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

Redeem

Last school year, each of the 200 students

Expert replies
by jjjinapinch » Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:47 am

Timer

00:00

Answers

A

B

C

D

E

Stats

Difficulty

Last school year, each of the 200 students at a certain high school attended the school for the entire year. If there were 8 cultural performances at the school during the last school year, what was the average (arithmetic mean) number of students attending each cultural performance?
(1) Last school year, each student attending at least one cultural performance
(2) Last school year, the average number of cultural performance attended per student was 4.

Official Guide question
Answer: B
Join the discussion
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed Aug 02, 2017 11:28 am
jjjinapinch wrote:Last school year, each of the 200 students at a certain high school attended the school for the entire year. If there were 8 cultural performances at the school during the last school year, what was the average (arithmetic mean) number of students attending each cultural performance?
(1) Last school year, each student attending at least one cultural performance
(2) Last school year, the average number of cultural performance attended per student was 4.

Official Guide question
Answer: B
Target question: What was the average (arithmetic mean) number of students attending each cultural performance?

Given: 200 students. 8 cultural performances

Statement 1: Last school year, each student attending at least one cultural performance
There are several scenarios that satisfy statement 1. Here are two:
Case a: every student attended exactly 1 performance last year. So, the TOTAL attendance was 200 last year, which means the average number of attendees for each performance = 200/8 = 25
Case b: every student attended exactly 2 performances last year. So, the TOTAL attendance was 400 last year, which means the average number of attendees for each performance = 400/8 = 50
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: Last school year, the average number of cultural performance attended per student was 4.
So, the TOTAL attendance was last year = (200)(4) = 800
This means the average number of attendees for each performance = 800/8 = 100
Since we can answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is SUFFICIENT

Answer: B

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
Image
Join the discussion

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Fri Nov 17, 2017 11:50 am
jjjinapinch wrote:Last school year, each of the 200 students at a certain high school attended the school for the entire year. If there were 8 cultural performances at the school during the last school year, what was the average (arithmetic mean) number of students attending each cultural performance?
(1) Last school year, each student attending at least one cultural performance
(2) Last school year, the average number of cultural performance attended per student was 4.
We are given that there are 200 students and 8 cultural performances. We need to determine the average number of students attending each cultural performance. Thus, we need to know the total attendance of the 8 performances. For example, if we know the total attendance of the 8 performances is 1,000, then the average number of students per performance is 1,000/8 = 125.

Statement One Alone:

Last school year, each student attended at least one cultural performance.

Although we know that each student attended at least one cultural performance, we do not know the total attendance at the 8 performances, and thus we cannot determine the average number of students per performance. Statement one alone is not sufficient to answer the question.

Statement Two Alone:

Last school year, the average number of cultural performance attended per student was 4.

Since the average number of cultural performances per student was 4 and there were 200 students, the total attendance at the 8 performances was 200 x 4 = 800, and thus the average number of students per performance was 800/8 = 100.

Answer: B

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]

Image

See why Target Test Prep is rated 5 out of 5 stars on BEAT the GMAT. Read our reviews

ImageImage
Join the discussion

by olilondon » Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:19 pm
Hi!
How do you know in S2 that all the 200 students attended at least one performance? It would have been different if from the average of 4, the student attended to at least one performance were 100, thus (4)(100)=400. 400/8= 50.
You need S1 to confirm the number of attendees that at least participated from 1 cultural performance.
Thanks in advance.
Join the discussion

by [email protected] » Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:19 pm
olilondon wrote:Hi!
How do you know in S2 that all the 200 students attended at least one performance? It would have been different if from the average of 4, the student attended to at least one performance were 100, thus (4)(100)=400. 400/8= 50.
You need S1 to confirm the number of attendees that at least participated from 1 cultural performance.
Thanks in advance.
Hi olilondon,

The initial data in the prompt tells us that there are 200 students in the school and 8 performances. The information in Fact 2 tells us that the average number of performances attended PER STUDENT (meaning "per student in the school") was 4. By extension, that means that total number of student-attendances was (200)(4) = 800. Regardless of whether 100 students attended 8 performances each, 200 students attended 4 performances each, etc., the average number of attendees PER EVENT would be 800/8 = 100. Thus, Fact 2 is sufficient.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Join the discussion