Explanation

The phrasing of this question is silly, because it gives us variables y and w as if they signify quantities of interest, whereas the actual year of cutoff for years old and work experience are not relevant. The question is really asking something more like, is the number of people A of a given age more than the number of people E with more than a given level of work experience. We want to know whether A > E. On to the data statements, separately first.

Statement (1) says that .2 of A are also members of E. We are talking about an intersection of the group, so we are now in Venn diagram territory. In other words, the portion of overlap of circles A and E represents 20% of A.



This will not be sufficient. We can analyze by two cases. In one, E is very small, and in the other, E is very large. Case I: the portion of overlap could be all of E. Then A would be bigger--five times bigger. Case II: E could be much bigger than A. The portion of overlap could be a mere 1% of E. That case is equally allowed by the data but generates a different answer to the question posed, so we do not have sufficient information to answer the question definitively. Statement (1) is insufficient.

Statement (2), logically, is identical to Statement (1); it just has the variables flipped and a different number. It is insufficient on similar grounds.

Combining the statements, the Venn diagram visualization is useful. The populations referred to by each data statement are, in fact, the same. They describe the same population of overlap, which is what we call "both" in the equation of sets (though we aren't using that equation here). Ergo, with both statements, we have . Rephrased, . A is bigger. We have sufficient information for a definitive answer. The correct answer is (C).

Consider a variation on the question: what if the percentages in the data statements are different? You can try cases and determine that it may change which group is more numerous, but not any of the judgments about sufficiency or the correct answer.

Again, in this question, the correct answer is (C).