At a food fair, Nora bought 8 kilograms of nuts from each of two

Question

At a food fair, Nora bought 8 kilograms of nuts from each of two vendors, Green Market and Riverside Market. At Green Market, almonds cost $12 per kilogram, cashews cost $14 per kilogram, and pistachios cost $17 per kilogram. At Riverside Market, the corresponding prices were $13, $15, and $18 per kilogram. Did Nora spend more money at Riverside Market than at Green Market?

(1) The ratio of almonds to cashews to pistachios that Nora bought at Green Market was 6:1:1.

(2) The ratio of almonds to cashews to pistachios that Nora bought at Riverside Market was 1:3:4.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

GMAT Club Official Solution:

At a food fair, Nora bought 8 kilograms of nuts from each of two vendors, Green Market and Riverside Market. At Green Market, almonds cost $12 per kilogram, cashews cost $14 per kilogram, and pistachios cost $17 per kilogram. At Riverside Market, the corresponding prices were $13, $15, and $18 per kilogram. Did Nora spend more money at Riverside Market than at Green Market?

(1) The ratio of almonds to cashews to pistachios that Nora bought at Green Market was 6:1:1.

The ratio at Green Market was 6:1:1, and Nora bought 8 kilograms there, so she bought:

6 kg almonds
1 kg cashews
1 kg pistachios

So the amount spent at Green Market was:

6 * 12 + 1 * 14 + 1 * 17 =
= 103

At Riverside Market, every listed price is at least $13 per kilogram. Since Nora bought 8 kilograms there, she must have spent more than

8 * 13 = 104

So she definitely spent more at Riverside Market than at Green Market.

Sufficient.

(2) The ratio of almonds to cashews to pistachios that Nora bought at Riverside Market was 1:3:4.

The ratio at Riverside Market was 1:3:4, and Nora bought 8 kilograms there, so she bought:

1 kg almonds
3 kg cashews
4 kg pistachios

So the amount spent at Riverside Market was:

1 * 13 + 3 * 15 + 4 * 18 =
= 130

But we do not know what mix she bought at Green Market.

For example, if she bought all 8 kilograms as almonds at Green Market, then she spent

8 * 12 = 96

So the answer would be YES.

But if she bought all 8 kilograms as pistachios at Green Market, then she spent

8 * 17 = 136

So the answer would be NO.

Not sufficient.

Answer: A.

rajdeep212003 · Answer

Given:

Green Market prices → 12, 14, 17 
Riverside prices → 13, 15, 18

Each vendor total = 8 kg

---

We need to compare total spending

---

(1) Ratio at Green = 6 : 1 : 1

So quantities → 6k, k, k 
Total = 8k

Cost at Green = 
6k×12 + k×14 + k×17 
= 72k + 14k + 17k 
= 103k

Riverside unknown

So cannot compare

❌ Not sufficient

---

(2) Ratio at Riverside = 1 : 3 : 4

So quantities → m, 3m, 4m 
Total = 8m

Cost at Riverside = 
m×13 + 3m×15 + 4m×18 
= 13m + 45m + 72m 
= 130m

Green unknown

So cannot compare

❌ Not sufficient

---

(1) + (2):

Green = 103k 
Riverside = 130m

But k and m can be different

So we still cannot compare

❌ Not sufficient

---

Final Answer:

E

---

If something still feels off, tag me — we’ll break it down further.

– Rajdeep

Adit_ · Answer

By briefly glancing at the problem we can already see that the option is either C or E only as we need to know the amount spent by both Green and Riverside.

Combining both:

But wait, both statements talk about the amount bought from that respective store.
There is no comparison made on amount of goods of one market with respect to the other.
One can have x number of items, and the other with n number of items and each time we dont know if x<n or n>x or n=x.
INSUFFICIENT.

Answer:  Option E

S1mple3 · Answer

Answer will be C. Total amount, ratio and rate of all the nuts are mentioned.

Adit_ · Answer

There is no comparison still of both the markets thus its not enough still!

dp1234 · Answer

IMO C

Let a, b, c be the amount (kg) almonds, cashews and pistachios at Green and p, q and r be the amount (kg) of almonds, cashews and pistachios at Riverside. Thus a+b+c=8 and p+q+r =8.

Money spend at Greens, G = 12a +14b+17c
Money spent at Riverside, R=13a +15b +18c

Question asks, is R>G ? Its a yes/no type, need not calculate actual values.

Statement 1: a:b:c = 6:1:1
then a=6k, b=k and c =k.
Also a+b+c =8. Substitute above in this equation, we get 8k=8 i.e. k=1
Thus a =6kg, b=1kg and c=1kg
Thus G = 12(6) +14(1) + 17(1) 
Now we know G, but don't know R. So NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: p:q:r = 1:3:4
so we can say p=m, q=3m, and r=4m
p+q+r =8. Putting in values of p,q,r from above will give m=1.
p=1kg, q=3kg and r=4kg. 
Thus we can find value of R as we did for G above. 
So we know R but we don't know G. So NOT SUFFICIENT

But taken together, we know both G & R and we can find out if R>G or not. (although outcome is not relevant, its just that we can find it) SUFFICIENT.

BongBideshini · Answer

Statement (1) 
Green ratio = 6:1:1
Total 8 kg, so
 
 Almonds = 6 kg  
 Cashews = 1 kg  
 Pistachios = 1 kg   
 Green cost: 
6×12 + 1×14 + 1×17 = 72 + 14 + 17 =  103 
But the Riverside mix is unknown.
Could be:
 
 all almonds: 8×13 = 104=> Yes  
 all pistachios: 8×18 = 144 =>Yes   
Always greater than 103.
 So Statement (1) alone is sufficient.

Statement (2) 
Riverside ratio = 1:3:4
Total 8 kg:
 
 Almonds = 1 kg  
 Cashews = 3 kg  
 Pistachios = 4 kg   
 Riverside cost: 
1×13 + 3×15 + 4×18 = 13 + 45 + 72 =  130 
Green mix unknown.
Could be:
 
 all almonds: 8×12 = 96 =>Yes  
 all pistachios: 8×17 = 136 =>No   
 Not sufficient.

Ans (A)

Adit_ · Answer

Made a bad bad mistake earlier and didn't at all notice 8kgs of nuts were brought. Completely overlooked that. Another reason why one (especially me) must be vigilant while reading a problem.

Statement 1:
Since 8kgs are bought, the exact values can be drawn:
6+1+1 is the exact split just as the ratio.
On solving for the total amount we get:
103 bucks.

Now if we notice the least the Riverside can produce:
= 13*8 = 104.
We have 104>103.
SUFFICIENT.

Statement 2:
Similar steps as Statement 1 when followed:
For Riverside:
Amount = 130.

But if we take max of Green Market then we have 17*8 = 136 total.
Or 12*8 = 96.
Thus we have either:
Green>River or River>Green.
INSUFFICIENT.

Answer:  Option A

At a food fair, Nora bought 8 kilograms of nuts from each of two

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GMAT Data Sufficiency (DS) Questions

At a food fair, Nora bought 8 kilograms of nuts from each of two

Prep Toolkit

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