q: An equity analyst needs to select 3 stocks for the upcoming year and rank these securities in terms of their investment potential. If the analyst has narrowed down the list of potential stocks to 7, in how many ways can she choose and rank her top 3 picks?
Options:
(A) 21
(B) 35
(C) 210
(D) 420
(E) 840
a: Stream of consciousness: Number of ways of choosing 3 stocks = 7C3
Number of ways of ranking the chosen stocks = 3!
Hence total ways of choosing and ranking = 7C3 * 3! = 7!/4! = 7*6*5 = 210 The answer is (C).


question: In how many ways can you seat 6 people on a bench if one of them, Rohit, does not want to sit on the middle seat or at either end?
Options:
(A) 360
(B) 1720
(C) 2880
(D) 5040
(E) 10080
answer: Stream of consciousness: Since Rohit does not want to sit on the middle seat or at either end (3 chairs), then he can choose 3 chairs to sit. The remaining 5 people can sit in 5! ways. Thus the # of arrangements is 3*5! = 360. The answer is (A).


q: The average age of applicants for a new job is 20, with a standard deviation of 8. The hiring manager is only willing to accept applicants whose age is within one standard deviation of the average age. Assuming that all applicants' ages are integers and that the endpoints of the range are included, what is the maximum number of different ages of the applicants?
Options:
(A) 8
(B) 16
(C) 17
(D) 18
(E) 34
a: Stream of consciousness: Minimum age = Average - 1 Standard deviation = 20 - 8 = 12
Maximum age = average + 1 Standard deviation = 20+ 8 = 28
Maximum number of different ages of the applicants = 28 - 12 + 1 = 17 The answer is (C).


question: Rs.900 amounts to Rs.920 in 3 years at simple interest. If the interest is increased by 3%, it would amount to how much?
Options:
(A) Rs.1056
(B) Rs.1001
(C) Rs.2056
(D) Rs.1026
(E) Rs.1856
answer: Stream of consciousness: (900*3*3)/100 = 81
920 + 81 = 1001 The answer is (B).


q: If the ratio of boys to girls in a class is B and the ratio of girls to boys is G; then 5 (B + G) is ?
Options:
(A) Equal to 3
(B) Less than 5
(C) More than 5
(D) Less than 1/5
(E) none of these
a: Stream of consciousness: Let number of boys = x
Let number of girls = y
Therefore x/y = B and y/x = G
5(B + G) = 5[(x/y) + (y/x)] = 5[(x2 + y2)/xy] > 5 The answer is (A).


q: There are 100 employees in a room. 99% are managers. How many managers must leave the room to bring down the percentage of manager to 98%?
Options:
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 50
(D) 49
(E) 97
a:

Show your work and conclude with the exact phrasing "Therefore, the final answer is [answer]." where [answer] is just the final number or expression that solves the problem.
user
Stream of consciousness: We have 99 managers and 1 director. That 1 director to compose 2% of the total number of people, there must be 50 people in the room, hence 50 managers must leave. The answer is (C).