simple arithmetic?

by **guest612** Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:15 pm

Questions asks:

The employees of Smith Enterprises received wage increases ranging from 30 cents to 87.5 cents per hour. What was the minimum wage increase for a 40-hour week?

A. $12.00
B. $23.00
C. $34.80
D. $35.00
E. $35.20

Answer is D. $35.00

I was unable to arrive at that answer. Can you please help?

Source: TC 37 Section 5 #2 (Not ManhattanGMAT)

by **RonPurewal** Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:23 am

what does 'tc' stand for?

i think the problem is supposed to say 'maximum', not 'minimum'. in this case, you just compute the wage increase based on the highest possible increment: 40 hours times $0.875 per hour = $35.

(note that 0.875 is 7/8; if you make that realization, your life gets a lot easier)

the answer to the question as written is 40 hours times $0.30 = $12.

by **guest612** Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:53 pm

Thanks for your reply.

I'm sorry I just misquoted the Test Code is 48. This one is Test Code (from ETS) #48, Section 5, #2, (page 19). Sorry for being so ambiguous about "TC". (All else being the same).

I double checked and the question reads "minimum wage" I'm suppose to deduce total wage, perhaps. Anyway, thanks for showing me the math. And I appreciate that 7/8 does make it a lot easier!

by **RonPurewal** Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:18 am

ahh, so that's what that means.

just out of curiosity, how old are these tests?