Of a group of 50 households, how many have at least one cat…

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Last Updated on May 11, 2023

GMAT OFFICIAL GUIDE DS

Solution:

We have a group of 50 households and need to determine how many of those households have at least one cat or at least one dog, but not both.

We can use the following formula:

total = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + # with both + # with neither

50 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + # with both + # with neither

So, we need to determine # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only

Statement One Alone:

The number of households that have at least one cat and at least one dog is 4.

So, we have:

50 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + 4 + # with neither

46 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + # with neither

Since we don’t know the # with neither, we can not determine # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only. Statement one alone is not sufficient to answer the question.

Statement Two Alone:

The number of households that have no cats and no dogs is 14.

So, we have:

50 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + # with both + 14

36 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + # with both

Since we don’t know the # with both, we cannot determine # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only. Statement two alone is not sufficient to answer the question.

Statements One and Two Together:

Using statements one and two, we have:

50 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + 4 + 14

50 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only + 18

32 = # with at least one dog only + # with at least one cat only

Answer: C

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