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# At a certain college there are twice as many english majors

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At a certain college there are twice as many english majors [#permalink]

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22 Oct 2009, 14:11
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66% (01:46) correct 34% (00:30) wrong based on 302 sessions

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At a certain college there are twice as many English majors as history majors and three times as many English majors as mathematics majors. What is the ratio of the number of history majors to the number of mathematics majors?

A. 6 to 1
B. 3 to 2
C. 2 to 3
D. 1 to 5
E. 1 to 6

[Reveal] Spoiler:
Hi,

I have a problem reading such questions.

Does it mean for each one English major, there are 2 history majors and 3 math majors?
or is it for every one history major there are 2 english majors and for each math major, there are 3 english ones.

[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

Last edited by Bunuel on 17 Dec 2013, 00:48, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic, edited the question and added the OA.
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Re: how to read math questions in English? [#permalink]

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26 Oct 2009, 11:04
This is how I translated the question:

At a certain college there are twice as many english majors as history majors
E = 2H

and three times as many english majors as mathematics majors.

E = 3M

What is the ratio of the number of history majors to the number of mathematics majors?

What is H:M?

Just set E equal to each other to get the ratio in terms of H and M.

2H = 3M
H/M = 3/2

The answer is 3:2

Last edited by GMATBootcamp on 27 Oct 2009, 21:17, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: how to read math questions in English? [#permalink]

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27 Oct 2009, 16:16
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At a certain college there are twice as many english majors as history majors and three times as many english majors as mathematics majors. What is the ratio of the number of history majors to the number of mathematics majors?

Think above is not correct, though the final answer IS correct. But again there is a mistake in calculations, if it were as it's written above answer would be 2/3. So there are two mistakes in the solution, one in ratio translation and the second in calculation.

At a certain college there are twice as many english majors as history majors:
E = 2H (as there are MORE english majors)

and three times as many english majors as mathematics majors:
E = 3M (as there are MORE english majors)

What is the ratio of the number of history majors to the number of mathematics majors?
What is $$\frac{H}{M}$$?

$$H=\frac{E}{2}$$, $$M=\frac{E}{3}$$ --> $$\frac{H}{M}=\frac{3}{2}$$

Answer: B.
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Re: how to read math questions in English? [#permalink]

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27 Oct 2009, 17:19
HAHA you are right. I can't believe I did that. Just goes to show you how two wrongs can make a right?

Kudos to you sir, thanks for pointing out my blunder.
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Re: how to read math questions in English? [#permalink]

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16 Dec 2013, 18:20
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Re: At a certain college there are twice as many english majors [#permalink]

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15 Feb 2015, 09:56
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

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Re: At a certain college there are twice as many english majors [#permalink]

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15 Feb 2015, 13:35
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Hi All,

Since this question just describes how 1 variables relates to 2 other variables, we can TEST VALUES to put those relationships in terms of real numbers...

We're told that:
1) There are TWICE as many English majors as History majors.
2) There are THREE TIMES as many English majors as Math majors.

Since, the number of English majors is 2 times a number and 3 times another number, let's choose...

English majors = 6

Using the two given facts, we have....

History majors = 3
Math majors = 2

The question asks for the ratio of the number of History majors to the number of Math majors. Using the numbers above, we have...

H:M
3:2

Final Answer:
[Reveal] Spoiler:
B

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Re: At a certain college there are twice as many english majors [#permalink]

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12 Jan 2016, 12:57
I've seen different solutions to this exercise. I wanted to share how I approached it. I looked for the unknown multiplier.
This is what I wrote down:

E : H : M
2 : 1 : ?
3 : ? : 1

Multiplied line 1 by 3
Multiplied line 2 by 2

The combined ratio is
E : H : M
6 : 3 : 2

Therefore, the ratio of H : M is 3 : 2

Hope it helps!
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Re: At a certain college there are twice as many english majors [#permalink]

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19 Jan 2017, 08:07
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

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Re: At a certain college there are twice as many english majors   [#permalink] 19 Jan 2017, 08:07
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