Sajjad1994
Official Explanation
Pick the number 100 to represent the value of U.S. emissions in 1993. Then, in 1994, U.S. emissions were:
100+100*1.5% = 101.5
Next, the 1995 emissions were:
101.5+101.5*1.3% = 102.8195
The 1996 emissions were:
102.8195+102.8195*3.2% = 106.109724
So, rounded to two decimal places, emissions in 1996 were 106.11% of emissions in 1993. Note that it’s best not to round until the very end in a question like this.
The correct answer is (E).
You did much of the work already in Question I above when you calculated that, if emissions in 1993 were 100, then emissions in 1996 were 106.1097. Now, let the 1993 emissions be x percent of the 1996 emissions. Thus:
100=x%(106.1097)
\(x=\frac{100}{106.1097}(100)\)
\(x=94.24\)
The correct answer is (B).
Hi
Sajjad1994 thanks for the explanation. For such kind of questions where options are close, would you recommend using the calculator. For instance, if the choices were not this close, a simple addition of percentages would have sufficed.
But even with cumulative percentage changes, it could be approximated that it would be slightly more than 6% for Q1, and a close guess can be made to arrive at right answer.
I just feel the calculator provided in GMAT UI is very clunky and it takes too much time clicking and operating it.
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.