dina98 wrote:
Why E? Why not C? With both statements, can't we answer?
Dear
dina98,
I'm happy to respond.
I don't know whether you read the other posts in this thread: it may be that somewhere else on this page is already the answer to your question. In the future, I would recommend this blog article:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/asking-exc ... questions/I don't know whether, in thinking about possible numbers, whether you considered all categories of numbers --- positive & negative, integers & fractions.
It's clear that, if n is considerably bigger than m, that both statements would be true. Thus, it would be easy to pick example numbers, such as n = 100 and m = 3, that satisfy each statement and give a "
yes" answer to the prompt.
The question, then, is whether it is possible to pick two values that are totally consistent with both statement but which would give a "
no" answer to the prompt --- in other words, two numbers such that n < m.
The second statement guarantees that n has a larger absolute value, so if both values are positive, then n > m. What if both are negative.
If m = -1 and n = -2, then \(|\frac{n}{m}|\)>1, but m > n ---- because a less negative number to the right, on the number line, of a more negative number. Another way to say it: if I have $200 in my bank account, I am richer than if I have $100, but if I have no balance and a credit card debt, then if I have a debt of $100 I am richer than if I have a debt of $200.
Now, 7m = -7, and 9n = -18, and once again, -7 > -18, so 7m > 9n.
The pair (m = -1, n = -2) is a set that is consistent with both statements but produces a "no" response to the prompt question.
Thus, even if both statements are true, we can pick numbers that give either a "
yes" or "
no" answer to the prompt question. Even with both statements, we do not have sufficient information to give a single definitive answer to the prompt. Together, both statements are insufficient. OA =
(E)You may also find this blog article helpful:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-data- ... ency-tips/Does all this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)