Among the employees of a certain company, 52 percent of the

Question

Among the employees of a certain company, 52 percent of the employees are male and 48 percent are female. In this company 70 percent of the male employees are married and 50 percent of the female employees are married. If one employee in the company is randomly selected, approximately what is the probability that he or she is NOT married?

(A) 0.3
(B) 0.4
(C) 0.5
(D) 0.6
(E) 0.7

Source: GMAT Hacks 1800

(A) 0.3
(B) 0.4
(C) 0.5
(D) 0.6
(E) 0.7

Source: GMAT Hacks 1800

IanStewart · Accepted Answer

The question only asks for an approximation, so we can round things off a bit. Estimating, about half of the employees are men, and half are women. So if 70% of men and 50% of women are married, then 60% of all people must be married. So 40% are not, and the answer is B.

Carcass · Answer

The first post I ever seen from you:) Sir. Amazing how you have attacked the question: weighted average and in no more of 20 seconds to answer the question. :roll:

johnwesley · Answer

Much faster: draw 4 quadrants
______________ Male (52%)  _____  Female (48%) 
Married :__________70%____________50%
Not Married:_______30%____________50%

Therefore: the probability of picking one random person Not Married (he or she) is: 0,52 x 0,30 + 0,50 x 0,50 = 0,15 + 0,25 (approx.)
Solution: approx. 0,4 (answer B)

Bunuel · Answer

Another "stolen" question. Original GMAT Prep question: Discussed here: in-the-graduating-class-of-a-certain-college-48-percent-of-129382.html

megafan · Answer

All of his 1800 questions are "stolen" from OG, GMATPrep, Paper Tests etc.. but all are "GMAT-like" questions, that's why they are better.

I'm not sure if you've taken the GMAT yet, but I am really curious to know if the Real GMAT questions are "stolen" from GMAT Prep, OG etc.. or I'm guessing they are very similar. Is that true?

IanStewart · Answer

In my experience, no, that's not true at all. I mostly have experience only with the higher level questions on the real test, but I find on the real GMAT they find all kinds of inventive and unfamiliar ways to test the same basic concepts you've seen in the OG and GMATPrep. The questions are certainly not simple copies of OG questions with a few numbers changed. So to do well on the GMAT, you need a strong enough conceptual foundation that you can adapt to whatever new question setups you see on test day.

I find questions like the one in this thread to be of almost no value to test takers. You won't learn anything more by studying this question than you would learn by studying its GMATPrep equivalent, and of course you should be studying all of the official questions you can find. I certainly don't think this question is worth paying money for. Unfortunately, it seems to be an increasingly common practice in GMAT test prep circles - companies want to advertise that they have thousands of questions, but when the questions are essentially identical to what you find in the OG or GMATPrep, they really aren't worth very much.

kuttingchai · Answer

Total Males = 52
Total Female = 48
Total = 100

Not married Male = 30% = 15.6
Not marries Female = 50% = 24
Total = 39.6

Probability = 39.6/100 = .396 = apprx .4

hence B

Carcass · Answer

completely agree with Ian : it's like to do 3+2 with OG and 2+3 with a prep company book....... basically the same. after a while is difficult to improve

Inviato dal mio Nexus 4 con Tapatalk 2

VeritasPrepRon · Answer

I'll stay away from the whole stolen/not stolen debate, but I would like to add that modifying questions can be very helpful in thoroughly understanding concepts. I wouldn't say 3+2 and 2+3, because that's essentially the same question, just as changing 50% to 40% doesn't change anything in the method, only the calculations.

However, imagine if the information was the same, but the question asked for the probability of a married male, or an unmarried female. Or the probability of picking two people who weren't married, or picking two with at least one of the two being married. There are so many possible ways to modify the question that properly understanding the concepts is the only way to get them all. Changing one percentage for another doesn't add any value, but I believe that looking at the question from a different angle can help shore up common misconceptions and foster stronger understanding of core concepts.

Hope this helps!
-Ron

Vorovski · Answer

Lets assume that we have 1000 employees. Hence, 52% = 520 and 48% = 480. 30% of men not married => 156; 50% women not married => 240

\frac{156 + 240}{1000} = 0.396  (the answer is B)

bumpbot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Among the employees of a certain company, 52 percent of the

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Problem Solving (PS) Questions

Among the employees of a certain company, 52 percent of the

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards