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555-605 (Medium)|   Word Problems|         
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Bunuel
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The table below represents the combined net income of all United State 08 Oct 2018, 03:39
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25% (medium)

Question Stats:

77% (02:09) correct 23% (02:04) wrong based on 1814 sessions

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The table below represents the combined net income of all United States companies in each of five sectors for the second quarter of 1996. Which sector had the greatest net income during the first quarter of 1996?


(A) Basic Materials

(B) Energy

(C) Industrial

(D) Utilities

(E) Conglomerates

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A
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BrentGMATPrepNow
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The table below represents the combined net income of all United State 06 Sep 2019, 05:37
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Bunuel

The table below represents the combined net income of all United States companies in each of five sectors for the second quarter of 1996. Which sector had the greatest net income during the first quarter of 1996?


(A) Basic Materials

(B) Energy

(C) Industrial

(D) Utilities

(E) Conglomerates

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sk-443-image-1.png
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The great thing about most (all) GMAT math questions is that they won't have answer choices so close together that they require you to perform tedious calculations to determine which one is correct. This question is no exception.

Let's check each one.
A) Basic Materials
2nd Quarter = $4.83 (billion)
Percent change from 1st quarter = -26%

Recognize that IF the 1st quarter income were $6, and IF the percent change were -25%, then the 2nd quarter income would be $4.5
Instead, 2nd quarter income is $4.83, which means the 1st quarter income must be GREATER than $6
That's as precise as we need to be here.

B) Energy
2nd Quarter = $7.46 (billion)
Percent change from 1st quarter = 40%

Recognize that IF the 1st quarter income were $5, then the 2nd quarter income would be $7
Instead, 2nd quarter income is $7.46, which means the 1st quarter income must be a LITTLE BIT GREATER than $5

C) Industrial
2nd Quarter = $5 (billion)
Percent change from 1st quarter = -1%

From this, we can see that the 1st quarter income must be a LITTLE BIT GREATER than $5

D) Utilities
2nd Quarter = $8.57 (billion)
Percent change from 1st quarter = +303%

Recognize that IF the 1st quarter income were $2, and IF the percent change were +300%, then the 2nd quarter income would be $8
Instead, 2nd quarter income is $8.57, which means the 1st quarter income must be A LITTLE BIT GREATER than $2

E) Conglomerates
2nd Quarter = $2.07 (billion)
Percent change from 1st quarter = +10%

From this, we can see that the 1st quarter income must be LESS THAN $2

Answer: A

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The table below represents the combined net income of all United State 08 Oct 2018, 04:34
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Bunuel

The table below represents the combined net income of all United States companies in each of five sectors for the second quarter of 1996. Which sector had the greatest net income during the first quarter of 1996?


(A) Basic Materials

(B) Energy

(C) Industrial

(D) Utilities

(E) Conglomerates

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sk-443-image-1.png
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Income in first quarter
Basic Materials => .74x=4.83 => x = 6.4
Energy => 1.4x=7.46 => x= 5.3
Industrial is 1% change so ~5
Utilities is 303% < Basic Material
Conglomerates => 1.1x=2.07 < Basic Materials

Therefore
A
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The table below represents the combined net income of all United State 08 Oct 2018, 06:09
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Bunuel

The table below represents the combined net income of all United States companies in each of five sectors for the second quarter of 1996. Which sector had the greatest net income during the first quarter of 1996?


(A) Basic Materials

(B) Energy

(C) Industrial

(D) Utilities

(E) Conglomerates

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sk-443-image-1.png
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rounding numbers for easy calculations is good idea :)

A. Second quarter 4.5 %
%change - 25
Then first quarter 6 %
But If second quarter is 4.83, then first quarter is more than 6

B. Second quarter 7.46
Change 40
If first quarter is 5 then then second quarter is 7. But if second quarter is 7.45, then first quarter is a bit more than 5

C. second quarter 5
change -1%
0.99x =5
First quarter a bit more than 5

D. second quarter 8.57
Percent change from 1st quarter +303%
If first quarter is 2, then second quarter will 8
But since second quarter is more 8.57, then first quarter is a bit more than 2

E. second quarter $2.07
Percent change from 1st quarter +10%
it can clearly be seen tha first quarter is less than 2
2.07=1.1x

hence A
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The table below represents the combined net income of all United State 07 Sep 2019, 00:36
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Nice official question.
We can use the approximation technique to get to the right answer.
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The table below represents the combined net income of all United State 02 Oct 2024, 06:58
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Bunuel

The table below represents the combined net income of all United States companies in each of five sectors for the second quarter of 1996. Which sector had the greatest net income during the first quarter of 1996?


(A) Basic Materials

(B) Energy

(C) Industrial

(D) Utilities

(E) Conglomerates

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sk-443-image-1.png
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Is there an official answer?

Do they also use approximation? By how much do they approximate?
I rounded off to the nearest integer. Do these options often have considerable margin in official questions?
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siddhantvarma
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The table below represents the combined net income of all United State 01 Mar 2025, 00:02
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No need to even use approximation in this question. We're asked the greatest net income during the first quarter of 1996. Any income that increased from Q1 to Q2 means Q1<Q2 and any income that decreased from Q1 to Q2 means Q1>Q2. So the larger the negative value of percentage change, the higher will be the Q1 value. This holds true in this case because quickly looking at choices with positive percentage change you can see that their Q1 values will be less than their current Q2 values.

For ex: Energy: Q2 is 7.46, and it was a 40% increase means Q1 was less than 7.46 or roughly half the value which is even less than current Q1 value for Basic Materials and a negative change in Basic Materials means the Q1 value will be even greater. On the same grounds we can eliminate Utilities and Conglomerates.

Looking at the "Percent Change" column:

Basic Materials: -26%
Energy: +40%
Industrial: -1%
Utilities: +303%
Conglomerates: +10%

Only two sectors show negative growth (Basic Materials at -26% and Industrial at -1%). Between these two, Basic Materials has a much larger negative percentage drop.

Hence, (A) Basic Materials is the answer.
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