BTGModeratorVI wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 06, 2020 5:43 pm

Two teams, X and Y, played against each other in a tournament for the championship. In the tournament the team that scored the greater number of points in a game won that game. If the first team to win 4 games became the champion, did Team X become the champion?

1) In the tournament, Team X scored more than twice as many points as Team Y.
2) The championship was decided after five games.

Answer: E
Source: GMAT Paper Tests

Given: In the tournament the team that scored the greater number of points in a game won that game. The first team to win 4 games became the champion

Target question: Did team X become the champion?

When I SCAN the two statements, they both feel insufficient, AND I’m pretty sure I can identify some cases with conflicting answers to the target question. So, I’m going to head straight to……

Statements 1 and 2 combined
There are several values of scenarios that satisfy BOTH statements. Here are two:
Case a: Team X wins first game 100-0, and then team Y wins each of the next 4 games (1-0). So, Team X's total points = 100, and Team Y's total points = 4. This meets both Statements 1 and 2. In this case, the answer to the target question is Team X did NOT win the championship
Case b: Team Y wins first game 1-0, and then team X wins each of the next 4 games (1-0). So, Team X's total points = 4, and Team Y's total points = 1. This meets both Statements 1 and 2. In this case, the answer to the target question is Team X DID win the championship
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer: E

Cheers,
Brent