VSam

Hi, Thanks for the reply. Yes... I understand that this is a decent score for all practical purposes. I had set a target of 720 for myself and missing it so narrowly did really upset me. So its just a psychological thing. I most probably won't give it again unless at some point I think that I can hit 750. (Do I sound obsessed with scores?)

Hello everybody, Gave my GMAT yesterday and got 690. I was expecting around 720-730, so a bit dis-appointed. I would like to mention a few things that went wrong. 1. Because of my work schedule, I couldn't study regularly. I used to solve [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] with gaps of 4-5 days in between. Once you start with [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], do make it a habit to solve at least a few questions everyday. 2. Ignored quantitative. It turned out to be a bit tougher than I expected. For some reason many indian candidates make this mistake. 3. Didn't plan the preparation properly. Some work came up right at the time I had decided to take leave. Managed to write only 3 practice tests. (Kaplan1 - 680, Kaplan2 - 740, Powerprep - 760, I knew most of the questions on verbal) Always keep some time for this kind of contingency. Plan your preparation so that even if something comes up during the last 3 days, it should not make any difference. You should be ready to write the test anytime within last 4-5 days. 4. I had an appointment at 12.30, but looking at the British weather at its worst I decided to skip my breakfast and leave early. During the journey didn't have anything and didn't have lunch to. I reached the test center totally drenched. By the time I reached verbal, I was totally exhausted and just wanted to rush thru it. Make sure you take a good breakfast on the test day before you leave. If you are in a part of the world with unpredictable weather, be prepared for the worst. 5. Another candidate sitting right behind me was banging his key-board violently and it was quite disturbing. I tolerated this for 15 mins and finally complained. If something disturbs you, let the test administrators know immediately. Lack of concentration even for 10 mins can cost you a few points. Now the question here for you guys is, whether I should take it again. Honestly I don't think I will go beyond 730 - 740 (My realistic target has always been 720). Is it worth trying again? Erin, could please kindly help me here? Thanks.

Hello Ronald, you are right. Actual problem here is, the man with the sum would have known the numbers right away when the man with product said he didn't know the numbers.

I think the numbers are 3 & 4. Here goes the explanation: Lets assume that the numbers are a & b and the product is p and the sum s. p=a*b s=a+b let the person who knows the product be P and the person who knows the sum be S. P doesn't know the numbers so both a & b cannot be prime. Given that both a & b are not prime there is one more info that P can have abt the product. The lowest possible product is 12. This is the only info that can put restrictions on the number of possible sums. When S says that he knows that P doesn't know the numbers, it means S also knows that both the numbers are not prime. How does he know that? The sum of two prime numbers will always be even unless one of the numbers is 2. If S is so sure that both the numbers are not prime, that means the sum must be odd. But then how is S so sure that one of the numbers is not 2. The only reason can be, the sum is such that subtracting 2 from it gives a prime number. So S is sure that both the numbers are not prime (however one can be prime and one can be non-prime) and one of the numbers is not 2. Now when S tells P that he knows that P doesn't know the numbers, P guesses the numbers. So by this time P had already narrowed the number of possible sums. This is only possible if product given to him is 12. If the product is 12, possible combinations are 2*6 and 3*4. But from S's statement its clear that he has ruled out 2 as one of the numbers. Also if the numbers are 2 and 6, the sum will be even and S cannot confidently say that both the numbers are not prime. So the only combination remaining would be 3*4. P figures this out. When P figures this out, S also realises that P had narrowed the number of sums down and that means the product must be 12. Hence he also figures that the numbers are 3 and 4. This is the solution I came out with. Not sure whether correct. Sam

The last sentence of the stimulus seems a bit weird. Why should a mutually beneficial relationship endanger the tree? Anyway... if the point to be contradicted here is that 'the fir tree is endangered because of chanterelle', E does it best. It states that douglas fir infact needs chanterelle to survive.

tsy11, There is a subtle difference between the two sentences. Look at your sentence carefully. Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed. This implies that, there is a small part of the mail which arrives within two business days but is not correctly addressed. This is not possible. If the mail is not correctly addressed, it won't reach in two business days. Lets put it using simple logical notation: a : Mail is correctly addressed b : Mail reaches within 2 business days The original sentence is a => b in most cases (except when the mail is damaged in transit). Your sentence says b => a in most cases. I think the reasoning I had suggested earlier was good enough to deduce the frequency of damaged and incorrectly addressed mail.

I can think of the following reasoning: 'Nearly all mail that is correctly addressed arrives at its destination within two business days of being sent.' -- This means there are very few mails which are correctly addressed and yet don't reach the destination within two days. ('Nearly all' suggests this) 'Infact, correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit.' -- These are the very few mails which are correctly addressed but still don't reach the destination within two days. That means there are very few mails which are correctly addressed and are damaged in the transit. 'Overall, however,most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.' If very small portion of the correctly addressed mail is damaged in the transit, then what's the reason for most mails taking more than 2 days to reach? Clearly most of the mails are incorrectly addressed.