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# Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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06 May 2014, 10:36

Solution:
Define the following
X # of students in 1997
Y # of students in 1998

The question states that 20% of students did not pass the exam in 1997. Therefore, 80 percent did pass the exam.
And so 0.8X students passed the exam.
In 1998, the number of students who passed the exam was 10% lower in 1998 than in 1997.
Therefore, the number of students who passed the exam in 1998 was (0.9)(0.8)X = 0.72X

Now, (B) is ambiguous.
--> Assume the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998
That is, (0.72X)/Y < (0.8X)/X
We can cancel X from both sides (permissible since X > 0)
And so, 0.72/Y < 0.8/X
0.72X < 0.8Y
Then Y > (72/80)X (= (9/10)X)
And so this tells us that Y is greater than 90% of X
Thus Y could also be greater than X or X could be greater than Y.

Now, we can disprove (E) (using the same variables)
--> Assume the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent.
Then (0.72X)/Y < 0.7
And so, 72X < 70Y
So, (72/70)X < Y
And X < (72/70)X < Y
Thus X < Y
This contradicts the statement given in (E)
Therefore (E) is NOT supported

I apologize for not using latex.
Also, if you're going to post your own questions, please make sure that they are concise, accurate, and unambiguous in order to avoid unnecessary confusion.
If the question were to to ask the reader to identify the answer choice posing the most ambiguity, then indeed (B) would be correct.
Someone please either correct this problem or correct the answer choice in part (E).

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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08 May 2014, 02:23
Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been required to pass a comprehensive proficiency exam before they are allowed to graduate. The exam requirement was intended to ensure that a minimum level of academic quality will be achieved by the students in the state. In 1997, 20 percent of the seniors did not pass the exam and were, therefore, not allowed to graduate. In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year.

The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statement.

Given:
In 1997 : 100 STUDENTS = 80 PASSED | 20 FAILED
In 1998 : X students = 72 PASSED | X - 72 FAILED (X CANNOT BE LESS THAN 72)

A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.

72 = 80/100 X = 90 thus X should be less than 90, A supports the argument.

B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.

X must be greater than 90 to have number of seniors passed below 80% in 1998. number of high school senior increased or decreased can't say.

72---90--(X)--100--(X)-- value of X can lie anywhere above 90.

C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.

72---(X)--90--(X)---100 Condition unless the number of seniors lower than 100 in 1998 then 1997... the number of seniors passed in 1998 was lower than 80%... lets say if X is between 90 - 100 pass percentage will be below 80%. e.g. 72 passed out of 95 = pass percentage 75%; if X is below 90 say 80 then 72 passed out of 80 = 90% passed.
Thus conditions does not support both possibilities.

D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
Number of high school seniors failed in 1997 = 20 decreased by more than 10%: means number of high school seniors failed in 1998 less than 18.

in 1998 72 passed + (less than 18 failed = 17 failed) = 89 max limit. 72/89 * 100 = 80.89% approx. if we further reduce failed between 0 - 17 inclusive percentage will increase. thus this option supports the argument.

E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.

72 = 70/100 X
X = 102.85 Thus X must be greater than 102.

e.g. if I take X 69%
72=69/100 X
X= 104

SIMILARLY for any percentage below 70 to keep passed student equal to 72. I will have to increase the value of X.
Therefore number of high school seniors in 1997 (100) < number of high school seniors in 1998 (102++)

Therefore E LEAST supported among all.

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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13 Aug 2014, 04:25
I think it is better to reduce the percentages to absolute numbers in case of year 1997.
It makes things easier to contradict:
In 1997:
Total = 100
Pass = 80
Fail = 20

In 1998:
Total = X
Pass = 72 (= 90% of 80 = 72% of total students in 1997)
Fail = ??

In case of option B, just assume the total number of students in 1998 remained same, ie, 100. We see that the percentage of students who passed has dropped (to 72% in 1998) WITHOUT an increase in number of students as statement B supposes. However, B is still feasible. If we take total number of students in 1998 as 1000, B holds true.

You can work out the other options, and they come out as true.
I take that back.

Pass in 1998 = 72% of total students in 1997 ...............................(a)

According to E, Pass in 1998 < 70% of total students in 1998
Let Pass in 1998 = 70% of total students in 1998 = 0.7X

From (a),
0.7X = 0.72 * 100
X > 100, ie, X HAS to be greater than 100.
=> E is not supported at all.

Last edited by gaurav90 on 03 Nov 2014, 06:15, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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24 Mar 2015, 09:03
omerrauf wrote:
Actually I see the light here. Sorry for my earlier posts. Come to think of it, this was pretty straightforward. It is highly confusing because you have to go through all the optins in any case in a question like this, since it asks for the least possible. So many numbers are being talked about and randomly, so I guess this was a reall cracker.

But here is the reason that I think. Here is how:

From Question Stem:
"In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year". This is the key statement. We already know that the number of students is less in 1998 than in 1997. Just re-read the statement and it is obvious.

Now Option B says:

B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.

We already know that the number of student decreased so B is totally out of the question, the least likely.

Can you explain why "the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased" means the TOTAL number of students is also less? It is not necessarily true.

Let's give a number and play it out based on premise

1997
Total no of students: 100
no of students who passed: 80
% of students who passed: 80%
no of students who failed: 20
% of students who failed: 20%

1998
Total no of students: ? (because we don't know this from stem)
no of students who passed: 72 (-10% than 1997)

if ? = 150 ( which is more than 100 in 1997)
% of students who passed = 72/150 * 100% = 48% (much lesser than 80%)

HENCE, the paragraph SUPPORTS B = If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period. Answer cannot be B IMO.

to test what you have said, let's decrease it
if ? = 90, % of students who passed = 80%
if ? = 80, % of students who passed = 90%
(as you can see as the number of students decreases, the % of students who passed increases, this actually SUPPORTS A and it is the opposite of your claim that if the number of student decreases, the % should increase NOT decrease. "In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year. This is the key statement. We already know that the number of students is less in 1998 than in 1997. Just re-read the statement and it is obvious."

I still go with E. Can someone give a better explanation why OA is B? I am not convinced!

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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13 Jun 2015, 00:28
Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been required to pass a comprehensive proficiency exam before they are allowed to graduate. The exam requirement was intended to ensure that a minimum level of academic quality will be achieved by the students in the state. In 1997, 20 percent of the seniors did not pass the exam and were, therefore, not allowed to graduate. In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year.

The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statement.

A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.
B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.
C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.
D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.

Pre think assumption More students graduated in 1998 from 1997 provided the total no.of students did not change from 1997 to 1998

[color=#6ecff6][color=#ffffff]A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period-[color=#ff0000]This supports the argument.For e.g lets say the no. of students in 1997 was 1000 and the percentage passed was 80% then 800 students passed in 1997.In 1998 lets say the no.of students was 900 and the percentage passed was 90% then 810 students passed hence the number of passed students increased in 1998 but the total no.of students has decreased.

B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period-This clearly contradicts the argument by saying the percentage of students passed has decreased in 1998 from 1997.This provides least support hence could be the correct answer
[color=#ffffff]C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent
[/color][/color]-This scenario can play out if the number of students are equal or higher.
D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent-This could support the case if the total no.of students in 1997 and 1998 were equal say 1000 then the no.of students who passed in 1997 will be 800 and in 1998 will be 900 which is greater than 80%
E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.-Suppose the total no.of students in 1998 was 1000 and less than 70% passed e.g 690(69%) then it could be possible that the total no.of students in 1997 was 2000 and only 59% passed i.e 1180 then this scenario could be possible hence this statement somewhat supports the argument[/color][/color][/color]

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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22 Sep 2015, 22:57
B is the OE.

Premise: 20% students failed, 80% students passed.
Premise: the NUMBER of students decreased by 10% from previous year.

CASE 1: in 1997, total number of students: 100
80 passed, 20 failed.
No. of total students remain same in 1998 : So 0.1 of 80 = 8 decrease ---> 72 students passed. so % passed = 72
Hence no. of senior decreased.

CASE 2: in 1997, total number of students: 100
80 passed, 20 failed.
No. of students increased : So again, 0.1 of 80 = 8 decrease ---> 72 students passed. Assuming there are 110 students now, % of students passed < 72 and AGAIN, no. of seniors decreased.

CASE 3: in 1997, total number of students: 100
80 passed, 20 failed.
No. of students decreased : So again, 0.1 of 80 = 8 decrease ---> 72 students passed. Assuming there are 110 students now, % of students passed > 72 and AGAIN, no. of seniors decreased.

So under all circumstances, no. of seniors decrease or increase is NOT A SURE SHOT consideration.

B States otherwise. and hence B = OA

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Re: #Top150 CR: Beginning in 1997 high school seniors in State Q [#permalink]

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26 Feb 2016, 23:17
Hi,
davedekoos wrote:
pkm9995109794 did a great job of breaking down each answer choice, but unfortunately he made a couple errors which led to not being able to answer the question. I do agree however, that this is a messed up question.

Q argument may not be messed up but, the OA is actually messed up..

Quote:
But now we have a problem. Answer choice B is only partially supported by the argument, and answer choice E is contradicted by the argument. The way the question is phrased, "The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statements." could be interpreted as "Which of the following statement IS supported by the argument above, but supported the least". That way one could argue that B is the answer. But I don't think that is the correct interpretation of the question, and I'm not sure you can support less than by contradicting, which would suggest to me that the correct answer should be E, not B.

The Requirement -"The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statements."- does convey that the choice is likely to be supported in whatever little way.
So, B comes close to that requirement. But E is totally incorrect, overtaking B as the most appropriate choice but may not exactly fit into the requirement.
So my take would be that E was not intended by the source as it has turned out to be and, errorneously, 1997 has been mentioned as 1998 and vice-versa.

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Re: #Top150 CR: Beginning in 1997 high school seniors in State Q [#permalink]

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28 Feb 2016, 03:07
This question definitely needs fixing. As others have suggested, switching the years in E would easily make B the answer. If E is really the intended answer, then the question would need to clearly ask for an answer that "MUST BE FALSE." This is not something we'd usually see on the GMAT. In any case, when we're asked for an answer that is "least supported," there should really be four supported answers and one unsupported answer. The relative language "least" is just used to protect the test-writers in case we think of some slight exception or odd interpretation that might make two answers seem valid.
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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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20 May 2016, 23:43
sanjuro9 wrote:
Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been required to pass a comprehensive proficiency exam before they are allowed to graduate. The exam requirement was intended to ensure that a minimum level of academic quality will be achieved by the students in the state. In 1997, 20 percent of the seniors did not pass the exam and were, therefore, not allowed to graduate. In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year.

The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statement.

A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.
B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.
C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.
D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.

Please provide an explanation with actual numbers.

OA:
[Reveal] Spoiler:
B

1997 80% passed, 20% failed
1998 number who passed decreased by 10% from number who passed in 1997
Both in 1997 and 1998 we don't know what was the number of students.

Lets start by taking a number for 1997, say 100 students appeared and 80 passed, 20 failed.
In 1998, we 'll have 10% fewer passing than 1997, so 72 passed the exam.

Now, lets look at the choices.
A - If the percentage of students who passed increased in 1998... so 72 is > 80% of x (x being number of students in 1998.
72 > 0.8x or x<90 so Choice A is valid. Note that the question stem asks for LEAST possible conclusion.

B - %passing decreased. so, 72/x*100 < 80 or 72/x < 0.8 or x>90. x could be 91 or 120. Don't know.

C - Not necessarily true. Number of students can remain the same, say 100 and the number of students passing is less than 80%, ie. 72%.

D - We know that the number of students passing the exam decreased by 10%, lets not evaluate this.

E - The percentage of passing students in 1998 would be less than 70% is when number of students in 1998 is greater than number of students in 1997. >102 to be precise.

As in case of B, the conclusion may or may not be true depending upon how much the percentage has decreased. In case of E the number of students in 1997 can not be greater than that in 1998.

This analysis would take more than 5-10 minutes. What's the source and are you sure the OA is B? What's the explanation at the source?

for answer option E), if 72 is less than 70%, then total number must be greater than 100. So, E is valid.

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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19 Jun 2016, 09:44
Thank you for replying to my private message Chetan
This is exactly what my answer was appearing.. No matter what numbers I used I was getting option E as the least supported one.
I don't know why B is the OA.
Anyway I will go stick to my answer and your mathematical proof and mark Option E as correct.
Thanks again

chetan2u wrote:
Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been required to pass a comprehensive proficiency exam before they are allowed to graduate. The exam requirement was intended to ensure that a minimum level of academic quality will be achieved by the students in the state. In 1997, 20 percent of the seniors did not pass the exam and were, therefore, not allowed to graduate. In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year.

The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statement.

A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.
B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.
C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.
D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.

Please provide an explanation with actual numbers.

OA:
[Reveal] Spoiler:
B

Hi,

Responding to a PM...
Lets take a friendly number to check on choices..
Total seniors in 1997 = 100...
80 passed and 20 failed..

1998 - Total = T...
Passed = 90% of 80 = 72 and failed = F...

lets check the statements -
A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.
% in 1997 = 80%, and % in $$1998 = \frac{72}{T}$$....
$$\frac{72}{T}$$ > 80%.... $$\frac{72}{T}> \frac{80}{100} ..... T < 72*\frac{100}{80}.... T<90$$...
so YES the number of high schools seniors decreased from 100 to LESS than 90 during that time period

B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.
% in 1997 = 80%, and % in 1998 = 72/T....
$$\frac{72}{T} < 80$$%....$$\frac{72}{T}< \frac{80}{100} ..... T > 72*\frac{100}{80}.... T>90...$$
so YES if the number of high schools seniors was 91 and
NO if it was 101 or 110 etc..
So this may not be TRUE everytime....

C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.
let T< 100..... so 72/T <80/100..... T>90.....
so if T is between 90 and 100... ans is NO...% <80...
if T is <90... ans is YES > 80%
again Can be TRUE of FALSE..

D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
% in 1997 = 80%, and % in $$1998 = \frac{72}{T}$$....
so # failed in 1997 = 20, and in 1998 #<18, say 17, so T = 72+17 = 89<90..
$$\frac{72}{(<90)}=x$$ .... so x> 80%.
so YES the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.

E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.
so $$\frac{72}{T}<\frac{70}{100}..............T> 72*\frac{100}{70}.......... T> 102...$$ so clearly ans is NO in every case..

Now we have B and C, which may be TRUE or FALSE, and E, which will always be FALSE..
so cleraly E is least supported...

OA given is B and many have found B to be correct..

But answer should be E, unless we mean LEAST supported means that the choice should be supported a bit but not completely..
And I do not think that should be the meaning

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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16 Oct 2016, 08:45
"E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.

If the % of students who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70% i.e. the total number of students would be more more than 100 because 72 is 72% of 100. For the % to be less than 70, the total number of students should be more than 100. True.

Can you explain this

If the % of students who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70% i.e. the total number of students would be more more than 100 because 72 is 72% of 100. For the % to be less than 70, the total number of students should be more than 100.

The text marked in red refers to the number of students in 1998 or 1997 ?
It me it looks it should refer to the number in 1998.

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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16 Oct 2016, 09:24
Capricorn369 wrote:
This is a tough one but i'll share my 2 cents.

1997 - 80% pass/ 20% fail.
1998 - 72% pass/ 28% fail. (becasue the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from 1997)

After reading options we can observe that only option (B) talks inline with the facts - If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998. Rest all talks weird/inconsistent number or percentage.

Let me know your thoughts. Cheers!

Hey dude.

The question is which of the following is least supported by the argument, meaning option B is least consistent with the question, the rest can be correctly inferred from the argument. Go home and read the question first.

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Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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04 Feb 2017, 08:55
To simplify the argument, let assume total number of seniors in 1997 is 100:

In 1997, 20% seniors did not pass the exam -> 80% pass -> it is 80 pass against 100 in total
In 1998, number of passed senior decreased 10% (of 80) -> it is 72 pass against "X" in total
=> If ratio of passed senior in 1998 equals to that in 1997, then X = 72/80% = 90
If X > 90, then 1998's ratio <80%
If X <90, then 1998's ratio > 80%

We have to eliminate all the answer choices which the above results support or partially support toward:

A/ If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.
If 72/X > 80%, then X<100 <=> If X<90, then X<100 (yes, it is always true)
SUPPORT

B/ If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.
If 72/X <80%, then X>100 <=> If X>90, then X >100 (Yes, It is true in many cases, but if 100>X>90 it is false)
PARTIALLY SUPPORT

C/ Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.
It means if X>=100, then 72/X <80% <=> If X>=100, then X>90 (yes, it is always true)
SUPPORT

D/ If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
It means if the number of no-passed senior (say "n") <18, then (X-n)/X >80% (opp! with variety value of "X" and "n" we know that it can be true or false)
PARTIALLY SUPPORT

E/If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.
If 72/X <70%, 100 > X <=> If X >102.8, then 100> X (wow! it is totally false)

It is such the time killer, all about math and easy to be confused, so I wont take time to resolve this kind of question in real test.

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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04 Feb 2017, 11:28
+1 E.

Guessed right. :D

Nice explanations!

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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17 Mar 2017, 11:03
Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been required to pass a comprehensive proficiency exam before they are allowed to graduate. The exam requirement was intended to ensure that a minimum level of academic quality will be achieved by the students in the state. In 1997, 20 percent of the seniors did not pass the exam and were, therefore, not allowed to graduate. In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year.

The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statement.

A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.
B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.
C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.
D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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17 Mar 2017, 11:06
Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been required to pass a comprehensive proficiency exam before they are allowed to graduate. The exam requirement was intended to ensure that a minimum level of academic quality will be achieved by the students in the state. In 1997, 20 percent of the seniors did not pass the exam and were, therefore, not allowed to graduate. In 1998, the number of seniors who passed the exam decreased by 10% from the previous year.

The argument above, if true, LEAST supports which of the following statement.

A. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam increased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors decreased during that time period.
B. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam decreased from 1997 to 1998 , the number of high schools seniors increased during that time period.
C. Unless the number of high school seniors was lower in 1998 than in 1997, the number of seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was lower than 80 percent.
D. If the number of high school seniors who did not pass the exam decreased by more than 10 percent from 1997 to 1998, the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was greater than 80 percent.
E. If the percentage of high school seniors who passed the exam in 1998 was less than 70 percent, the number of high school seniors in 1997 was higher than the number in 1998.

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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21 Mar 2017, 21:54
Merging topics. Please, search questions before creating a discussion.
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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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28 Mar 2017, 12:05
Hi experts,

kindly help us with the above question

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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03 Apr 2017, 14:08
Expert's post
Top Contributor
Aketa, please see the above explanations if you haven't already -- and I particularly agree with DmitryFarber.
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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been [#permalink]

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02 May 2017, 07:36
took 4 min 45 seconds but got correct answer
My go :
Passed / fail
1997 : 80/20 - suppose 100 people are there.
1998 : 72/ ? - Don't know how many people are there but we know only 72 people passed.
A B C D - can be true in some cases . but E can never be true .

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Re: Beginning in 1997, high school seniors in State Q have been   [#permalink] 02 May 2017, 07:36

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