How many men are in a certain company's vanpool program?

[BTGmoderatorDC]

How many men are in a certain company's vanpool program?

(1) The ratio of men to women in the program is 3 to 2.
(2) The men and women in the program fill 6 vans.

OA E

Source: Official Guide

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

How many men are in a certain company's vanpool program?

(1) The ratio of men to women in the program is 3 to 2.
(2) The men and women in the program fill 6 vans.

Target question: How many men are in a certain company's vanpool program?

Statement 1: The ratio of men to women in the program is 3 to 2.
Let's TEST some values.
There are several scenarios that satisfy statement 1. Here are two:
Case a: There are 3 men and 2 women in the program. In this case, the answer to the target question is there are 3 men in the program
Case b: There are 6 men and 4 women in the program. In this case, the answer to the target question is there are 6 men in the program
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: The men and women in the program fill 6 vans.
This information cannot help us answer the target question.
Statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statements 1 and 2 combined
Since we're given no information about the number of people that can be seated in each van, it could be the case that some vans are empty, or it could be the case that some vans hold millions of people.
So, there are infinitely many possible scenarios. Here are two:
Case a: There are 3 men and 2 women in the program. In this case, the answer to the target question is there are 3 men in the program
Case b: There are 6 men and 4 women in the program. In this case, the answer to the target question is there are 6 men in the program
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer: E

Cheers,
Brent

[Scott@TargetTestPrep]

How many men are in a certain company's vanpool program?

(1) The ratio of men to women in the program is 3 to 2.
(2) The men and women in the program fill 6 vans.

OA E

Source: Official Guide

Solution:

Question Stem Analysis:

We need to determine the number of men in a certain company's vanpool program.

Statement One Alone:

Since we don’t know the number of women in the vanpool program, knowing the ratio of men to women does not allow us to determine the number of men in the program. Statement one alone is not sufficient.

Statement Two Alone:

Knowing the number of vans in the vanpool program does not allow us to determine the number of men in the program. Statement two alone is not sufficient.

Statements One and Two Together:

Knowing both the ratio of men to women and the number of vans in the vanpool program still would not allow us to determine the number of men in the program. Both statements together are not sufficient.

Answer: E