nidhi12 wrote:
If some of the passengers of the boat Silver Trout board the Lovely Mary instead, then which boat will have more passengers on it?
(1) The Silver Trout will have 25% fewer passengers than it currently has.
(2) The Lovely Mary will have 50% more passengers than it currently has.
We need to determine which boat, Silver Trout or Lovely Mary, will have more passengers if some of the passengers of the Silver Trout board the Lovely Mary instead.
Statement One Alone:
The Silver Trout will have 25% fewer passengers than it currently has.
This means the Silver Trout will have 75% of the passengers it currently has; however, without knowing anything about the Lovely Mary, we can’t answer the question. Statement one alone is not sufficient.
Statement Two Alone:
The Lovely Mary will have 50% more passengers than it currently has.
This means the Lovely Mary will have 150% of the passengers it currently has; however, without knowing anything about the Silver Trout, we can’t answer the question. Statement two alone is not sufficient.
Statements One and Two Together:
Let’s let S = the number of passengers the Silver Trout currently has and L = the number of passengers the Lovely Mary currently has. From both statements, we see that 0.25S = 0.50L since when 25% of the passengers on the Silver Trout board the Lovely Mary, the Lovely Mary gains 50% more passengers. Multiply both sides of the equation by 4 and we have S = 2L. Furthermore, if 25% of the passengers on the Silver Trout board the Lovely Mary instead, the Silver Trout will have 0.75S passengers and the Lovely Mary will have 1.5L passengers. However, since S = 2L, 0.75S = 0.75(2L) = 1.5L. We see that the Silver Trout will also have 1.5L passengers, which is the same number of passengers the Lovely Mary will have.
Answer: C