Can vs. does?

[fltingley]

Can the positive integer a be written as the sum of 2 different prime numbers?

(1) a is greater than 5.

(2) a + 1 is even.

Kaplan's answer: E
My answer: B




Correct me if I am wrong here, but doesn't the question say "CAN", not "DOES"?

The way I see it, B tells me that variable a is odd, which means that 2 + 3 = 5. This tells me that (2) CAN be true.

However, Kaplan says the following:

"Statement (2) says that a is odd, which is insufficient because some odd numbers are the sum of two different primes and others are not. For example, 5 is the sum of two different primes (3 + 2), but 11 is not. Eliminate (B)."

Seems to me that Kaplan's question refers to CAN and the explanation/answer points to DOES.

Am I reading this incorrectly or is Kaplan sloppy with their language here?

[shibal]

When I first read it and came up with a quick answer I also said B, however when I read Kaplan's explanation and tough a little bit more and I realized I was wrong: the correct answer is actually E. My mistake was that I had the a and the 5 in my mind and when I read stmt (2) I only saw that 5 was the sum of two different primes (3 + 2)... Maybe it's happening the same to you....

[fltingley]

Shibal- I think you just proved my point. Since "B" can be fulfilled with 2 prime numbers, it should be correct.


I am rationalizing it as meaning that "can" means it is ABLE to be and "does" mean is HAS to be.

Since this question asks "Can", I would say, yes, it does, making B correct.

[2010gmat]

2.) a + 1 is even

a = 3, can it be written?

a = 7, it can be.

E is the right answer...My answer was A ..

1.) a is > 5....how do we solve this??

7,8,9, 10 etc all fit into the scheme of things (2+5, 3+5, 2+7, 3+7) ; i didn't checked 11...i simply checked 61 --> 2+59 ...i missed 11...and 11 is one such no. which does not fit into this pattern...any proven technique to solve such questions???