In western Europe, x bicycles were sold in each of the years 1990 and

Hi All,

While this question is wordy, it can be solved by taking the proper notes and TESTing VALUES.

We're told that X bicycles were sold in each of the years 1990 and 1993.

IF.... X = 100

100 bicycles sold in 1990
100 bicycles sold in 1993

Next, we're told that the producers had a 42% share of the market in 1990 and a 33% share of the market in 1993....

1990 share = 42% of 100 = 42 bicycles
1993 share = 33% of 100 = 33 bicycles

We're asked for the DECREASE in the NUMBER of bicycles sold by those producers from 1990 to 1993. That number is 42 - 33 = 9, so we're looking for an answer that equals 9 when we place X = 100 into the answer choices. There's only one answer that matches...

Final Answer:

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Though Question is Easy but the language of question is highly Convoluted, and i guess this is the problem with me only or language of the question is actually hard.

Moreover is't question actually asking the the difference between the {(Quantity Produced + Quantity Sold ) in 1990 - (Quantity Produced + Quantity Sold ) in 1993}

Though the Quantity sold in both the years is same it actually boils down to (Quantity Produced in 1990 ) in (Quantity Produced in 1993)

Hope my understanding is correct.

it says "annual number", therefore my mind directly tends to divide with four (1993-1990 4 years). Any comment?

Hi faltan,

If you had data on the number of bicycles sold in EACH year (1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993), then dividing the SUM of those numbers by 4 would give you the AVERAGE number of bicycles sold per year during that 4-year stretch. The prompt gives us information about just two of those years though: 1990 and 1993 (and explicitly states that it was JUST those two years). Thus, there doesn't seem like much of a reason to divide anything by 4.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Yes, you have to step back and review this sentence carefully.

"annual number of bicycles produced and sold in Western Europe" means the number of bicycles produced and sold in the year 1990 and the number of bicycles produced and sold in the year 1993.
"annual" just shows the number spans over the entire year.

It was wordy for me at first !

but upon reading it carefully, it says, In Western Europe, x bicycles were sold each in 1990 and 1993"

which means total bicycles sold in Western Europe (x) = [Bicycles sold by Western Europe Manufacturers] + [Bicycles sold by all other manufacturers]

And then it goes on to ask only about Western Europe manufacturers and giving their percentages for the corresponding years.

It actually took me 5-10 minutes because I wasn't paying too much attention at the meaning and was rushing through the problem.

This post is for anyone who had the same problem as me.

Thanks

I came up with the same approach when I saw this question for the first time, however, I still doubted my answer.
What I don't get is why it only works when plugging in 100.

Because if we say the market consists of 1000 bicycles then we would have a much larger %-decrease.
420 -> 330 (90 decrease in absolute number)

90/420 ~ 1/5

Can someone point out why my reasoning is flawed?

Much appreciation!

Hi chrtpmdr,

You will still get the correct answer if you change the value of X... as long as you are answering the question that is ASKED.

IF... X = 1000, then the respective share of bicycles sold will become 420 and 330. The DECREASE then becomes 420 - 300 = 90... so we're looking for an answer that equals 90 when you plug X=1000 into it. That's still Answer

As an aside, 9/42 is the same as 90/420, but that was NOT what the question asked us for.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

It says "annual", which by dictionary means occurring "every year."
so I don't understand why we don't have to divide 9% by 4 (4 year span).
any idea????????

Hi leelee01011,

I understand your issue with how the question is worded; you're wondering whether the two 'middle years' (re: 1991 and 1992) are relevant to the prompt. The answer to that question is "no", those two years have NO bearing on what is described nor what is asked. In the context of how this question is written, the phrase "annual number" refers to the 'all of the bicycles produced and sold in 1990' vs. 'all of the bicycles produced and sold in 1993', so those two numbers are what are necessary to answer this question (and not the 4-year period from 1990 to 1993).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Video solution from Quant Reasoning:

Solution:

1990-Bicycles produced= 0.42x

1993-Bicycles produced=0.33x

Bicycles were sold in 1990 and 1993 = x

=>The decrease in bicycles produced and sold in Western Europe from 1990 to 1993 was:

0.42(x) - 0.33(x)

= 0.09x

= 9 % of x (option d)

Devmitra Sen
GMAT SME

Answer: Option D

Video solution by GMATinsight



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I am new here, and i don't know how to type mathematical expressions. That is why, i have uploaded the solution in JPEG format. Sorry for that.

In western Europe, x bicycles were sold in each of the years 1990 and 1993. The bicycle producers of Western Europe had a 42 percent share of this market in 1990 and a 33 percent share in 1993. Which of the following represents the decrease in the annual number of bicycles produced and sold in Western Europe from 1990 to 1993?

annual number of bicycles produced and sold in Western Europe in 1990 = 42 % of x
annual number of bicycles produced and sold in Western Europe in 1993 = 33 % of x

decrease in the annual number of bicycles produced and sold in Western Europe from 1990 to 1993 = 42 % of x - 33 % of x = 9 % of x

Option D is the right answer.

Thanks,
Clifin J Francis,
GMAT SME

Breaking down the qs
1. Same no. of bicycles sold in 1990 and 1993 each- say 100 in each of the years
2. Bicycle producers of Western Europe (WE) had a 42% share in 1990- i.e. cycles produced by WE producers and sold (inferring from market share) by them in WE = 42% of 100= 42
Similarly, Bicycle producers of Western Europe (WE) had a 33% share in 1993- i.e. cycles produced by WE producers and sold by them in WE = 33% of 100= 33
3.Qs- Decrease (better be a %) in the annual number (read annual number as ONE-) - This simply represents the number for each of the specified years
of - Bicycles produced and sold- i.e.- bicycles produced in WE (i.e. made by WE producers) and sold (can relate to market share) in WE
from 1990 to 1993- Here 'from' is implying the difference (subtraction)

all the bicycles sold in western Europe vs. bicycles produced by western Europe producers

This wording could be hard for careless test takers especially when they are under pressure.