Bunuel
In the recently concluded referendum in New York, regarding calling back US troops from Iraq, 600 people voted on a referendum, but after some discussion the opponents increased by 150%. The motion was then rejected by a majority two times as great as that by, which it was formerly passed. How many people voted against the initial referendum?
A. 500
B. 400
C. 350
D. 300
E. 200
A. If 500 people were opponents initially then later opponents become 1.5*500=750 Since 750 votes are not possible as there are only 600 people. So A cannot be the answer
B. Similarly if 400 were opponents initially , the referendum itself couldn't have passed, as 400 opponents would be in majority and only 200 supporters. Not to mention 1.5 *400=600 , which also is not possible.
C. Referendum couldn't have passed in the first place if ratio of opponents : supporters = 350: 250.
For the referendum to pass , supporters need to be in Majority.
D. Again referendum couldn't have passed initially if ratio of opponents : supporters = 300: 300. Supporters need to be in majority for it to pass.
E. This is the only option possible.
Ans- E
Hope it helps.
Pretty straight forward reasoning. However I just wanted to point out that increasing a value by 150% is actually multiplying by 2.5 since a 100% increase is multiplying the value by 2.