Last Updated on May 9, 2023
GMAT OFFICIAL GUIDE DS
Solution:
An easy way to solve this problem is to set up a double set matrix. In our matrix we have two main categories: study Spanish and study French. More specifically, our table will be labeled with:
1) Study Spanish (Spanish)
2) Do not study Spanish (No Spanish)
3) Study French (French)
4) Do not study French (No French)
(To save room on our table headings, we will use the abbreviations for these categories.)
We are given that 300 students study French or Spanish or both and that 100 of these students do not study French. We also know that zero students study neither subject. We must determine how many of these students study both French and Spanish.
Let’s fill all this information into a table. Note that each row sums to a row total, and each column sums to a column total. These totals also sum to the grand total, designated by 300 at the bottom right of the table.
We need to determine the value for the question mark in the table.
Statement One Alone:
Of the 300 students, 60 do not study Spanish.
We can fill the information from statement one into our matrix.
140 students studied both French and Spanish. Statement one alone is sufficient to answer the question. We can eliminate answer choices B, C, and E.
Statement Two Alone:
A total of 240 of the students study Spanish.
We can fill the information from statement two into our matrix.
140 students studied both French and Spanish. Statement two alone is sufficient to answer the question.
Answer: D
