Hi All,
This question can be solved by TESTing VALUES.
The prompt tells us that average speed of the train over the course of the entire trip is 60 miles/hr and that it travels the first quarter of the distance at a speed of 90 mi/hr. We're asked for the average speed of the train for the remaining three-quarters of the trip.
Let's choose 90 miles for the FIRST QUARTER of the distance. We can then immediately calculate two things...
1) Since the train was traveling 90 miles/hour, the first quarter of the trip took 1 hour to complete.
2) Since (1/4)(Total Distance) = 90 miles, then the FULL TRIP = 4(90) = 360 miles.
The total trip is 360 miles; with an average speed of 60 miles/hr, the FULL TRIP would take... (X)(60 mph) = 360 miles.... X = 6 hours to complete.
The first hour of the trip covered 90 miles, so the remaining 360 - 90 = 270 miles of the trip are covered in the remaining 5 hours...
Thus, the average speed for the remainder of the trip is... (270 miles)/(5 hours) = 54 miles/hour
Final Answer:
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
_________________