The question is a bit tricky . However, you could solve in 30 seconds.

The ration is : 5 singers, 7 altos , and 3 basses AND you know there are at least 40 singers.

Using the unknown multiplier which is the sum of the ratios or 15 X

Now, 15 divided for the first ratio 5 is 3. So you must have 3 times ALL the elements present in the group.

The least number of singer we said that is 40. As a matter of fact, this is confirmed by 15*3=45. (the questions tell you that you do have 40 \(\geq\) singers.

7*3 = 21 (\(\geq\))

and 3*3= 9 (\(\geq\))

The answer is 9

GIVEN: sopranos : altos : basses = 5 : 7 : 3

So, some possible scenarios are as follows:

5 sopranos : 7 altos : 3 basses. TOTAL singers = 5 + 7 + 3 = 15
10 sopranos : 14 altos : 6 basses. TOTAL singers = 10 + 14 + 6 = 30
15 sopranos : 21 altos : 9 basses. TOTAL singers = 15 + 21 + 9 = 45
20 sopranos : 28 altos : 12 basses. TOTAL singers = 20 + 28 + 12 = 60
.
.
.
etc

As we can see, the third scenario (15 sopranos : 21 altos : 9 basses) gives us AT LEAST 40 singers.

So, we need AT LEAST 9 basses

Answer: 9

Cheers,
Brent

The question stem says: the Singing Group needs 40 singers ( where does the 'AT LEAST 40 singers ' come from?).
this is confusing me. Pls rescue me.

Since the ratio is 5:7:3 we can imagine having 15 people. 40 / 15 is =2.666

but 5:7:3 doesn't share any common factors so we'll need to round the number up to 3 to not compromise the ratio.
3*3 = 9

Thus we need 9 basses.

The question does not say that the group needs "at least" 40 singers, it just says "needs" 40. In the GRE, the questions need to be solved exactly how it is written, here we cannot assume that the number is at least 40.

Hence 8 is the correct answer.

The question does not say that the group needs "at least" 40 singers, it just says "needs" 40. In the GRE, the questions need to be solved exactly how it is written, here we cannot assume that the number is at least 40.

Hence 8 is the correct answer.

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