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# If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did  Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Author Message TAGS: GMAT Club team member Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 11532 Followers: 1795 Kudos [?]: 9553 [0], given: 826 If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  30 Jul 2012, 02:23
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88% (01:41) correct 11% (00:57) wrong based on 4 sessions
The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 13th Edition - Quantitative Questions Project

If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month? (1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. (2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Practice Questions Question: 10 Page: 275 Difficulty: 650 GMAT Club is introducing a new project: The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 13th Edition - Quantitative Questions Project Each week we'll be posting several questions from The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 13th Edition and then after couple of days we'll provide Official Answer (OA) to them along with a slution. We'll be glad if you participate in development of this project: 1. Please provide your solutions to the questions; 2. Please vote for the best solutions by pressing Kudos button; 3. Please vote for the questions themselves by pressing Kudos button; 4. Please share your views on difficulty level of the questions, so that we have most precise evaluation. Thank you! [Reveal] Spoiler: OA _________________  Kaplan Promo Code Knewton GMAT Discount Codes Veritas Prep GMAT Discount Codes GMAT Club team member Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 11532 Followers: 1795 Kudos [?]: 9553 [0], given: 826 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  30 Jul 2012, 02:23
SOLUTION

If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month? Let E be Pat's earnings last month. (1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. Pat spent \frac{E}{2}, so E-\frac{E}{2}=\frac{E}{2} remained. We are told that 1/3 of that amount, or \frac{E}{6}, was saved. Since we know that Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, then we have that \frac{E}{6}=600 --> E=3,600. Sufficient.

(2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Since Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, then he paid 2*$600=$1,200 in taxes. But this info is not sufficient to determine Pat's earnings last month. Answer: A. _________________ Manager Joined: 28 Sep 2011 Posts: 64 Location: United States GMAT 1: 520 Q34 V27 GMAT 2: 550 Q V GMAT 3: 690 Q47 V38 GPA: 3.01 WE: Information Technology (Commercial Banking) Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 10 [0], given: 5 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  30 Jul 2012, 20:41
I'm going to go with
[Reveal] Spoiler:
A
.

He spent 1/2 of his earnings and he saved 1/3 of the remaining 1/2 --> 1/6E = 600
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Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 31 Jul 2012, 02:32 The question asks us to find the Pat's earnings. Let us assume the Variable E for his earnings. Statement (1): From the Information given we can set up the equation: (1/3) (E*(1/2))= 600. E can be calculated (E= 3600). -> SUFFICIENT Statement (2): This statement only tells us that the amount of tax he payed was twice the amount of money he saved. This information does not help us calculate Pat's earnings.-> NOT SUFFICIENT Ans(A). GMAT Club team member Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 11532 Followers: 1795 Kudos [?]: 9553 [0], given: 826 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  03 Aug 2012, 06:24
SOLUTION

If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did Pat earn last month? Let E be Pat's earnings last month. (1) Pat spent 1/2 of his earnings last month for living expenses and saved 1/3 of the remainder. Pat spent \frac{E}{2}, so E-\frac{E}{2}=\frac{E}{2} remained. We are told that 1/3 of that amount, or \frac{E}{6}, was saved. Since we know that Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, then we have that \frac{E}{6}=600 --> E=3,600. Sufficient.

(2) Of his earnings last month, Pat paid twice as much in taxes as he saved. Since Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, then he paid 2*$600=$1,200 in taxes. But this info is not sufficient to determine Pat's earnings last month. Answer: A. _________________ Manager Joined: 14 Dec 2011 Posts: 52 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 2 [0], given: 34 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 04:20
Hi Bunuel,

I was just researching on this question and got your explanation. I got why (A) is correct. But I didn't understand B. I thought (B) was also the correct answer, so eventually i selected D, which was incorrect.

So, here's my reasoning for (B). I want to know where i am going wrong.

Pat saved $600, and paid$1200 for taxes. If Earnings= Taxes + Savings, then Earnings= $1800. Were there any expenses that i could have assumed in (B) ? Because in (A), the explanation says there were expenses, so (A) is clear. Thanks & Regards Vinni GMAT Club team member Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 11532 Followers: 1795 Kudos [?]: 9553 [1] , given: 826 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 04:30
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vinnik wrote:
Hi Bunuel,

I was just researching on this question and got your explanation. I got why (A) is correct. But I didn't understand B. I thought (B) was also the correct answer, so eventually i selected D, which was incorrect.

So, here's my reasoning for (B). I want to know where i am going wrong.

Pat saved $600, and paid$1200 for taxes. If Earnings= Taxes + Savings, then Earnings= $1800. Were there any expenses that i could have assumed in (B) ? Because in (A), the explanation says there were expenses, so (A) is clear. Thanks & Regards Vinni (2) is not sufficient because we don't know how much of his earnings last month Pat spent for living expenses. _________________ Manager Joined: 14 Dec 2011 Posts: 52 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 2 [0], given: 34 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 04:49
Bunuel wrote:

(2) is not sufficient because we don't know how much of his earnings last month Pat spent for living expenses.

Thanks Bunuel. Got your point

Regards
Vinni
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Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 05 Oct 2012, 06:21 Bunuel, I got your point. But one more question. As it is a DS question, we are not given anything about expenses in B. So, why there is a need to assume living expenses. Looking forward to your reply. Regards Vinni GMAT Club team member Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 11532 Followers: 1795 Kudos [?]: 9553 [1] , given: 826 Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink]  05 Oct 2012, 06:24
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vinnik wrote:
Bunuel, I got your point. But one more question. As it is a DS question, we are not given anything about expenses in B. So, why there is a need to assume living expenses.

Regards
Vinni

It's the other way around: if you are saying that (2) is sufficient, then you are assuming that there are no living expenses at all. Plus, assuming that is against common sense and the first statement.
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Re: If Pat saved $600 of his earnings last month, how much did [#permalink] 05 Oct 2012, 06:47 Bunuel wrote: It's the other way around: if you are saying that (2) is sufficient, then you are assuming that there are no living expenses at all. Plus, assuming that is against common sense and the first statement. Hmm. okay. I got your point. Thanks Vinni Re: If Pat saved$600 of his earnings last month, how much did   [#permalink] 05 Oct 2012, 06:47
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