a rather hard one

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tanviet: Legendary Member; Posts: 1404; Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 6:55 pm; Thanked: 18 times; Followed by:2 members

a rather hard one

by tanviet » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:18 am

a construction company was paid a total of $500 000 for a construction project. The company's only costs for the project were for labor and materials. Was the company's profit for the project greater than $150 000

1, the company's total cost was three times its cost for materials

2, the company's profit was greater than its cost for labor

pls help with this

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:18 am

bluementor: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 418; Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:29 am; Thanked: 65 times

by bluementor » Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:21 am

L = labor
M = materials
P = profit

500,000 = L + M + P

Is P>150,000?

Statement 1:
L + M = 3M
L = 2M

500,000 = 2M + M + P
500,000 = 3M + P

if M = 150,000, P < 150,000
if M = 50, 000, P > 150,000. Insufficient.

Statement 2:
P > L

P > 500,000 - M - P
2P > 500,000 - M
P > 250,000 - M/2

again, no info on M. Insufficient.

Both statements together:
L = 2M
P>L

500,000 - L - M > L
500,000 > 2L + M
500,000> 5M
M < 100,000

so at most, M can be 99,999.99. Lets round this to 100,000.

500,000 = L + M + P
500,000 = 3M + P
P = 200,000

we can firmly conclude that P>150,000. Sufficient.

Choose C.

-BM-

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austin: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 110; Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:12 am; Location: India; Thanked: 9 times; Followed by:1 members

by austin » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:33 am

Great explanation by BM!!!

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cubicle_bound_misfit: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 246; Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 7:34 am; Location: Texaco Gas Station; Thanked: 7 times