GMAT Prep Question

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GMAT Prep Question

by markncasidsid » Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:46 pm
For a certain race, three teams were allowed to enter 3 members each. A team earned 6-n points whenever one of its members finished in nth place, where 1 <= n <= 5. There were no ties, disqualifications, or withdrawals If no team earned more than 6 points, what is the least possible score a team could have earned?

a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 3
e. 4

Tnx a lot! :D
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Dec 28, 2012 6:06 pm
markncasidsid wrote:For a certain race, three teams were allowed to enter 3 members each. A team earned 6-n points whenever one of its members finished in nth place, where 1 <= n <= 5. There were no ties, disqualifications, or withdrawals If no team earned more than 6 points, what is the least possible score a team could have earned?

a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 3
e. 4
nth place = 6-n points.
Thus:
1st place = 6-1 = 5 points.
2nd place = 6-2 = 4 points.
3rd place = 6-3 = 3 points.
4th place = 6-4 = 2 points.
5th place = 6-5 = 1 point.

Let the 3 teams be A, B and C.

To MINIMIZE the number of points that Team C could earn, we must MAXIMIZE the number of points that Teams A and B earn.
The maximum allowed total per team = 6.
It's possible that Team A wins 1st and 5th places (for a total of 6 points) and that Team B wins 2nd and 4th places (for a total of 6 points) -- the MAXIMUM allowed sum for each team.
Thus, the MINIMUM number of points that could be earned by team C -- winning only 3rd place -- is 3.

The correct answer is D.
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by Anurag@Gurome » Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:51 pm
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