Salesman pay and commission

[BlueDragon2010]

Each week a certain salesman is paid a fixed about equal to $300, plus a commission equal to 5 percent of the amount of his sales that week over $1,000. What is the total amount the salesman was paid last week?

1) The total amount the salesman was paid last week is equal to 10 percent of the amount of his sales last week.

2) The salesman's sales last week totaled $5,000

[Patrick_GMATFix]

The 2nd statement is clearly sufficient, and the first allows us to write an equation in which "Sales" is the only variable, so it will also be sufficient. I go through the question in detail in the full solution below (taken from the GMATFix App).



-Patrick

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Hi BlueDragon2010

The information in the prompt provides enough information for us to create an equation for the salesman's pay: $300 + a 5% commission on any sales above $1000

300 + .05(X - 1000)

**It's important to note that if he sells less than $1000, there is no "penalty" (meaning that he won't lose money if he sells just $500).

The question asks for the amount the salesman was paid last week.

Fact 1: The salesman's pay last week = 10% of the total sales last week.

With this information, we can create a new equation...

.1X = 300 + .05(X - 1000)

This equation has just one variable, so we CAN solve it and there will be just one answer.
Fact 1 is SUFFICIENT

Fact 2: Total sales last week = $5,000

We can plug this info into the original equation and answer the question.
Fact 2 is SUFFICIENT

Final Answer: D

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich