Is the integer x divisible by 6?

[jhz1984]

Hi!

"Is the integer x divisible by 6?"
DS question

1) x + 3 is divisible by 3
2) x + 3 is an odd number

My general interpretation of statement 1 is "X is a multiple of 3", and my general interpretation of statement 2 is "X is even", but I chose E because X could be zero. Correct answer is C. What am I missing?

[RonPurewal]

hi --
i noticed that this is your first post.
welcome!
but, please read the forum rules: read-before-you-post-general-math-folder-guidelines-t2717.html

this problem doesn't appear to be from the GMAT PREP software, which is the only allowed source in this particular folder.

* If the problem is actually from the GMAT PREP software, please provide a screen shot. This problem is not typical of GMAC's problems, so, in that case, we'd need to see proof.

* If the problem is from another source, this is the wrong folder.
In that case, you need to ...
... post in the correct folder (either the MGMAT folder or the general folder, depending on where you got the problem)
and
... give the ORIGINAL SOURCE of the problem -- i.e., the company or author that first produced the problem (not, for instance, a forum or other secondhand source on which it has previously been posted).
if you don't know the original source, then, sorry, but you can't post the problem here.
this applies to MGMAT problems as well -- there are over three thousand problems in our database, so we won't recognize all of them from memory.

Please do what you need to do, depending on the source of the problem. Thanks.

[jhz1984]

Apologies. This question was from one of the two free GMAT Prep practice tests available in their software program. I am having tech difficulties pasting the screen shot, but it is the exact problem verbatim.

[RonPurewal]

Interesting.

Fact: Zero is a multiple of every integer.
("Multiple of N" means it's an integer times N. Zero equals zero times N for every N in the world.)

So, you should just know that this is a thing.
If it weren't a thing, then lots of true statements would suddenly become false. (E.g., "if you subtract two multiples of N, you get another multiple of N.") May as well stay consistent.

By the same token, -6, -12, etc. are also "multiples of 6".

What surprises me here, though, is that GMAC would write a problem that actually depends on using zero. Usually, GMAC goes out of its way to create problems where such fringe cases don't affect the problem one way or the other.

[jhz1984]

OK - thank you, Ron!

[RonPurewal]

Sure.

If you happen to have a screenshot of this problem, that would be awesome. (If you don't know how to embed such things, you can always post them to postimage.org, or another similar site, and send the link here.)

Thanks.

[jhz1984]

Sure. Here is the link: http://postimg.org/image/nfgx9z4zb/

If the link does not work for whatever reason, let me know and I can email you the attachment. Thanks again.

[RonPurewal]

Interesting. Thanks.

Well, 0 is definitely divisible by all integers. So, I guess, now you know that.
Better to learn now than later!