Official Guide Explanation:
Data Sufficiency #11

 

 

Background

This is just one of hundreds of free explanations I've created to the quantitative questions in The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review (2nd ed.). Click the links on the question number, difficulty level, and categories to find explanations for other problems.

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Solution and Metadata

Question: 11
Page: 153
Difficulty: 3 (Very Easy)
Category 1: Geometry > Lines >

Explanation: Statements (1) and (2) are both insufficient; on their own, they each relate one of the endpoints we're interested in (S and V) to J, which is beside the point.

Taken together, the statements are still insufficient. Consider two possibilities. If J is the leftmost of the three points, S is 20 to the right of J, and V is 25 to the right of J, meaning that S and V are 5 apart. But if J is the center of the three points, if S is 20 to the left and V is 25 to the right of J, the distance between S and V is 45. Given the multiple possibilities, choice (E) is correct.

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