The table shows carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, measured in megatons,

Question

The First question based on this stem can be found here.    The table shows carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, measured in megatons, from 25 countries in the European Union from the years 2004 to 2008. Additionally, the table gives each country's 2008 emissions as a percentage of the 2012 emissions target set for that country set by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. A negative percentage indicates the percentage by which the country kept its emissions below the target; a positive percentage indicates the percentage by which the country's emissions exceeded the target.

( Sort ↕  the table by clicking on the headers)       European Union
Member State    CO2 2004    CO2 2005    CO2 2006    CO2 2007    CO2 2008    2008 emissions
relative to Kyoto 
Protocol 2012 
target     Austria  91.2  93.3  91.6  88  86.6  0.2606    Belgium  147.6  143.8  136.6  131.3  133.3  -0.0191    Bulgaria  68.9  69.8  71.5  75.7  73.5  -0.4226    Czech Republic  147.1  145.6  149.1  150.8  141.4  -0.2171    Denmark  68.2  63.9  71  66.6  63.8  0.1642    Estonia  21.2  20.7  19.2  22  20.3  -0.4925    Finland  81.2  69.3  79.9  78.3  70.1  -0.0141    France  556.1  553.4  541.7  531.1  527  -0.0656    Germany  1025  1001.5  980  956.1  958.1  -0.0152    Greece  137.6  139.2  128.1  131.9  126.9  -0.091    Hungary  79.5  80.5  78.8  75.9  73.1  -0.3638    Ireland  68.6  69.9  69.7  69.2  67.4  0.0698    Italy  580.5  582.2  563  552.8  541.5  0.1149    Latvia  10.7  10.9  11.7  12.1  11.9  -0.4893    Lithuania  21.1  22.6  22.8  24.7  24.3  -0.449    Luxembourg  12.8  12.7  13.3  12.9  12.5  0.3736    Netherlands  218.4  212.1  208.5  207.5  206.9  0.0324    Poland  396.7  399  399.3  398.9  395.6  -0.2829    Portugal  84.6  85.5  84.7  81.8  78.4  0.0129    Romania  160.1  153.7  153.9  152.3  145.9  -0.4386    Slovakia  49.5  48.7  49  47  48.8  -0.2738    Slovenia  19.9  20.3  20.5  20.7  21.3  0.1452    Spain  425.2  440.6  433  442.3  405.7  0.2235    Sweden  69.7  67  66.9  65.4  64  -0.1489    United Kingdom  660.4  657.4  647.9  636.7  628.2  -0.0739

2. For each of the following statements, select Yes if the statement is true according to the information presented in the table; otherwise, select No.

Sid7210 · Answer

1)No country's emissions were 50 percent or more below that country's 2012 target during any year measured.
ANS-No
Latvia's 2012 target = 22.8 
50 percent of 22.8=11.4
so the 2004 and 2005 emissions were below 50 percent of 2012 target

2)The same country had the median carbon emissions 
ANS-Yes Portugal

3)The country with the median percentage of carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 relative to its 2012 Kyoto target was below its target in all 5 years measured.
ANS- Yes France
2012 target = 527/0.93 = 563.6
All the emissions are below this

JoeAa · Answer

May I know how to cut down the time spent on Q1 for testng.

Ilanchezhiyan · Answer

How did you find out about target scores, For example how did you arrive at 22.8 from the table given above

Carlijn · Answer

For Latvia 
11.9 is -0.4893, which means 48% below the target 
So 11.9 is 53% of the target 
11.9/53 x 100 = 22.8 as target 
50% of the target is 11.4

Raome · Answer

Hello, I am having difficulty understanding the target values here. The current explanations don't seem reliable. Can you please post the official answer for this?

WhitEngagePrep · Answer

I wanted to respond to both of these questions!  JoeAa  do you mean statement 1? If so, I can see why you'd want to cut down the time for testing, because at first glance this seems like a lot. But here's how I handled it, so maybe this will help! Also, NOTE I take some issue with the wording of statement 3 - the language isn't tight enough for GMAT standards and so would likely be rewritten (see below).

Stm1: No country's emissions were 50 percent or more below that country's 2012 target during any year measured.
  What the table shows - 2012 target against 2008, so if we can show that any of the countries had a score in that column of -50 or more negative, then this choice would be false. If we sort, we get that the lowest (or highest negative) values are for Estonia and Latvia, and both are VERY close to 50%, but not quite there (-49.25% and -48.93% respectively). So we don't have any country that was 50 percent or more below the 2012 target in 2008. But what about in any other year? That might require some computation. One option is to set up an equation to calculate, from the 2008 values, what the 2012 target actually was, but before we do that, let's  eyeball  a minute. For Estonia for example, if the 2008 value of 20.3 was very close to being 50%  under  then something  lower  than 20.3 in another year might be enough to be over that 50% threshold. The fact that 2006 was 19.2 is a good candidate! You could do the same looking at Latvia - since 2008 was 11.9 but 2004 was 10.7, maybe 10.7 is a good candidate! You could even scan the next few countries (Lithuania, Romania, or even Bulgaria), but those 2008-2012 percentages are getting further and further from 50%, so a year from 2004-2007 would have to have a much lower number than 2008 to make up the difference.

Once I decided to try Estonia, I did do the computation to see what the 2012 target would have been using the equation below (where T is the 2012 target):

T - 0.4925*T = 20.3
0.5075*T = 20.3
T = 40

So if the target was 40, and we're looking for something more than 50% under that, we need something under 20, and 2006 IS under 20. So this statement is  No !

(just a note, other countries also had years that were more than 50% below the target goal, but we only need to show this for one of them for it to be false).

Stm 2:  The same country had the median carbon dioxide emissions in all 5 years measured.  
The median of 25 countries will be the 13th country counted from either the highest or lowest end. So you need to sort each column to make sure that the same country is in that 13th spot. I found the 13th row and then held my finger there while I sorted by all 5 yearly columns. Beware, do NOT sort by the emissions relative to 2012 because that is not part of the question. But if you sort on 2004 - 2008, Portugal is in that 13th spot every time! The answer is  Yes.

Problematic Stm 3:  The country with the median percentage of carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 relative to its 2012 Kyoto target was below    its target    in all 5 years measured.   
 The issue I have here is the ambiguity around "its target." The "correct" answer clearly assumes that we're comparing all 5 years against the country's  2012  target, but the language as is doesn't clarify that. In fact, if anything, I would assume that this language means the country's targets for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 - targets that we have zero information about. In that reading, the correct answer here would be  No.  But if we were to rewrite the problem to what I think this writer wants we'd have the following:
   
 CORRECTED Stm 3:    The country with the median percentage of carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 relative to its 2012 Kyoto target was below THAT target   in all 5 years measured.  
This statement IS about the median of that last column. So finger back on the portugal row if sorted by any of the 2004-2008 and then sort by the Kyoto comparison column. The country in the 13th slot now is France. We will use the same equation as in Stm1 to find the 2012 target based on the 2008 value we know.

T - 0.0656T = 527
0.9344*T = 527
T = 563.998

Since all of the years 2004-2008 are below this amount, this statement (as written now) is  Yes .

Hope this helps! 
 :) 
 Whit

ManishaPrepMinds · Answer

Let me clarify how the 2012 targets work with a clear example:

The Key Relationship:  The table shows each country's "2008 emissions relative to Kyoto Protocol 2012 target" as a percentage.

Formula: 
 For any Country: 
 
  2008 Emissions =  2012 Target  × (1 ± percentage)  
  2012 Target = 2008 Emissions/ (1 ± percentage)

This formula is the foundation for solving all three statements

2.

Statement 1 : No country's emissions were 50 percent or more below that country's 2012 target during any year measured.

Strategy:  Look for countries with the  highest negative percentages  relative to 2012 in 2008, then check if earlier years had even lower emissions.

Step 1: Find Estonia's 2012 Target  
 
  Estonia 2008 : 20.3 megatons at -49.25%(  highest negative percentage)  below 2012 target  
   2012 Target =  20.3 ÷ (1 - 0.4925) = 20.3 ÷ 0.5075 = 40

Step 2: Check for Estonia if any year was 50% or more below this 40-megaton target  
 
  50% below 40 = emissions  less than or equal to 20  megatons  
  Estonia 2006:  19.2  megatons < 20   
   Answer: No  (Estonia 2006  was more than 50%  below its target)

Statement 2 : The same country had the median carbon dioxide emissions in all 5 years measured.

just sort each year's emissions column and find the 13th country (median of 25).  
  Portugal appears in the 13th position consistently.  
   Answer: Yes

Statement 3 : The country with the median percentage relative to 2012 Kyoto target was below its target in all 5 years measured.

Step 1: Find the median country by percentage  
 
  Sort "2008 emissions relative to 2012 target" column → 13th position = France (-6.56%)

Step 2: Calculate France's 2012 Target  
 
 France 2008: 527 megatons at -6.56% below 2012 target 
   Target    Formula: = 527/ (1 - 0.0656) =    564 megatons

Step 3: Check all years against 564-megaton target  
 
  All values < 564   
   Answer: Yes

Hope this is clear! Let me know if you have any questions

The table shows carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, measured in megatons,

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European Union Member State	CO2 2004	CO2 2005	CO2 2006	CO2 2007	CO2 2008	2008 emissions relative to Kyoto Protocol 2012 target
Austria	91.2	93.3	91.6	88	86.6	0.2606
Belgium	147.6	143.8	136.6	131.3	133.3	-0.0191
Bulgaria	68.9	69.8	71.5	75.7	73.5	-0.4226
Czech Republic	147.1	145.6	149.1	150.8	141.4	-0.2171
Denmark	68.2	63.9	71	66.6	63.8	0.1642
Estonia	21.2	20.7	19.2	22	20.3	-0.4925
Finland	81.2	69.3	79.9	78.3	70.1	-0.0141
France	556.1	553.4	541.7	531.1	527	-0.0656
Germany	1025	1001.5	980	956.1	958.1	-0.0152
Greece	137.6	139.2	128.1	131.9	126.9	-0.091
Hungary	79.5	80.5	78.8	75.9	73.1	-0.3638
Ireland	68.6	69.9	69.7	69.2	67.4	0.0698
Italy	580.5	582.2	563	552.8	541.5	0.1149
Latvia	10.7	10.9	11.7	12.1	11.9	-0.4893
Lithuania	21.1	22.6	22.8	24.7	24.3	-0.449
Luxembourg	12.8	12.7	13.3	12.9	12.5	0.3736
Netherlands	218.4	212.1	208.5	207.5	206.9	0.0324
Poland	396.7	399	399.3	398.9	395.6	-0.2829
Portugal	84.6	85.5	84.7	81.8	78.4	0.0129
Romania	160.1	153.7	153.9	152.3	145.9	-0.4386
Slovakia	49.5	48.7	49	47	48.8	-0.2738
Slovenia	19.9	20.3	20.5	20.7	21.3	0.1452
Spain	425.2	440.6	433	442.3	405.7	0.2235
Sweden	69.7	67	66.9	65.4	64	-0.1489
United Kingdom	660.4	657.4	647.9	636.7	628.2	-0.0739

Yes	No
		No country's emissions were 50 percent or more below that country's 2012 target during any year measured.
		The same country had the median carbon dioxide emissions in all 5 years measured.
		The country with the median percentage of carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 relative to its 2012 Kyoto target was below its target in all 5 years measured.

GMAT Graphs and Tables (G&T) Questions

The table shows carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, measured in megatons,

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