Lesson: Data Interpretation - _01

Dealing with Questions Using Tables

Question 1 to 3 are based on following data:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Paul	9	3	12	6	4
Mark	6	3	9	1	5
Bob	8	4	5	7	8

Commission per Sale

Paul     $15
Mark     $20
Bob      $25

Question 1

Explanation

pppsThis problem only concerns Bob, so ignore the information for Mark and Paul. Over the course of the week, Bob sold 8 + 4 + 5 + 7 + 8 = 32 computers. The second table tells us that Bob earns $25 per sale, so the total amount of his commission would be $25 × 32 = $800.pppe

Question 2

Explanation

To solve this problem, focus only on what happened on Thursday. Ignore the data for the other four days. Be careful not to add the number of computers sold by the three people, since they each earn a different commission per sale.

• On Thursday, Paul sold 6 computers and earned a $15 commission for each computer sold, so Paul earned $15 × 6 = $90.
• Mark sold 1 computer, so, based on his $20 commission, he earned $20.
• Bob sold 7 computers, and earned a $25-commission per machine, so he made $25 × 7 = $175.
• Overall, the amount of commission on Thursday is $90 + $20 + $175 = $285.

Question 3

Explanation

You can save yourself a lot of time if you look at the tables before you start to compute. Note that Mark’s commission is larger than Paul’s, and so, the only way they could have earned the same amount is if Paul sold more computers than Mark. The only days that Paul sold more computers than Mark were Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so those are the only days that need to be considered.

• By observation, you can see that on Thursday Paul made much more in commission than Mark, so eliminate Thursday.
• On Monday, Paul earned $15 × 9 = $135 and Mark earned $20 × 6 = $120. This means that the answer must be Wednesday.
• To be certain, note that on Wednesday Paul earned $15 × 12 = $180, and Mark earned $20 × 9 = $180 also.

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