10 freshmen analysts are finishing up their first year with Merrill Barney Brothers. Every Monday morning for the past 52 weeks, each intern was called individually into a meeting of partners and asked whether each of a handpicked group of stocks would go either up or down during the week. All of the analysts made their decisions independently. The partners used the analysts' predictions to assist them in setting the weekly strategy for the thousands of brokers throughout the country. At the end of each week, each analyst's performance was recorded and tracked. After 52 grueling weeks, analyst Stolyar had the best percentage, correctly predicting the rise or fall of his stocks 68% of the time, an outstanding performance in a profession where getting anything more than 55% correct was considered great. At the other end of the scale, analyst Curly consistently got only a dismal 10% or less correct week after week. When bonuses were awarded, as expected, Stolyar was generously rewarded by the partners. However, to Stolyar's dismay, the partners gave Curly by far the highest bonus of all.

Which of the following is the most plausible explanation of what prompted the board to make its decision?

(A) Curly was related to two of the partners and was also the president's son. No one else was related.
(B) Curly worked more hours than anyone, was always that last one to leave the office, and constantly did extra chores for the partners, something the partners clearly appreciated.
(C) Although Curly had a dismay track record, his winning picks rose on average three times as much as those of any other analyst.
(D) Curly was heard to complain that he was overworked and underpaid, and the partners thought that he was about to resign.
(E) Curly always had an impeccably well-research and documented rationale for each of his picks, regardless of the results, which impressed the partners immensely.

This is a terrible question and you'll never find something of this quality on the real GMAT.

C

the oa is even funnier

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