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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
68% (02:00) correct
32%
(02:01)
wrong
based on 1359
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Sue's monthly earnings consist of a monthly salary and a 4 percent commission on the portion of her monthly sales that is in excess of $2,000. If Sue's monthly salary was the same in July as in August, how much greater were her sales in July than in August?
(1) Sue's monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and $3,580 in August.
(2) Sue's monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August.
(A) Statement 1 alone is sufficient, but statement 2 alone is not.
(B) Statement 2 alone is sufficient, but statement 1 alone is not.
(C) Both statements together are sufficient, but neither alone is sufficient.
(D) Each statement alone is sufficient.
(E) Neither statement is sufficient, even when combined.
Screenshot 2023-11-13 at 2.41.51 PM.png [ 193.04 KiB | Viewed 11202 times ]
_________________
(1) Sue's monthly earnings were $3,620 in July and $3,580 in August.
(2) Sue's monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August.
(A) Statement 1 alone is sufficient, but statement 2 alone is not.
(B) Statement 2 alone is sufficient, but statement 1 alone is not.
(C) Both statements together are sufficient, but neither alone is sufficient.
(D) Each statement alone is sufficient.
(E) Neither statement is sufficient, even when combined.
Attachment:
Screenshot 2023-11-13 at 2.41.51 PM.png [ 193.04 KiB | Viewed 11202 times ]
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gmatophobia
Quant Chat Moderator
Joined: 22 Dec 2016
Last visit: 09 Sep 2026
Posts: 3,174
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Leadership
Posts: 3,174
Bunuel
KarishmaB Bunuel
I cannot wrap my head around how option A is the correct answer. The question stem neither mentions that Sue received a commission in both months nor provides any information on Sue's monthly salary. Hence, I would consider Statement 1 not sufficient.
For example, let's consider the following two cases for Statement 1
Case 1
- Month : July
Monthly Salary: $3580
Sale: $3000
Monthly Earnings = $3580 + 0.04(3000-2000) = 3580 + 40 = $3620
- Month : August
Monthly Salary: $3580
Sale: $1000
Monthly Earnings = $3580
Difference in sale = 3000 - 1000 = $2000
Case 2
- Month : July
Monthly Salary: $3500
Sale: $5000
Monthly Earnings = $3500 + 0.04(5000-2000) = 3500 + 120 = $3620
- Month : August
Monthly Salary: $3500
Sale: $4000
Monthly Earnings = $3500 + 0.04(4000 - 2000) = 3500 + 80 = $3580
Difference in sale = 5000 - 4000 = 1000
Isn't Statement 1 giving us two possible answers or how did we conclude that the sales made by Sue were greater than $2000 in both months, thereby making her eligible for commissions on both months?
What am I missing here
Could you please help me?Moderator Note: I believe that the answer posted in GMAT Prep is not correct.
IMO The correct answer to this question should be Option C
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Power of Tiny Gains
1.01^(365) = 37.78
0.99^(365) = 0.03
Power of Tiny Gains
1.01^(365) = 37.78
0.99^(365) = 0.03
General Discussion
Posts: 34
Let Monthly Earnings - > E july and E august
MONTHLY SALARY - S
MONTHLY SALES-> sales july and sales Aug
To find sales july - sales Aug
Stmt I
E(july)= s + 4/100(sales july-2000) (1)
E(aug) = s + 4/100(sales aug -2000) (2)
E july and E Aug are given
Subtract 1) - 2 gives sales july- sales aug which is what we need( the s's cancel since is given monthly salary is same for july and aug)
SUFF
Stmt II
Sue’s monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August
Seevral unknowns like E july,E Aug, sales July and sales Aug
INSUFF
A)
MONTHLY SALARY - S
MONTHLY SALES-> sales july and sales Aug
To find sales july - sales Aug
Stmt I
E(july)= s + 4/100(sales july-2000) (1)
E(aug) = s + 4/100(sales aug -2000) (2)
E july and E Aug are given
Subtract 1) - 2 gives sales july- sales aug which is what we need( the s's cancel since is given monthly salary is same for july and aug)
SUFF
Stmt II
Sue’s monthly salary was $3,500 in July and in August
Seevral unknowns like E july,E Aug, sales July and sales Aug
INSUFF
A)
kryinkrumble
Joined: 14 Oct 2023
Last visit: 04 Jul 2024
Posts: 28
Location: Singapore
Schools: Imperial (A) LBS (A)
GMAT Focus 1: 675 Q88 V83 DI80 
Let the monthly salary of Sue be X
Statement 1 (SUFFICIENT):
July commission = 3620-X
August commission =3500-X
Difference in commission (in J and A) = (3620-X)-(3500-X) = 40
Difference in sales (in J and A) = 40/(4/100) = 1000 (since commission is 4% of her monthly sales in excess of $2000 - but we don't care about the $2000 because we just want the difference in her sales)
Statement 2 (INSUFFICENT):
We are only given salary but we have no information on the commission / sales in July and August
Answer: A
Statement 1 (SUFFICIENT):
July commission = 3620-X
August commission =3500-X
Difference in commission (in J and A) = (3620-X)-(3500-X) = 40
Difference in sales (in J and A) = 40/(4/100) = 1000 (since commission is 4% of her monthly sales in excess of $2000 - but we don't care about the $2000 because we just want the difference in her sales)
Statement 2 (INSUFFICENT):
We are only given salary but we have no information on the commission / sales in July and August
Answer: A
gmatophobia
I agree. We are not given that her Sales in both months was at least $2000. So the difference in the Sales could vary using statement 1 alone.
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Monthly Earnings include both Salary and 4% of Sales that exceed $2000
Hence, the equation for statement would look like this:
Monthly Salary + 4% ( 2000 - Sale in July ) - [ Monthly Salary + 4% ( 2000 - Sale in Aug ) ] = 3620 - 3580
Hence, the equation for statement would look like this:
Monthly Salary + 4% ( 2000 - Sale in July ) - [ Monthly Salary + 4% ( 2000 - Sale in Aug ) ] = 3620 - 3580
gmatophobia
Is there an official explanation to this answer? I also got C based on the different possibilities based on only statement 1 but the official practice exam has it as A in spite of the obvious ambiguity.
gmatophobia
roshaun25
Official mocks do not have solutions.
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Posts: 3
I got the same official practice exam question, and the answer is wrong. they say it's (A), but it's obviously (C).
Posts: 3
I think the proper equation should use 'maximum' since there is a chance that sales is under $2000 which means commission will be $0.
0.04(max(0, sales in July −2000)−max(0, sales in August −2000))= 3620−3580 = 40
0.04(max(0, sales in July −2000)−max(0, sales in August −2000))= 3620−3580 = 40
az168
How do we know if both months’ sales exceeded $2,000?
Sanyam_Maheshwari
Goodmorning, even if we don't take into consideration the sales being 0 in one case, we would still have the same problem, right?
if the fixed salary is 2000, we would have a greater difference between the sales than we would have considering fixed salary equal to 3500.
in the first case sales would be (3580-2000)=4/100*sales1 and 3620-2000=4/100*sales2.
if the fixed salary is 2000, we would have a greater difference between the sales than we would have considering fixed salary equal to 3500.
in the first case sales would be (3580-2000)=4/100*sales1 and 3620-2000=4/100*sales2.
KarishmaB
Posts: 477
gmatphobia, KarishmaB
Let:
* Monthly salary = S
* July sales = J
* August sales = A
Since earnings consist of salary plus 4% of sales above $2,000:
Earnings = S + 0.04(Sales − 2000)
(assuming sales exceed $2,000; otherwise commission would be zero, but we'll see whether that matters.)
We need:
J − A ?
---
Statement (1)
July earnings = 3620
August earnings = 3580
Difference in earnings:
3620 − 3580 = 40
Salary is the same in both months, so the entire $40 difference comes from commission.
0.04[(J − 2000) − (A − 2000)] = 40
0.04(J − A) = 40
J − A = 40 / 0.04 = 1000
Unique value obtained.
Statement (1) is sufficient.
---
Statement (2)
Salary was $3,500 in both months.
We still don't know earnings or commissions.
Many possibilities:
July sales = 5,000, August sales = 4,000 ⇒ difference = 1,000
July sales = 8,000, August sales = 5,000 ⇒ difference = 3,000
Different answers.
Statement (2) is insufficient.
---
Answer
A. Statement (1) alone is sufficient.
---
GMAT Takeaway
When a commission is based on sales above a threshold:
0.04(J − 2000) − 0.04(A − 2000)
the threshold cancels:
0.04[(J − 2000) − (A − 2000)]
= 0.04(J − A)
So if salary is unchanged, a difference in earnings translates directly into a difference in sales. This cancellation is the key shortcut
Let:
* Monthly salary = S
* July sales = J
* August sales = A
Since earnings consist of salary plus 4% of sales above $2,000:
Earnings = S + 0.04(Sales − 2000)
(assuming sales exceed $2,000; otherwise commission would be zero, but we'll see whether that matters.)
We need:
J − A ?
---
Statement (1)
July earnings = 3620
August earnings = 3580
Difference in earnings:
3620 − 3580 = 40
Salary is the same in both months, so the entire $40 difference comes from commission.
0.04[(J − 2000) − (A − 2000)] = 40
0.04(J − A) = 40
J − A = 40 / 0.04 = 1000
Unique value obtained.
Statement (1) is sufficient.
---
Statement (2)
Salary was $3,500 in both months.
We still don't know earnings or commissions.
Many possibilities:
July sales = 5,000, August sales = 4,000 ⇒ difference = 1,000
July sales = 8,000, August sales = 5,000 ⇒ difference = 3,000
Different answers.
Statement (2) is insufficient.
---
Answer
A. Statement (1) alone is sufficient.
---
GMAT Takeaway
When a commission is based on sales above a threshold:
0.04(J − 2000) − 0.04(A − 2000)
the threshold cancels:
0.04[(J − 2000) − (A − 2000)]
= 0.04(J − A)
So if salary is unchanged, a difference in earnings translates directly into a difference in sales. This cancellation is the key shortcut
Siddharth17
Joined: 04 Dec 2025
Last visit: 23 Aug 2026
Posts: 29
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Schools: ISB '27 INSEAD Aug '27 LBS '27 HEC Sept '26
GMAT Focus 1: 655 Q84 V84 DI79
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Siddharth17
Doesn't matter. Understand why the answer should be (C) and move on from this question.
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Ca-Cj = ?
I)
3620 = S + Cj
3580 = S + Ca
Subract the equations
Cj-Ca Solveable.
SUFF.
II) No new info.
N.S.
I)
3620 = S + Cj
3580 = S + Ca
Subract the equations
Cj-Ca Solveable.
SUFF.
II) No new info.
N.S.
The assumption (On which your whole equation is founded) that July and August sales exceeded 2000$ was not stated in the question stem, the question specifically asked for the sales difference, not the commission difference (in which case we would've assumed that sales exceeded 2000$ in value), using the other option which is that sales did not exceed 2000$, when computed, gives a different answer, so data in A in inconsistent therefore insufficient.
Sanyam_Maheshwari
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