Challenge Problem

[angie]

Hi. I'm having trouble understanding an older challenge problem:

If 70% of the clients at Bob's Dating Bistro are male and z of the female clients leave the service, which of the following could be the value of z if Bob's Dating Bistro still has 74 clients?

a) 4
b) 6
c) 12
d) 16
e) 18

Also, I'm confused by the wording of the question. When I first read it, I took the "still has 74 clients" to mean that Bob's Dating Bistro had 74 clients to begin with, and although z of the female clients left, more male clients joined to keep the total number at 74. Thus, I thought all of the above were possible solutions.

However, I now realize that the question meant that there were 74 people remaining despite z people having left. But If 74 were the starting number of clients, will the GRE specify that?

I'm sorry if this last question is too nitpicky or confusing, and thank you in advance!

[tommywallach]

Hey Angie,

Hmm. That seems like a stretch of a read. "Still" does indeed have two meanings, but I think it's fairly clear that they mean it in the sense of "remaining," like "I bought a house, and I still have $100,000. I think I'll buy a boat." The intention isn't that somehow the house cost nothing, but that $100,000 is left.

That being said, I think the GRE would probably word it more clearly. It's also very hard for a GRE question anyway (hence Challenge!). But thanks for pointing it out!

-t