At the beginning of a certain week, a certain gift store had 550 candl

Question

At the beginning of a certain week, a certain gift store had 550 candles in stock, which the store had purchased for $0.25 each. If, during the week, the store made exactly one additional purchase of candles, how much did the store pay for the candles that it had in stock at the end of the week?

(1) During the week, the store's sales for candles totaled $120.
(2) During the week, the store purchased a box of 200 candles for a total of $40.00.

(1) During the week, the store's sales for candles totaled $120.
(2) During the week, the store purchased a box of 200 candles for a total of $40.00.

ThatDudeKnows · Answer

We start with 550 candles for which we know how much we paid (we don't have to actually do the math).

Evaluating statement (1) alone doesn't tell us how many candles we sold or whether we also bough new ones (or what those potential new ones cost). Does statement (1) alone give us enough information to answer the question? No. BCE.

Evaluating statement (2) alone, we know about some new candles that the store purchased, but we don't know whether they also bought other new candles, we don't know whether they sold any candles (how many or for how much). Does statement (2) alone give us enough information to answer the question? No. CE.

Evaluating both statements together, we still don't know whether additional candles were purchase aside from those in statement (2) and we also don't know how many candles were sold from statement (1). Do both statements together give us enough information to answer the question? No. E.

alamin8 · Answer

Since there is no information about the sales price per candle, statement 1 and statement 2 together or alone cannot be the answer.
Answer: E

StuffMob · Answer

The question says that they made exactly one purchase

eteum · Answer

Is it because of statement 1 we have to assume that some candles are sold? I thought we looked at each statement by itself and that would lead me to B because it details the exact one time that more candles were purchased during the week

abhikc3004 · Answer

Bunuel  - why would this be E?
B seems sufficient, since the questions that exactly one additional purchase was made.

Bunuel · Answer

Statement (2) tells us what was purchased, but not what remained after the sales. We do not know how many 25-cent candles and how many 20-cent candles were left, so statement (2) is not sufficient.

egmat · Answer

Hi abhikc3004,

You're right that the stem locks in "exactly one additional purchase," so Statement (2) really does describe  the  purchase for the week (no hidden extra buys). That part of your reading is solid.

Here's the piece that's still missing, though:  to know how much the store paid for the candles  left in stock at the end of the week , you need to know  how many candles remain  - and that depends on how many were  sold  during the week. Statement (2) says nothing about sales.

Watch two scenarios that both fully satisfy Statement (2):

-  Sold 0 candles.  Stock left =  550  at  $0.25  +  200  at  $0.20 . Cost =  $137.50  +  $40  =  $177.50 .
-  Sold 100 candles  (say,  100  of the original  $0.25  ones). Stock left =  450  at  $0.25  +  200  at  $0.20 . Cost =  $112.50  +  $40  =  $152.50 .

Same statement,  two different answers  -  not sufficient .

Statement (2) gives you the  cost per candle  of the new batch ( $0.20 ), but not the  quantity remaining . Both are needed, and the quantity stays unknown.

Why the combination is still E:  even adding Statement (1), "sales totaled  $120 ," doesn't rescue it - that's revenue in dollars, and without a selling price per candle you still can't back out how many candles were sold. So the end-of-week count stays unknown either way.

The DS takeaway:  whenever you can build two valid cases that obey the statement but land on different answers, the statement is  not sufficient  - no matter how much other detail it hands you.

Answer: E

egmat · Answer

Hi eteum,

Good question, and the fix is in what the question is actually asking. StuffMob raised the same "but they made exactly one purchase" point, so let's clear both together.

The stem doesn't ask what the store paid  in total  for candles. It asks how much it paid for the candles  it still had in stock at the end of the week . That phrase quietly does all the work: to answer it, you need to know which candles are  left  - and candles leave a store by being  sold .

So selling isn't an assumption you bring in from Statement (1).  A store's ending inventory is naturally its starting stock, plus what it bought, minus what it sold. The possibility of sales is baked into the question itself, no matter which statement you're looking at.

Now take  Statement (2) alone , which is where you leaned toward B. Yes, it pins down the one extra purchase:  200  candles for  $40 . But it says nothing about how many candles were sold, so the ending stock is still unknown.

Two cases that both obey Statement (2): 
- Store sells  0  candles - it still has all  550  +  200  =  750 , paid for =  137.50  +  40  =  $177.50 
- Store sells  300  candles - far fewer remain, so the cost of end-of-week stock is  well under $177.50

Same statement,  two different answers  -  not sufficient . That's the tell for why ( 2 ) alone fails.

Statement ( 1 ) gives sales in  dollars  ( $120 ) but no price per candle, so it can't tell you the  number  sold either. Even combined, you still can't turn  $120  into a candle count - so together they're still short, and the answer is  E .

Takeaway: whenever two valid cases satisfy a statement but land on different answers, that statement isn't  sufficient .

Answer: E

At the beginning of a certain week, a certain gift store had 550 candl

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At the beginning of a certain week, a certain gift store had 550 candl

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