GMAT Question of the Day - Daily to your Mailbox; hard ones only

 It is currently 21 Sep 2018, 12:44

### GMAT Club Daily Prep

#### Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

# A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and

Author Message
TAGS:

### Hide Tags

Manager
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Posts: 145
A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

21 Nov 2010, 20:46
1
00:00

Difficulty:

55% (hard)

Question Stats:

54% (01:56) correct 46% (01:00) wrong based on 35 sessions

A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and charges for any additional time at the rate of y cents per minute. If a certain call costs $5.55 and lasts more than 1 minute, which of the following expressions represents the length of that call, in minutes? (A) $$\frac{555 - x}{y}$$ (B) $$\frac{555+x- y}{y}$$ (C) $$\frac{555-x+ y}{y}$$ (D) $$\frac{555-x- y}{y}$$ (E) $$\frac{555}{x+ y}$$ Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor Joined: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 8284 Location: Pune, India Re: A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and [#permalink] ### Show Tags 21 Nov 2010, 21:10 gettinit wrote: A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and charges for any additional time at the rate of y cents per minute. If a certain call costs$5.55 and lasts more than 1 minute, which of
the following expressions represents the length of
that call, in minutes?
(A) $$555 - x / y$$
(B) $$555+x- y/y$$
(C) $$555-x+ y/y$$
(D) $$555-x- y/y$$
(E) $$555/x+ y$$

Let us say the call lasts for n minutes.
Cost of first minute = x
Cost of next (n - 1) minutes = y(n - 1)
Then, x + y(n - 1) = 555
n = (555-x)/y + 1 = (555 - x + y)/y
_________________

Karishma
Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor

GMAT self-study has never been more personalized or more fun. Try ORION Free!

Manager
Joined: 25 Aug 2008
Posts: 174
Location: India
WE 1: 3.75 IT
WE 2: 1.0 IT
Re: A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

26 Nov 2010, 16:51
1
Thanks Karishma..
Even i was caught in the trap of answer A.
_________________

Cheers,
Varun

If you like my post, give me KUDOS!!

Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 8284
Location: Pune, India
Re: A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

26 Nov 2010, 19:59
varunmaheshwari wrote:
Thanks Karishma..
Even i was caught in the trap of answer A.

I am always cautious while marking (A) as my answer. Not because the probability of it being the answer is low, but because if the question has a trap people could fall for, then the question maker will set (A) as that particular lucrative option. (Hell, I do that when I make questions! Kind of a bait!) So I like to double check especially if it seems too easy.

The logic of (555 - x)/y was perfectly valid. The only missing point was that these are the (n -1) additional minutes. You did not account for the 1st minute. So total time will be (555 - x)/y + 1 which is the same as option (C): (555 - x + y)/y

And yes, parentheses will definitely be there in the exam in such a question. 555 - x + y/y = 555 - x + 1 (Since it didn't make any sense here, it was obvious that there are parentheses in the options). Rest assured, there will not be any ambiguity in the actual exam.
_________________

Karishma
Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor

GMAT self-study has never been more personalized or more fun. Try ORION Free!

Target Test Prep Representative
Status: Founder & CEO
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Posts: 3515
Location: United States (CA)
Re: A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and  [#permalink]

### Show Tags

06 Mar 2018, 08:04
gettinit wrote:
A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and charges for any additional time at the rate of y cents per minute. If a certain call costs $5.55 and lasts more than 1 minute, which of the following expressions represents the length of that call, in minutes? (A) $$\frac{555 - x}{y}$$ (B) $$\frac{555+x- y}{y}$$ (C) $$\frac{555-x+ y}{y}$$ (D) $$\frac{555-x- y}{y}$$ (E) $$\frac{555}{x+ y}$$ Since x and y are in cents, we should start by expressing$5.55 in cents, which is 555 cents. We can then create the following equation where t = the length of the call, in minutes:

555 = x + y(t - 1)

555 - x = yt - y

555 - x + y = yt

(555 - x + y)/y = t

_________________

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO

GMAT Quant Self-Study Course
500+ lessons 3000+ practice problems 800+ HD solutions

Re: A telephone company charges x cents for the first minute of a call and &nbs [#permalink] 06 Mar 2018, 08:04
Display posts from previous: Sort by

# Events & Promotions

 Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne Kindly note that the GMAT® test is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council®, and this site has neither been reviewed nor endorsed by GMAC®.