Bunuel wrote:
If p and j are integers, is tp > tj?
(1) p > j
(2) –tp > –tj
Target question: Is tp > tj? Statement 1: p > j Since we don't have any information about the value of t, statement 1 is insufficient.
If you're not convinced consider these two conflicting cases:
Case a: p = 2, j = 1 and t = 1. In this case, the answer to the target question is
YES, tp is greater than tjCase b: p = 2, j = 1 and t = 0. In this case, the answer to the target question is
NO, tp is not greater than tjSince we can’t answer the
target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statement 2: –tp > –tjAn important property of inequalities says this: If we multiply both sides of an inequality by a NEGATIVE value, we must REVERSE the direction of the inequality symbol (see the video below for more on this)
So if we take the inequality –tp > –tj...
... And multiply both sides by -1, we get tp < tj
So, the answer to the target question is
NO, tp is definitely not greater than tjSince we can answer the
target question with certainty, statement 2 is SUFFICIENT
Answer: B
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