer should be 4.
On this account I will definitely like to go with Harsh.champ. The logic of the question do lend itsself to an[/spoiler]Ans. 4[spoiler].Though I don't have the solution or the Ans. with me.
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by lunarpower » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:09 am
Stuart said:
There are two possible correct answers.

He could have 3 cellphones that are none of the above, or he could have 1 of each brand; so, the answer could be 3 or 4.

If we know that those are the only 4 brands that he carries, then the answer is 4 (1 of each).

This isn't a real GMAT question, since the GMAT doesn't use brand names.
ha! nicely done re: "3 cell phones that are none of the above".

two comments to add:

(1) the gmat will NEVER write problems that use intentionally deceptive / confusing wording. here are some examples of what i mean - all totally legitimate from a purely mathematical standpoint, but too "tricky" for the test:
* saying "all but 3 of the items are..." when there are only 3 items in the set
* saying "ALL of the items in the set" when there is only 1 item in the set
* testing whether 0, -5, -10, etc. are "multiples of 5"
* etc.

even if one of these were to sneak onto the test, it would be purged from the test after its experimental (provisional) period, since it wouldn't produce the correct profile of correct/incorrect answers from students.

(2) the gmat will NEVER include a "gimmick problem" such as this one. this problem is too long on verbal legerdemain (trying to confuse the test taker), and too short on actual mathematical insight.

this problem is absolutely useless as preparation for the gmat. nothing to see here - move on.
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by harsh.champ » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:52 am
lunarpower wrote:Stuart said:
There are two possible correct answers.

He could have 3 cellphones that are none of the above, or he could have 1 of each brand; so, the answer could be 3 or 4.

If we know that those are the only 4 brands that he carries, then the answer is 4 (1 of each).

This isn't a real GMAT question, since the GMAT doesn't use brand names.
ha! nicely done re: "3 cell phones that are none of the above".

two comments to add:

(1) the gmat will NEVER write problems that use intentionally deceptive / confusing wording. here are some examples of what i mean - all totally legitimate from a purely mathematical standpoint, but too "tricky" for the test:
* saying "all but 3 of the items are..." when there are only 3 items in the set
* saying "ALL of the items in the set" when there is only 1 item in the set
* testing whether 0, -5, -10, etc. are "multiples of 5"
* etc.

even if one of these were to sneak onto the test, it would be purged from the test after its experimental (provisional) period, since it wouldn't produce the correct profile of correct/incorrect answers from students.

(2) the gmat will NEVER include a "gimmick problem" such as this one. this problem is too long on verbal legerdemain (trying to confuse the test taker), and too short on actual mathematical insight.

this problem is absolutely useless as preparation for the gmat. nothing to see here - move on.
Hey lunarpower,
Agreed- this ques. can never come in the GMAT.
But just for the sake of it,I don't get how the answer can be 3.
Just look at each of the statements in the original ques.??
Can you plz explain how answer can be 3 as said by stuart??
Thanks!
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by lunarpower » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:12 am
harsh.champ wrote: Agreed- this ques. can never come in the GMAT.
But just for the sake of it,I don't get how the answer can be 3.
Just look at each of the statements in the original ques.??
Can you plz explain how answer can be 3 as said by stuart??
Thanks!
the REAL answer to this question is "don't worry about it - it's not gmat-like at all and is a COMPLETE waste of your time."



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if you still care, even though it's a COMPLETE waste of your time:

imagine that you have three phones made by Lunarpower Corp.
then it's true that "all but three of them are made by LG", since "all but three" is ... zero.
same for the other statements.

again, it is a COMPLETE waste of your time to be thinking about this sort of "tricky language".

hope that helps :)
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