problem from manhattan gmat word translations - chapter 4 Q.7

[mc79638]

Hi, this is my first post in this forum. I have just preparing for GMAT. I am planning to take it in December but finding it very difficult to manage both work and test preparation.
Thanks in advance.


Q. a spy is trying to escape from his prison. The lock requires him to enter one number, from 1-9, and then push a pair of colored buttons simultaneously. He can make one attempt every 3 seconds. If there are 6 colored buttons, what is the longest possible time it could take the spy to escape from the prison cell?

Answer (as per this book): There are total 135 tries (6C2*9).
<this is clear to me>

If each try takes 3 seconds, it will take the spy a max of 135*3 seconds.

Now this is not clear to me. The question does not say each try takes 3 mins..it says he can make one attemp every 3 seconds. If I go as per what is mentioned in the question..he will take 134*3 seconds. Because mins after his first attempt, he can make second attemp..so, in between two tries, there is 3 sec time difference.

Please let me know your opinion on this.

Thanks a lot.

[msawhney27]

I agree with you.