Cotto Toy Store sells Product X and Product Y at two

[BTGmoderatorDC]

Cotto Toy Store sells Product X and Product Y at two different regular prices. During a sale, both products are discounted. Is the sale price of Product X greater than the sale price of Product Y ?

1. Product X is discounted by $3 and Product Y is discounted by $8.

2. Product X is discounted by 20% and Product Y is discounted by 40%.

OA C

Source: Princeton Review

[Ian Stewart]

Neither Statement is sufficient alone, because if the initial price of X is enormously larger than the initial price of Y, using either Statement alone, the discounted price of X will remain larger, and similarly if the initial price of Y is vastly larger than that of X, so will be Y's discounted price.

Using the two Statements together, we can find each price, whether before or after discount, so we can answer any question at all about the prices. For example, if a $3 discount on price X is also a 20% discount, then 3 is 20% of X's original price, and X must cost $15 before discount. So the answer is C (if you do the work, it turns out that the prices are both $12 here after discount, but that doesn't affect the answer).