alexcey wrote:
I'm confused about the meaning of the word "exactly" on the GMAT Quant section. I was looking today at a problem from
Jeff Sackman's problem set (DS set, question 17) and choice A for a data sufficiency question had this statement:
1. y has exactly two prime factors.
I originally understood this statement as "y has two prime factors and no more". So for instance, 4 has exactly 2 prime factors: 2 and 2. However, the author of the set treats the wording as "y has two unique prime factors", in which case "4 has exactly 1 unique primer factor". I've searched on the Internet and it looks like GmatPrep uses similar wording in one problem:
"130) Positive integer k has exactly 2 positive prime factors, 3 and 7."
http://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-nu ... 50409.html Does anybody have an idea on what the official stance on this usage is? I've seen the word "exactly" in several other DS questions as well, especially the ones related to sets.
The usage can vary a little from question to question but in most cases the intended meaning is quite clear.
y has two prime factors
=
y has exactly two prime factors
=
y has two distinct prime factors
=
y has exactly two distinct prime factors (gives the meaning clearly so is most preferred)
'Set A has two members' means 'Set A has exactly two members and no more'
There is a source of confusion in this concept. Let's discuss that with an example.
There were 100 people at a party. The food at the party consisted of three things - cake, candy and corn.
'50 people ate cake'
This means exactly 50 people ate cake. The other 50 did not eat cake. The only thing is that of these 50 people, some or all could have eaten something else too. This statement doesn't imply that these 50 did not eat anything else. You have to remember this.
'50 people ate only cake'
This is different. This means 50 ate cake and nothing else.
50 people belong to group1 means exactly 50 belong to group1 but the point is that they could belong to other groups too.
_________________
Karishma
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor
My Blog
Save 10% on Veritas Prep GMAT Courses And Admissions Consulting
Enroll now. Pay later. Take advantage of Veritas Prep's flexible payment plan options.
Veritas Prep Reviews
close
