The table shows a website's ratings of the finances and accountability

Question

The table shows a website's ratings of the finances and accountability of each of seven charities to which Gordon is considering donating money. Greater numbers of asterisks (*) indicate higher ratings. Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category. Gordon may have other criteria that would prevent him from donating to one or more of these charities.

Name    Category    Finances    Accountability     Civica  Community  ***  ****    Eco Society  Environment  **  **    Green World  Environment  **  ***    Healthy Hearts  Health  ***  **    Nature's Friends  Environment  *  ***    Solutions in Medicine  Health  **  **    Together We Will  Community  ****  *

For each of the following statements, select Indicates statement is correct if the information provided indicates that the statement is correct. Otherwise, select Does not indicate statement is correct.

ID: 700248

MartyMurray · Accepted Answer

Statement 1

Gordon will donate to at least one of these charities.

To see whether the information provided indicates whether Gordon will donate to at least one of these charities, we can go back to the passage to review what it says. Doing so, we find the following:

seven charities to which Gordon is considering donating money

Gordon may have other criteria that would prevent him from donating to one or more of these charities.

We see that the text indicates that Gordon is "considering" donating. So, he has not decided to donate money. Also, other criteria may "prevent" him from donating.

Thus, it may be that he will not donate to any of the charities. So, statement 1 is not supported.

Mark "Does not indicate statement is correct."

Statement 2

Gordon will donate to at most one of these charities.

To determine whether we can determine the "most" charities to which Gordon will donate and whether the most is just one, we need to find constraints in the information provided.

The text says the following:

Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category.

So, the number of charities he will donate to is constrained to the number that, for both finances and accountability, are at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in their respective categories.

To see how many charities fit this criterion we can sort by category.

In Community, Together We Will is not as highly rated in Accountability as Civica, and Civica is not as highly rated in Finances as Together We Will. So, neither charity in Community fits Gordon's criterion.

In Environment, Nature's Friends is not as highly rated in Finances as the other two charities, Green World is just as highly rated in both Finances and Accountability as the other two charities, and Eco Society is not as highly rated in Accountability as the other two charities. So, in Environment, Green World fits Gordon's criterion.

In Health, Solutions in Medicine is not as highly rated in Finances as Healthy Hearts, whereas Healthy Hearts is rated higher in Finances than Solutions in Medicine and as highly in Accountability as Solutions in Medicine. So, in Health, Healthy Hearts fits Gordon's criterion.

So, there are two charities to which Gordon may donate, Green World and Healthy Hearts. Thus, it is NOT true that Gordon will donate to at most one of these charities.

Mark "Does not indicate statement is correct."

Statement 3

Gordon will not donate to a charity in the Community category.

Reviewing what we already found with regard to Community when finding the answer for statement 2, we see that neither charity in Community fits Gordon's criterion that "Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category."

So, from our analysis for statement 2, we already know that Gordon will not donate to a charity in the Community category, and thus statement 3 is supported by the passage.

Mark "Indicates statement is correct."

Correct Answer:   Does not indicate statement is correct, Does not indicate statement is correct, Indicates statement is correct

egmat · Answer

Another brilliant question. Here are certain attributes of this question:
 
 The dataset presents a criterion. 
 The table presents data for potential candidates. 
 There is some other unstated criteria as well.

Based on the above, we need to determine which statement can be concluded and which cannot be concluded.

So, to answer this question effectively, we need to carefully understand the criterion presented – “Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category.” This is a fairly loaded criterion.   Watch the video at 1’ mark to see its translation in simple words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8kjIqgGFvA

Next, as you watch the video, pay close attention to the treatment of statement 1 vs. statement 2. There is only one word difference – at least and at most and given the scenario, the treatment is completely different for these two statements.

And then observe how the analysis of statement 2 helps answer statement 3.

So, all in all, amazing question that can be solved effectively if one applies the “owning the dataset” mindset.

poddarritika98 · Answer

Why is statement 3 wrong? "Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category."

Hence, he will donate to any category which has more than 1 star. Civica has 3 and 4 stars in Finance and Accountability respectively.

MartyMurray · Answer

In the Community category, for finances, Civica has 3 stars while Together We Will has 4 stars. So, Civica is not as highly rated in finances as Together We Will, which is in the same category as Civica.

So, since Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category, we see that Gordon will not donate to Civica.

poddarritika98 · Answer

In the Community category, for finances, Civica has 3 stars while Together We Will has 4 stars. So, Civica is not as highly rated in finances as Together We Will, which is in the same category as Civica.

So, since Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category, we see that Gordon will not donate to Civica.

By as highly rated as any of the other charities what does the question mean? Should both categories be the highest rated or should not be the lowest rated?  MartyMurray

MartyMurray · Answer

Here's the complete statement from the passage:

Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is  at least as highly rated as any of the other charities  in the same category.

"At least as highly rated as" means "not rated lower than."

So, for Gordon to donate, a charity cannot be rated lower for finances or accountability than any other in the same category. It can be rated only the same as or higher than others in the same category.

nisen20 · Answer

That's very tricky.

I met some questions in DI similar to this one and got wrong each time, because I always considered such intentionally vague claims—contradicting to other more detailed information in the passage—no more than a distraction, though I indeed noticed them. 
I learned a lot.

Thank you Marty.

Gemmie · Answer

https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=81866 No Community charity qualifies Environment charity (Green World) qualifies Health charity (Healthy Hearts) qualifies 1. Gordon will donate to at least one of these charities. => Does not statement is correct Because Gordon may have other criteria that would prevent him from donating to one or more of these charities 2. Gordon will donate to at most one of these charities. => Does not indicate statement is correct At most 2 3. Gordon will not donate to a charity in the Community category. => Indicate statement is correct As worked out above GMAT-Club-Forum-6tb5lhvr.png

KarishmaB · Answer

Sort by category and leave it at that.
Given: "Gordon will NOT donate to a charity UNLESS, for both finances and accountability, it is at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category."
This means for Gordon to donate, a charity must have the highest * in both criteria given in that category. Another charity could have the same number of * but not more.

Gordon will donate to at least one of these charities.

Given: Gordon is considering donating money... Gordon may have other criteria that would prevent him from donating to one or more of these charities.

Even if a charity meets his requirements, he may still not donate. So we cannot say that he will donate to at least one of these. No other evaluation is required.

Select 'Does not indicate statement is correct'

Gordon will donate to at most one of these charities.

Here evaluation is required. What if only one charity satisfies his criteria? Then we know that he donate to at most 1. But if 2 or more charities satisfy his criteria then we cannot conclude this.
First 2 charities are community. Neither works since neither has more or equal number of *.
Next 3 are environment - Green World works - Highest number of * in both.
Next 2 are Health - Healthy Hearts works - Highest number of * in both.

There are two possible charities he could donate to. He may donate to both.

Select 'Does not indicate statement is correct'

Gordon will not donate to a charity in the Community category.

This is true. We saw above that in community category, neither charity works.

Select Indicates statement is correct

Here is a discussion on another official TA question: https://youtu.be/OyN_szEDEPw

rushimehta · Answer

MartyMurray   KarishmaB   chetan2u   Bunuel

Why do we require evaluation for the second statement ?
Statement says - " Gordon   will donate   to at most one of these charities. "

Let's say in the table provided we only had 1 charity which satisfies the necessary condition mentioned. But still, there may be other factors - due to which Gordon may not donate to that charity. 
The statement says "will donate" - "will"  expresses certainty. So, i rrespective of the number of charities, meeting the necessary condition - we  can never be certainly sure whether Gordon will donate to the charity.

Am I comprehending the 2nd option in a wrong way ?

Bunuel · Answer

Imagine a case where only one charity satisfies the criteria. In that case, saying that Gordon will donate to at most one of the charities would be correct, since “at most one” allows for zero or one.

However, if two charities satisfy the criteria, then saying that Gordon will donate to at most one would not be correct, because he could theoretically donate to two, so stating with certainty that he will donate to at most one would be incorrect.

Hope it's clear.

rushimehta · Answer

Oh okay! Got it...Thank you !

Bunuel  - A follow up query - when you say "at most one allows for zero or one." - does this include both the cases? i.e. If from the table, we find that - 
1. Gordon can donate to at least 1 charity - we mark " Indicates statement is correct" 
2. Gordon can't donate to any charity -  still do we mark " Indicates statement is correct" ???

Bunuel · Answer

Yes, exactly. “At most one” means zero or one, and both cases make the statement true.

So:

If one charity qualifies, the statement holds. 
 If no charity qualifies, it still holds (since zero ≤ one).

Only if two or more qualify would the statement be false.

SKP220292 · Answer

Seems like the difficulty is entirely caused by the necessary vs sufficient trap. I feel like someone who is coming to such questions after increasing proficiency in CR wouldn't fall for this trap.

Usernamevisible · Answer

egmat  - Hi, I have a doubt regarding the video solution and wanted to confirm my understanding.
The video mentions that a charity should  not be the least rated  in its category. However, I interpreted the condition differently after discussing it with ChatGPT.
Consider this hypothetical example:

Charity 
 Finance 
 Accountability 
 
  Nature's Friends 
 ★ 
 ★★★ 
 
  Green World 
 ★★ 
 ★★★★ 
 
  Eco Society 
 ★★ 
 ★★★

The condition in the question states that the charity must be  "at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category"  for both finances and accountability.
In this example:
 
 Nature's Friends would be rejected because it is not highest in Finance. 
 Green World qualifies. 
 It seems that  Eco Society should also be rejected , because although it is tied for the highest in Finance, it is  not at least as highly rated as Green World in Accountability  (★★★ vs ★★★★).  
However, based on the explanation in the video, it sounded like only Nature's Friends would be rejected.
Could you please confirm whether my interpretation is correct, or if I'm missing something?

egmat · Answer

Hi Usernamevisible,

Your interpretation is correct, and the example you built is a genuinely good one.

The condition is: for  both  Finances and Accountability, the charity must be  at least as highly rated as any of the other charities in the same category . Read strictly, "any" here means  every  - in each of the two columns, the charity's rating must be  greater than or equal to  every other rating in its category. So a qualifying charity has to sit at the  top  of both columns; a tie at the top is fine, but nothing may be above it.

Your hypothetical

Environment maxima in your table: Finances  2 , Accountability  4 .

- Nature's Friends: Finances  1  <  2 , so out.
- Green World:  2  = max,  4  = max, so it qualifies.
- Eco Society: Finances  2  = max, but Accountability  3  <  4 , so out.

So yes - Eco Society is rejected. You have read the condition correctly.

About the shortcut in the video

The video first restates the condition strictly, then simplifies it to this: you clear a column as long as there is  at least one  other charity in your category that you equal or beat. On  this  table that simplification selects the correct charities. Your table is what separates them - your Eco Society  equals  Nature's Friends at  3  in Accountability, so the simplified rule passes it, while the actual condition, which requires it to be at least as high as  every  other and Green World sits at  4 , rejects it.

The real table

Environment maxima are Finances  2 , Accountability  3 . Eco Society ( 2 ,  2 ) fails Accountability; Nature's Friends ( 1 ,  3 ) fails Finances; only  Green World  clears both. No Community charity qualifies, and  Healthy Hearts  is the only qualifier in Health.

Answers: Statement 1 - Does not indicate statement is correct; Statement 2 - Does not indicate statement is correct; Statement 3 - Indicates statement is correct.

The table shows a website's ratings of the finances and accountability

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Name	Category	Finances	Accountability
Civica	Community	***	****
Eco Society	Environment	**	**
Green World	Environment	**	***
Healthy Hearts	Health	***	**
Nature's Friends	Environment	*	***
Solutions in Medicine	Health	**	**
Together We Will	Community	****	*

Indicates statement is correct	Does not indicate statement is correct
		Gordon will donate to at least one of these charities.
		Gordon will donate to at most one of these charities.
		Gordon will not donate to a charity in the Community category.

Charity	Finance	Accountability
Nature's Friends	★	★★★
Green World	★★	★★★★
Eco Society	★★	★★★

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