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# Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4

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GMAT Instructor
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Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 [#permalink]  05 Jun 2008, 11:11
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Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent commission on the portion of her monthly sales that is in excess of $2,000. If Sue's monthly salary was the same in July as in August, how much greater were her sales in July than in August? (1) Sue's monthly earnings were$3,620 in July and $3,580 in August. (2) Sue's monthly salary was$3,500 in July and in August.
Director
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Re: Sue's salary [#permalink]  05 Jun 2008, 17:03
Wow, another C trap, 2 days in row.

$40 is 4% of an amount, so Sue sold$1000 more merchandise in July than in August.

SVP
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Re: Sue's salary [#permalink]  05 Jun 2008, 17:59
yeah i think its A as well

we know from the stem that their montly salaries are the same, so the only difference must be due to the difference in sales ....
VP
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Re: Sue's salary [#permalink]  05 Jun 2008, 22:28
I go with A
Let monthly salary = x+0.04(y-2000) where x=monthly salary and y= monthly sales
taking equation (1) 3620=x+0.04(y1-2000) &3580=x+0.04(y2-2000)
{since monthly salary is the same)
above equation can be solved to give y1-y2.........SUFFICIENT

taking (2) monthly salary is same so cant say anything abt sales..........INSUFICIENT

Whts the OA?
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Re: Sue's salary [#permalink]  05 Jun 2008, 22:50
kevincan wrote:
Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent commission on the portion of her monthly sales that is in excess of $2,000. If Sue's monthly salary was the same in July as in August, how much greater were her sales in July than in August? (1) Sue's monthly earnings were$3,620 in July and $3,580 in August. (2) Sue's monthly salary was$3,500 in July and in August.

A.

3620 - 3580 = 40 , 40 =( Total_sale - 2000)* 4/100 total sale was greater than 1000$GMAT Instructor Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 1266 Location: Madrid Followers: 25 Kudos [?]: 177 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 01:50 For (1), what if Sue sold nothing in July ? Senior Manager Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 283 Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 31 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 03:48 kevincan wrote: Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent commission on the portion of her monthly sales that is in excess of$2,000. If Sue's monthly salary was the same in July as in August, how much greater were her sales in July than in August?

(1) Sue's monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and$3,580 in August.
(2) Sue's monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August. IMO A is the answer pretty good question though coz C seems to be the easier choice here _________________ The world is continuous, but the mind is discrete Director Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 791 Followers: 5 Kudos [?]: 115 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 08:23 kevincan wrote: For (1), what if Sue sold nothing in July ? If that is the case, then the statement in the stem "Sue's monthly salary was the same in July as in August" is inaccurate, so the question is flawed, and E is then the answer. Manager Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 244 Followers: 2 Kudos [?]: 21 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 09:21 Good Question...got me...good practice...Thanks kevincan. CEO Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 2585 Followers: 17 Kudos [?]: 259 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 09:28 kevincan wrote: Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent commission on the portion of her monthly sales that is in excess of$2,000. If Sue's monthly salary was the same in July as in August, how much greater were her sales in July than in August?

(1) Sue's monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and$3,580 in August.
(2) Sue's monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August. X+.04(Y-2000) 1: X+.04(J-2000)=3620 X+.04(A-2000)=3580 --> 4J/100-80+X=3620 --> 370000=4J+100X --> J=-25X+92500 A=-25X+91500 J-A = 1000 2: Insuff. A SVP Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 1889 Location: Oklahoma City Schools: Hard Knocks Followers: 36 Kudos [?]: 485 [0], given: 32 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 09:37 Impressive GMATBLACKBELT GMATBLACKBELT wrote: kevincan wrote: Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent commission on the portion of her monthly sales that is in excess of$2,000. If Sue's monthly salary was the same in July as in August, how much greater were her sales in July than in August?

(1) Sue's monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and$3,580 in August.
(2) Sue's monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August. X+.04(Y-2000) 1: X+.04(J-2000)=3620 X+.04(A-2000)=3580 --> 4J/100-80+X=3620 --> 370000=4J+100X --> J=-25X+92500 A=-25X+91500 J-A = 1000 2: Insuff. A _________________ ------------------------------------ J Allen Morris **I'm pretty sure I'm right, but then again, I'm just a guy with his head up his a$$. GMAT Club Premium Membership - big benefits and savings GMAT Instructor Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 1266 Location: Madrid Followers: 25 Kudos [?]: 177 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 12:12 kevincan wrote: For (1), what if Sue sold nothing in July ? I don't think that (1) is sufficient, for we don't know her monthly salary. For all we know, it is 3,580 and she sold nothing in August. Then her commission in July, 40, would have been 4% of x - 2,000, where x is her July sales (i.e. 3,000) SVP Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 1889 Location: Oklahoma City Schools: Hard Knocks Followers: 36 Kudos [?]: 485 [0], given: 32 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 12:21 kevincan wrote: kevincan wrote: For (1), what if Sue sold nothing in July ? I don't think that (1) is sufficient, for we don't know her monthly salary. For all we know, it is 3,580 and she sold nothing in August. Then her commission in July, 40, would have been 4% of x - 2,000, where x is her July sales (i.e. 3,000) That's true, but 40 is 4% of 1000. No matter how you look at it, you'll find that the difference is 1,000. _________________ ------------------------------------ J Allen Morris **I'm pretty sure I'm right, but then again, I'm just a guy with his head up his a$$. GMAT Club Premium Membership - big benefits and savings GMAT Instructor Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 1266 Location: Madrid Followers: 25 Kudos [?]: 177 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 12:26 Imagine that her salary were$3,580 and she had sold $1,500 in August. What would her income be? And she had sold$3,000?
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Re: Sue's salary [#permalink]  06 Jun 2008, 12:32
kevincan wrote:
Imagine that her salary were $3,580 and she had sold$1,500 in August. What would her income be? And she had sold $3,000? If, in August, her income was$3,580 and she sold $1,500, then her base salary is$3,580 because her sales must be over $2000 in order for her to earn 4% of those sales. Don't focus on the base salary. Instead, focus on the difference of$40.

You know that she earns the same base salary from month to month, so the difference has to come from the sales commission of 4%. If she earns 4% of some number (x) and that gets her $40 more, then we have the equation of .04x = 40. The answer is$1000. No matter what you make the base salary, the difference in commission is always going to be $40. HOWEVER....I do see your point. If she sold nothing, she would get the same base salary. Then the next month, in order for her to earn$40 more than her base salary, she has to sell $3,000 ($1,000 more than the 2,000) because x - 2000 * .04 = $40. X here has to be$3,000. The difference would be $3,000, not$1,000.

Good point kevincan, this is not an air-tight question.

The question really should state that she sold at least $2,000 every month. Then sales of$0 would not be possible and we would know that $1,000 had to be the answer and #1 was sufficient, but without that information, it truly is insufficient. _________________ ------------------------------------ J Allen Morris **I'm pretty sure I'm right, but then again, I'm just a guy with his head up his a$$. GMAT Club Premium Membership - big benefits and savings GMAT Instructor Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 1266 Location: Madrid Followers: 25 Kudos [?]: 177 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 12:38 jallenmorris wrote: kevincan wrote: Imagine that her salary were 3,580 and she had sold 1,500 in August. What would her income be? And she had sold 3,000? If, in August, her income was 3,580 and she sold 1,500, then her base salary is 3,580 because her sales must be over 2000 in order for her to earn 4% of those sales. That is right Don't focus on the base salary. Instead, focus on the difference of 40. You know that she earns the same base salary from month to month, so the difference has to come from the sales commission of 4%. If she earns 4% of some number (x) and that gets her 40 more, then we have the equation of .04x = 40. The answer is 1000. No matter what you make the base salary, the difference in commission is always going to be 40. Do you agree that in order to have monthly earnings of 3,620 in July, her sales have had to be 3000 ? Remember that the first 2,000 of sales don't have an impact on her monthly earnings. GMAT Instructor Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 1266 Location: Madrid Followers: 25 Kudos [?]: 177 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 12:42 jallenmorris wrote: kevincan wrote: Imagine that her salary were 3,580 and she had sold 1,500 in August. What would her income be? And she had sold 3,000? If, in August, her income was 3,580 and she sold 1,500, then her base salary is 3,580 because her sales must be over 2000 in order for her to earn 4% of those sales. Don't focus on the base salary. Instead, focus on the difference of 40. You know that she earns the same base salary from month to month, so the difference has to come from the sales commission of 4%. If she earns 4% of some number (x) and that gets her 40 more, then we have the equation of .04x = 40. The answer is 1000. No matter what you make the base salary, the difference in commission is always going to be 40. HOWEVER....I do see your point. If she sold nothing, she would get the same base salary. Then the next month, in order for her to earn 40 more than her base salary, she has to sell 3,000 (1,000 more than the 2,000) because x - 2000 * .04 = 40. X here has to be 3,000. The difference would be 3,000, not 1,000. Good point kevincan, this is not an air-tight question. The question really should state that she sold at least 2,000 every month. Then sales of 0 would not be possible and we would know that 1,000 had to be the answer and #1 was sufficient, but without that information, it truly is insufficient. Perhaps the question was testing our ability to consider the possiblilty that her base salary was 3,580. I don't see the question as flawed SVP Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 1889 Location: Oklahoma City Schools: Hard Knocks Followers: 36 Kudos [?]: 485 [0], given: 32 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 06 Jun 2008, 12:44 Maybe it is flawed, but we're not sure yet because you've not posted the OA. kevincan wrote: jallenmorris wrote: kevincan wrote: Imagine that her salary were 3,580 and she had sold 1,500 in August. What would her income be? And she had sold 3,000? If, in August, her income was 3,580 and she sold 1,500, then her base salary is 3,580 because her sales must be over 2000 in order for her to earn 4% of those sales. Don't focus on the base salary. Instead, focus on the difference of 40. You know that she earns the same base salary from month to month, so the difference has to come from the sales commission of 4%. If she earns 4% of some number (x) and that gets her 40 more, then we have the equation of .04x = 40. The answer is 1000. No matter what you make the base salary, the difference in commission is always going to be 40. HOWEVER....I do see your point. If she sold nothing, she would get the same base salary. Then the next month, in order for her to earn 40 more than her base salary, she has to sell 3,000 (1,000 more than the 2,000) because x - 2000 * .04 = 40. X here has to be 3,000. The difference would be 3,000, not 1,000. Good point kevincan, this is not an air-tight question. The question really should state that she sold at least 2,000 every month. Then sales of 0 would not be possible and we would know that 1,000 had to be the answer and #1 was sufficient, but without that information, it truly is insufficient. Perhaps the question was testing our ability to consider the possiblilty that her base salary was 3,580. I don't see the question as flawed _________________ ------------------------------------ J Allen Morris **I'm pretty sure I'm right, but then again, I'm just a guy with his head up his a$$. GMAT Club Premium Membership - big benefits and savings Manager Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 237 Followers: 3 Kudos [?]: 42 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 07 Jun 2008, 01:47 wow. I also thought the answer was A. But after reading your posts, i should say, it should be C because: - problem asks for the difference in sales. - and without giving base salary nor sales for each month, we have to account for so many other possibilities (all positive integers less than 2000) Great post VP Joined: 18 May 2008 Posts: 1293 Followers: 14 Kudos [?]: 208 [0], given: 0 Re: Sue's salary [#permalink] 07 Jun 2008, 20:39 There is no need 2 know her salary as its the same 4 all the months, so we can just cancel it out frm the toal. We r intersted in the differewcne in sales ,that we can find out by the equations. kevincan wrote: kevincan wrote: For (1), what if Sue sold nothing in July ? I don't think that (1) is sufficient, for we don't know her monthly salary. For all we know, it is$3,580 and she sold nothing in August. Then her commission in July, $40, would have been 4% of x - 2,000, where x is her July sales (i.e.$3,000)
Re: Sue's salary   [#permalink] 07 Jun 2008, 20:39

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