Dereck and Sons sells pigments in 4 regions. The data presented in the

Question

Dereck and Sons sells pigments in 4 regions. The data presented in the graph shows sales in 2 regions & average sales for all 4 regions over the period of 12 months in the year 2011.

Based on the given information select the options that most accurately complete the following statements.

1. The worst performance in terms of combined sales for other regions that Dereck and Sons operated in was in the month[s] of .

2. Combined sales of the other 2 regions for the month of June'11 is $ M.

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Official Answer

Dropdown 1: November Dropdown 2: 2550

egmat · Accepted Answer

Hello friends,

Indeed the answers for  Q1 is November, & for Q2 is $2550 M .

Let us understand the time management aspect of GMAT IR. You need to attempt 12 questions in 30 minutes. This means on an average 2.5 minute per dataset!

As far as second part of the question is concerned, it is quite obvious that one will have to calculate the numerical value of sales for other 2 regions with the application of formula-  '4 times average minus sum of region 1 and region 2' . However, when it comes to first part of the question, there are 5 months to consider for probable answers-  March, June, July, August, & November.

It is not advisable to calculate the values of other 2 regions' sales for all 5 months. We can simply observe the graph, & eliminate few months as probable answer.

Let's understand our objective. We have to  minimize 4*Average sales - Region 1 sales - Region 2 sales . This leads to a conclusion that an ideal worst performing month would be the one whose  Average sales are lowest & Region 1 & 2 sales are the highest  among all option months.

Well, there is no ideal month present in the graph, whose Average sales are lowest & Region 1 & 2 sales are the highest as well.

Because Lowest Average sales month - March;
Highest Region 1 sales month - November;
Highest Region 2 sales month- November.

The shortlisted options would be  March, & November  only. We can discard other 3 months, as they do not qualify. Pl. see the analysis.

June & July months are disqualified  because their  region 2 sales are the lowest  among all months. It will  not help minimize regions 3 & 4 sales . Similarly,  August month is also disqualified because its region 1 & 2 sales are at mediocre level.  Again, it will  not help minimize regions 3 & 4 sales . So we discard these months.

Now can we zero in on March or November without calculating numerical values of regions 3 & 4 sales?

Let's look at our findings again for March & November months.
While November month has 2 positive factors - Highest Region 1 & 2 sales, March month has only one positive factor - Lowest Average sales.
So can we discard March vis-a-vis November now?

Well not really! And the reason is that the weight of Average sales is 4 times that of region 1 or 2 sales in the formula.

So there are 2 approaches to conclude March or November as an answer.

Approach 1: - Observe the graph again & look for 4 times the gain on account of Average sales for the month of March Vs. the gain on account of Region 1 & 2 sales for the month of November.

March: - Gain of 1/2 scale over November. So 4 times gain would be '4*1/2 scale = 2 scale'.
 November :- Gain of 3 scale over March for region 1, & gain of 1/2 scale over March for region 2. So collectively total gain of 3.5 scale over March.

So it is obvious that Total gain of November over March is more, hence November month is the answer.

Approach 2 :- You better calculate the sales values for March & November. Here it is.

Region 3 & 4 sales for November = 4*1500 - 2000-1950 = $2050 M
Region 3 & 4 sales for November = 4*1450 - 1700-1900 = $2200 M. .

So clearly the answer is November month.

Should you wish to see interactive audio-visual solution to this question, pl. visit e-GMAT free trial.

Regards!

Shalabh Jain

abcgroove · Answer

1. E
4 times average minus sum of region 1 and region 2.

This will give the combined sales of other regions. This will be minimum if sum of region 1 and 2 is maximum which occurs for November

2. C
Same formula as for the 1st question . 4*1500 - ( 1550 + 1900) = 2550

bagdbmba · Answer

Hey Shalabh, This is an excellent analysis..

Kudos man..!! Would like to see more of these type of qs. from e-GMAT to keep us motivated in the process..Please fire the bullets. One question related to your analysis : Can we apply the method of 1st slot shortlisting for all qs. of this type in GMAT ?

egmat · Answer

Thank you Debayan for appreciating. We will keep posting more & more questions on IR. Recently, we posted an MSR question. Have a look at it.

Coming to your query. I will say YES, we must shortlist possible 1-3 contenders out of 4-6 option choices. In most of the questions, this strategy can be applied.

-Shalabh

bagdbmba · Answer

Thanks Shalabh..

Can you please share the link of your new IR post ? Appreciate your help as always..! -------------------------------------- And btw, how do we get to know about or can keep track on e-GMAT's posts in both verbal and IR ? Is there any way to fire a trigger as soon as there is new post on the forum from you guys..any idea ? @bb/Souvik : Would request your inputs also on this.

egmat · Answer

hi Debayayn, Thank you for appreciating our work. I think you have not tried following questions. what-you-choose-is-what-you-weigh-143895.html multi-source-reasoning-question-advertising-channels-143952.html I wish to ask you if you have gone through our free trial. Did you like it? What's your feedback? Pl. wait for a tricky 2 part question today. -Shalabh

bagdbmba · Answer

Shalabh, Thanks for sharing the link..I'll get back to you once I go through these.

But I'm afraid that MSR link is not accessible from my side.I don't understand what's the issue is...

It's opening in a blank page after clicking on it. And I've not gone through the trial yet but soon will check it out and share my feedback...BTW, I know it'll be great like your posts so please keep posting such wonderful topics in IR also to help us stay motivated

scranjith · Answer

Question 1 :
------------
- Picked Mar and Nov based on the low average.
- Avg diff Mar - Nov = 50
- Eye ball Mar reg 1, reg 2 avg = 1800
- Eye ball Nov reg 1, reg 2 avg = 1975

- Nov sales of other 2 regions have to bring down 475 points (from 1975 to 1500)
- Mar sales of other 2 regions have to bring down 350 points (from 1800 to 1450) 
Nov drop - initial avg diff > Mar drop
475-50 > 350 = 375 > 350

So Nov is the answer.

Question 2: 
-----------
- Eye ball avg of Jun reg1,2 = ~1700+
- For 1700+ to drop to 1500, the avg of other 2 reg sales must be at 200+ less than 1500 (let's say ~1300-)
- So the sum must be ~2600-

The closest answer is c) 2550

Posted from my mobile device

whatsarc · Answer

For the second part

1500 is average
Just plot two points symmetrically below the average 
1900 from 1500 is 400 up, so plot 400 down = 1100
and 
1550 from 1500 is 50 up, so plot 50 down = 1450

Total = 1100+1450 = 2550

nandini14 · Answer

How is the worst combined sales in November? What would be the best way to ascertain the worst combined sales?

Bunuel · Answer

This is explained in detail  HERE .

Dereck and Sons sells pigments in 4 regions. The data presented in the

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