in the xy-plane, is the slope of line k equal to 0?

[tim]

please read the thread. E is NOT the correct answer, so your method by definition is not correct. :) there is nothing wrong with the wording, the GMAT just made the same mistake you did and arrived at the incorrect answer..

[liarish]

Tim,
Thanks for your reply. But I did read the whole thing again. Like I said I do realize that something is off but I think I am not able to catch that- could you help me catch the error in this problem? When I read my solution again it seemed right- so I am pretty sure I am missing something (something huge).
Thank you!

[tim]

your biggest problem appears to be that you are claiming that the slope could be positive or negative, whereas the question is not even asking that. the question is asking whether the slope is 0. to prove the information insufficient, you need to produce a slope of 0 as well as a nonzero slope..

[crusade]

Let's suppose that there were no wording mistakes in the problem, shouldn't the answer be A?

statement 1: "The x-intercept of k is 0." The only possibility for the x intercept to be 0 is that line k has an equation of the form y=mx where m is different from 0. SUFFICIENT

Is this correct?

Thank you

Hi,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but another possibility (in addition to y=x) for the x intercept of k to be zero is for the line x=0(y axis). Hence statement 1 by itself should be insufficient.

Am I missing something here?

[messi10]

Hi,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but another possibility (in addition to y=x) for the x intercept of k to be zero is for the line x=0(y axis). Hence statement 1 by itself should be insufficient.

Am I missing something here?

The slope of the y-axis is not zero, therefore statement 1 is still sufficient.

[RonPurewal]

Hi,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but another possibility (in addition to y=x) for the x intercept of k to be zero is for the line x=0(y axis). Hence statement 1 by itself should be insufficient.

Am I missing something here?

The slope of the y-axis is not zero, therefore statement 1 is still sufficient.

hey guys,
GMAC has actually admitted that this problem is flawed. who knows how long it will take until a software release in which it is fixed, but GMAC has admitted that its use of the x-axis as a possibility doesn't square with the use of "THE x-intercept".

so, i'm going to go ahead and lock this thread. basically, the answer should be (a), and, unless the problem is purged wholesale, some future edition of GMATPrep will reflect that change.
... unless they forget.