GMAT · Multi-Source Reasoning · TOPIC LESSON
Match the response format while applying every rule and respecting uncertainty.
BY THE END, YOU CAN
BEFORE YOU START
Original educational lesson. Work through the examples before revealing the practice answers. This original lesson supports current GMAT study through an editorial skill map. It does not reproduce official questions, predict exam content or guarantee a score.
LEARN THROUGH ORIGINAL PRACTICE
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01 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
A shared Multi-Source Reasoning set can support several distinct questions. A question with three yes/no rows is one question with three response parts, not three independent source sets. Read the current prompt and the labels on its answer controls before solving.
All supplier data below are fictional and complete for these exercises. Each practice specifies exactly how many selections are required. Reuse the sources; do not assume a previous answer adds a new condition.
Source A — Quote table for a single order: Lark charges $8 per unit plus $100 shipping, has capacity 120 units, and delivers in 3 days. Mica charges $7 per unit plus $150 shipping, has capacity 90 units, and delivers in 2 days. Nova charges $9 per unit, has no standard shipping charge, has capacity 150 units, and delivers in 4 days.
Source B — Purchase rules: order exactly 100 units from one supplier, with no split order, within a total budget of $1,000 and a deadline of no more than 3 days. Shipping counts toward the budget. Every listed quote and capacity is available for this order.
Source C — Optional Nova service: a $200 expedited-shipping fee replaces its zero standard shipping charge and reduces delivery to 2 days. It does not change price per unit or capacity. No other exceptions or fees apply.
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ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Supplier set: Choose the one standard-service supplier meeting all Source B rules: Lark, Mica or Nova.
Answer Lark
02 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
For a row-wise question, carry the shared sources into each row but do not carry over the row’s proposition as if it were true. A supplier meeting a budget test may fail a capacity test; one correct component does not establish full feasibility.
When the prompt uses Supported/Not supported, the second label includes both disproved and undetermined claims. When it asks whether a numerical inequality is true of a fully specified table, the calculation may establish true or false directly. Read the label semantics.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Supplier set: Mark Yes or No for each of three claims about standard Mica: (i) total for 100 units is at most $1,000; (ii) capacity can fill 100 units; (iii) delivery meets 3 days.
Answer (i) Yes; (ii) No; (iii) Yes
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
(i) Yes; (ii) No
The cost is $900, but the 4-day delivery exceeds the 3-day deadline. Both rows require responses.
03 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
A budget applies to the defined total. Fixed shipping does not shrink when unit count decreases unless the source says so. An inclusive budget limit allows equality, whereas “less than” excludes it.
A cost ranking is not a feasibility ranking. Establish the feasible set first, then minimize cost within it. Otherwise a cheap but unavailable supplier can look like the answer.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Supplier set, except the budget is increased to $1,100: Is expedited Nova now feasible for 100 units?
Answer Yes
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
No
Cost remains $1,100, exceeding $1,050. Faster delivery does not cure the budget violation.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 2
Mica
Costs are Lark $740, Mica $710 and Nova $720. All capacities cover 80, but standard Nova still misses the deadline. Mica is cheaper than feasible Lark.
04 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
With a range, a guarantee must survive every allowed value. For increasing cost C(q)=pq+F with positive p, maximum allowed quantity gives maximum cost. A possible outcome needs only one permitted quantity satisfying all conditions.
Do not replace an interval by its midpoint unless the question explicitly asks for a midpoint-based estimate. A range alone supplies neither probabilities nor an expected value.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Supplier set, with demand instead any integer from 100 through 120 units and budget still $1,000: Is standard Lark guaranteed affordable? Is it affordable for at least one allowed demand? Give two answers.
Answer Guaranteed: No; possible: Yes
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
Yes
Worst cost is 8×110+100=$980; maximum demand 110 is within capacity 120, and delivery remains 3 days.
05 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Conditional rules create branches. If expedited shipping is selected, replace the standard shipping amount with $200 and use 2 days; do not add $200 twice or retain the 4-day delivery time. The source explicitly defines replacement.
The converse of a rule is not automatically valid. A supplier delivering in 2 days need not be using Nova’s expedited service; Mica’s standard service also takes 2 days.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
Supplier set, except quantity is 110 and budget is $1,200: Select Yes or No for each of two rows: (i) Lark is feasible; (ii) expedited Nova is feasible.
Answer (i) Yes; (ii) Yes
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
Not supported
Mica also lists a 2-day delivery. The observation does not uniquely identify a supplier or option.
06 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
A model may establish a quoted delivery time without proving an actual shipment will arrive on time in the real world. In these closed fictional exercises the listed delivery commitments count as available as specified, but no additional reliability statistics are supplied.
Distinguish a calculation inside the question’s assumptions from a broad claim about actual business performance. Avoid inventing failure rates, customer preferences or quality differences.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
B
The supplied price, capacity and delivery facts establish B. No quality data support A. C is refuted by the 80-unit scenario, where Mica is cheaper even before considering Nova’s deadline failure.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 2
(i) Supported; (ii) Not supported
Source A states zero standard shipping. Source C compares only Nova’s listed options; the sources do not cover every service in the market.
07 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Before submitting, count the requested controls and your selections. In a three-row binary exercise you need three labels; in a single-choice exercise only one. Complete the whole question without counting each row as a separate question occurrence.
Check that both members of any comparison use the same quantity and shipping option. Most arithmetic errors here originate in a mismatched scenario rather than hard multiplication.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
112
8q+100≤1,000 gives q≤112.5. Integer quantity makes the largest affordable count 112; capacity 120 does not bind. 113 costs $1,004.
08 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Read the target before calculating all costs. A known capacity failure can eliminate Mica for a 100-unit feasibility question immediately. A deadline failure can eliminate standard Nova without arithmetic.
Still evaluate a row asking only about cost even when the supplier fails another criterion. Efficient reasoning is targeted reasoning, not skipping requested components because the final purchasing decision seems obvious.
KEEP THE BIG IDEAS
READ WITH CONTEXT
The teaching notes, passages, worked explanations and practice are original. Official references identify the assessment framework and skill scope; they do not endorse this lesson or license official question reproduction.
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