An inventory of a neighborhood's trees found that 32 percent were conifers and most of the rest were deciduous. Among the conifers were 258 spruces and 112 pines, along with some cedars and other species. Most of the deciduous trees were oaks, but one in eight was a maple. Of the oaks, 65 percent were red oaks and 25 percent were white oaks. Of the maples, 20 percent were Japanese maples. Select for A and for B two types of trees such that the ratio of the number of trees of the type selected for A to the number of trees of the type selected for B can be determined and is less than 1. Make only two selections, one in each column.

Last visit was: 01 May 2026, 19:02

It is currently 01 May 2026, 19:02

Toolkit

Data Insights Questions

Two-part Analysis (TPA)

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
Your Progress

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

Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.

Go to My Error Log Learn more

Request Expert Reply

Confirm Cancel

Back to Forum

Create Topic

An inventory of a neighborhood's trees found that 32 percent were

1 2

guddo

Joined: 25 May 2021

Last visit: 01 May 2026

Posts: 1,055

Own Kudos:

11,489

[1]

Given Kudos: 32

Posts: 1,055

Kudos: 11,489

[1]

31 Jan 2026, 10:03

Kudos

Bookmarks

Puranjaysapra

Thanks for responding. If I was to use the same logic, I also don't know the exact % of D trees as it says most of it implying that it could be anything less than 68%. I can determine that conifers will be more than spruces

“Most deciduous” being vague does not matter, because the ratio uses only the deciduous group:

Japanese maples = 20% of (1/8 of deciduous) = 1/40 of deciduous, so the ratio is fixed.

For spruces vs conifers, total conifers is unknown (spruces + pines + unknown cedars/others), so 258 divided by total conifers is not fixed, even though conifers > spruces.

I'd advice checking for complete solutions these posts:

Puranjaysapra

Joined: 03 May 2025

Last visit: 30 Apr 2026

Posts: 18

Given Kudos: 25

Products:

Posts: 18

Kudos: 0

31 Jan 2026, 10:06

Kudos

Bookmarks

Understood, Thank you! This is helpful

guddo

forestmayank

Joined: 05 Nov 2025

Last visit: 31 Mar 2026

Posts: 103

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 6

Posts: 103

Kudos: 87

02 Feb 2026, 06:07

Kudos

Bookmarks

Conifer = 32%
Deciduous can be maximum ~68% (let it be 68%)
1/8 are Maple = ~8.5%
20% of Maple are Japanese Maple = ~1.7%

We are sure that conifers are 32% and Japanese Maple can be max 1.7%, so why it may not be Japanese Maple and Conifers?
We are not sure of deciduous also, it can be anywhere between a little more than 34% to almost 68%.

Can someone pls explain?

1111fate

Joined: 19 Oct 2021

Last visit: 01 May 2026

Posts: 90

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 1,083

Location: India

Products:

Posts: 90

Kudos: 63

13 Feb 2026, 02:35

Kudos

Bookmarks

wouldn't conifers be more than spruces hence their ratio will be less than 1 despite of not knowing total of conifers we do know it is greater than spruces ?

Bunuel

Math Expert

Joined: 02 Sep 2009

Last visit: 01 May 2026

Posts: 110,001

Own Kudos:

812,342

[1]

Given Kudos: 105,976

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

Posts: 110,001

Kudos: 812,342

[1]

13 Feb 2026, 04:22

Kudos

Bookmarks

1111fate

wouldn't conifers be more than spruces hence their ratio will be less than 1 despite of not knowing total of conifers we do know it is greater than spruces ?

No.

To select a valid pair, the ratio must be numerically determined, not just known to be less than 1.

It’s true that Conifers > Spruces, so Spruces/Conifers is less than 1. But we do not know how many cedars and other conifers there are, so we cannot compute the exact ratio.

Since the problem requires that the ratio “can be determined,” simply knowing it’s less than 1 is not enough.

Bunuel

Math Expert

Joined: 02 Sep 2009

Last visit: 01 May 2026

Posts: 110,001

Own Kudos:

812,342

Given Kudos: 105,976

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

Posts: 110,001

Kudos: 812,342

13 Feb 2026, 04:32

Kudos

Bookmarks

forestmayank

Your calculation shows only a maximum. That’s the issue.

Conifers are fixed at 32% of all trees.

Japanese maples are 20% of maples, and maples are 1/8 of deciduous, so Japanese maples = 1/5 * 1/8 of deciduous = 1/40 of deciduous.

But deciduous is not fixed as a percent of all trees. It can be anywhere from just over 34% up to 68%. So Japanese maples as a percent of all trees can be anywhere from just over 34%/40 to 68%/40, i.e. just over 0.85% up to 1.7%.

Therefore Japanese maples/Conifers is not a single value. It could be just over 0.85/32 or it could be 1.7/32 or anything in between. The problem requires the ratio to be determinable (one exact number), not just bounded.