What percent of the children in the class are holding a

[AAPL]

Economist GMAT

What percent of the children in the class are holding a Popsicle?

1) Half of the girls in the class are holding a Popsicle.
2) Half of the boys in the class are holding a Popsicle.

OA C

[Ian Stewart]

The answer is instantly C or E, since we'll need to know about both boys and girls. Using both statements, we have a standard weighted average situation. If k% of boys and m% of girls are holding a popsicle, then somewhere between k% and m% of the group as a whole is holding a popsicle, where the overall percentage will be closer to k% the more boys we have (as a fraction of the total). So somewhere between 50% and 50% of the group is holding a popsicle, and the answer must be 50%, so the answer is C.

If the two fractions were different here, the answer would be E, unless we had information about the ratio of boys to girls in the class (or any equivalent information).