Ambiguity in a Cat question

[saiindukuri87]

Hi,
I came across the following ambiguous question in Manhattan CAT.

If the standard deviation of Set Y is 4, what are the greatest and least values that are within one standard deviation of the mean?

(1) The median of Set Y is 5.

(2) The mean of Set Y is 6.

When you say the greatest and least possible values, what should one infer. I inferred it as greatest and least values in the Set Y and I chose E(as we dont know any values in the set). But the answer is B. It could have been good if the sentence is framed as greatest and least'possible' values . The word 'Possible' would make the sentence more clear. Request you to look in to this and if possible change the question.

Thanks and Regards,
Sashikanth.

[jnelson0612]

Hi,
I came across the following ambiguous question in Manhattan CAT.

If the standard deviation of Set Y is 4, what are the greatest and least values that are within one standard deviation of the mean?

(1) The median of Set Y is 5.

(2) The mean of Set Y is 6.

When you say the greatest and least possible values, what should one infer. I inferred it as greatest and least values in the Set Y and I chose E(as we dont know any values in the set). But the answer is B. It could have been good if the sentence is framed as greatest and least'possible' values . The word 'Possible' would make the sentence more clear. Request you to look in to this and if possible change the question.

Thanks and Regards,
Sashikanth.

Hi Sashikanth,
Thanks for your question. While I understand your point, I think that the question is acceptable as written. There are actually some good takeaways from this question and your comments. First, try to answer the question as it is literally written. Don't insert your own words into the question; the question is asking you what the greatest and least values are within one standard deviation of the mean. It says nothing about those values having to be in set Y. Go with what is exactly written if there is any confusion.

Second, under your interpretation you can't do any work and have to immediately choose E. The GMAT is highly unlikely to provide such a problem. The GMAT test writers want you to have to think and reason out a problem before you pick E (or any other answer). So if you would reach an answer within two seconds you are probably missing something.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes,

[saiindukuri87]

Thank You , jnelson. It was helpful. After making few silly mistakes in Data sufficiency past few days, I started being skeptical at every question. I request your suggestion at this point. I have taken two cats up to now. I am always falling apart in managing the time. In my first CAT I have finished my quant with 5 minutes to spare but fell apart on accuracy, I had more mistakes( Around 10). In my second CAT i consciously worked for accuracy, reading each question and analyzing it carefully from every angle before jumping in to conclusion. But, I could not finish the quant section on time. How can one strike a perfect balance between accuracy and time.

[jnelson0612]

Thank You , jnelson. It was helpful. After making few silly mistakes in Data sufficiency past few days, I started being skeptical at every question. I request your suggestion at this point. I have taken two cats up to now. I am always falling apart in managing the time. In my first CAT I have finished my quant with 5 minutes to spare but fell apart on accuracy, I had more mistakes( Around 10). In my second CAT i consciously worked for accuracy, reading each question and analyzing it carefully from every angle before jumping in to conclusion. But, I could not finish the quant section on time. How can one strike a perfect balance between accuracy and time.

That's a great question and unfortunately it's outside the scope of this particular forum, which is devoted to answering questions about specific problems on the CAT questions. May I suggest that you copy and paste your question into our general forum, which is here: general-questions-f9.html

You should receive a lot of good replies from other students as well as one of our top instructors and trainers, Stacey Koprince, who moderates the forum.

Best wishes with your GMAT preparations!

[saiindukuri87]

Thank You Nelson I have posted it in general folder.

[jnelson0612]

Excellent, thank you.