"Tires R' us" have 4 times more tires for sale than any regular tire

Question

"Tires R' us" have 4 times more tires for sale than any regular tire shop. If "Tires R' Us" Sells 122 tires, they will have only three times more tires than the rest. How many more tires do "Tires R' us" have than the regular tire shop?

A. 488.
B. 388.
C. 366.
D. 299.
E. 188.

A. 488.
B. 388.
C. 366.
D. 299.
E. 188.

shridhar786 · Answer

let any regular tire shop have tires for sale = x 
then tires R shop have tires for sale = 4x

now tires R sell 122 tyres --remaining tyre = 4x-122

remaining tires the tires R shop have = 3*tires of any regular tyre shop
4x-122 = 3x
x = 122

regular tyre shop number of tyre for sale = 122
tires R shop number of tyre for sale = 4*122 = 488

more tires do "Tires R' us" have than the regular tire shop = 488-122 = 366

C is the correct answer

Archit3110 · Answer

given
T=4x
4x-122=3x
x=122
so T has 122*4 ; 488 
488-122 ; 366
IMO C

Mo2men · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC  &  IanStewart

I have doubt in the question above. Is says "'Tires R' us" have 4 times more tires for sale than any regular tire shop."

It must be interpreted into as follows:

Regular type = r
 Tires for sale = 4r + r =5r

If it says "'Tires R' us" have 4 times as many tires for sale as any regular tire shop."
then, Tires for sale = 4r

What do you think please?

Thanks in advance

IanStewart · Answer

No, that's not the case. I understand why many people think this, when they compare this wording with the wording we use with percentages -- because "400% greater" does not mean the same thing as "400% of", it might seem that "4 times more" should mean a different thing than "4 times as many". But "4 times more" and "4 times as many" mean the same thing, just because of idiomatic usage in English. The Merriam-Webster dictionary, quoted  here , says this:

The fact is that "five times more" and "five times as much" are idiomatic phrases which have - and are understood to have - exactly the same meaning. The "ambiguity" of _times more_ is imaginary: in the world of actual speech and writing, the meaning of _times more_ is clear and unequivocal. It is an idiom that has existed in our language for more than four centuries

The quote above applies to similar phrases, like "five times greater" (as the longer quote at the link makes clear). Even if this meaning might seem illogical to some (because of the analogy with how we discuss percentages), it's an idiom, and idioms don't always obey logic. If you read "x is five times greater than y" or "x is five times more than y", or "x is greater than y by a factor of 5", those phrases all mean "x = 5y".

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Mo2men,

It's not clear what the 'source' of this question is, but the overall wording is a little clunky - and I doubt that you would see a question on the Official GMAT written this way. To start, the implication is that "Tires R Us" is one store, but the prompt repeatedly refers to it as a plural - including the use of the word "they" (and the phrase "THEY will have only three times more tires than the REST" is awkward).

That all having been said, I would consider the 'intent' to be about comparing '4 times a value' to that 'value' (re: 4X vs. X). IF the prompt was designed to test our understanding of percentages, then the information would have likely been in that format. For example, a shop that sold 100% MORE tires than another shop sold TWICE the number of tires than that other shop sold.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

We can let n = the number of tires in a regular tire shop. We can create the equation:

4n - 122 = 3n

n = 122

Therefore, “Tires R’ us” has 4 x 122 = 488 tires and 488 - 122 = 366 tires more than a regular tire shop.

Answer: C

Its_me_aka_ak · Answer

i harshly disagree. here is the link for another question posted by Bunuel source being Kaplan prep. https://gmatclub.com/forum/for-a-bake-s ... 83913.html it clearly takes "2n more than" in the GMAT like way.

"Tires R' us" have 4 times more tires for sale than any regular tire

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