Lauren wants to assemble a collection of books with fish-themed titles by shopping at her local bookstore. On the bookstore's...

OWNING THE DATASET

Let's start by understanding our bookstore table with the mindset of immediately identifying key patterns and constraints. This table shows books organized by section, with their titles, conditions (new/used), and prices.

The most important insights we need to recognize immediately:

• We need to select exactly one book from four different sections (Children's, Science, Cooking, and Literature)
• Outdoors section has 0 copies available, so it's eliminated from our consideration
• Science section has only one option (Eels at \(\$25.99\)) - this book MUST be in our selection
• Books vary significantly in price (\(\$2.63\) to \(\$25.99\)) and condition (new vs. used)

These constraints immediately narrow our search space and will be crucial for solving efficiently.

QUESTION TRANSLATION

The question asks us to select exactly one book from each of four sections (Children's, Science, Cooking, and Literature) with an average price exceeding \(\$12.00\). Let's convert this to a more useful threshold:

• For 4 books with average \(> \$12.00\), the total price must exceed \(\$48.00\)
• Since Eels (\(\$25.99\)) must be included, our other 3 books need to total \(> \$22.01\)

This conversion from average to total threshold will save us significant calculation time.

ANALYZING STATEMENT 1

Statement 1 Translation:
Original: "Both Eels and Saving Fish are new copies."
What we're looking for:

• Eels must be new (is it?)
• Saving Fish must be new (is there a new copy available?)

In other words: Are new copies of both these specific books available for our selection?

Looking at our table, we can verify:

• Eels is indeed available as a new copy at \(\$25.99\) (Science section)
• Saving Fish is available as both new (\(\$7.98\)) and used (\(\$2.63\)) copies in the Literature section

Since we can select the new copy of Saving Fish, this statement is Yes.

ANALYZING STATEMENT 2

Statement 2 Translation:
Original: "Fish is from the Cooking section."
What we're looking for:

• Is there a book titled "Fish" in the Cooking section?

In other words: Does the Cooking section contain a book called Fish?

Checking our table:

• Yes, the Cooking section has a book titled "Fish" available as both new (\(\$9.98\)) and used (\(\$11.00\)) copies

This statement is Yes.

ANALYZING STATEMENT 3

Statement 3 Translation:
Original: "Eels is included in the selection."
What we're looking for:

• Must we include Eels in our selection?

In other words: Is Eels a required part of our book combination?

As we identified in our initial dataset analysis:

• Science section has only one book (Eels)
• We must select exactly one book from each section
• Therefore, Eels MUST be included in our selection

This statement is Yes.

SELECTING THE OPTIMAL COMBINATION

Now let's determine if we can create a combination that meets our average price requirement.

Since we need the total price to exceed \(\$48.00\), and Eels (\(\$25.99\)) is locked in, let's strategically select the highest-priced options from each remaining section:

• Children's: Curious George at Aquarium (\(\$3.99\)) \(>\) Curious George Goes Fishing (\(\$2.98\))
• Cooking: Fish used (\(\$11.00\)) \(>\) Fish new/Salmon (\(\$9.98\))
• Literature: Saving Fish new (\(\$7.98\)) \(>\) Saving Fish used (\(\$2.63\))

Let's verify our total:
\(\$25.99 + \$3.99 + \$11.00 + \$7.98 = \$48.96\)

Since \(\$48.96 > \$48.00\), our average exceeds \(\$12.00\), confirming we can satisfy the question requirements.

FINAL ANSWER COMPILATION

Statement 1: Yes - Both Eels and Saving Fish are available as new copies
Statement 2: Yes - Fish is indeed in the Cooking section
Statement 3: Yes - Eels must be included as it's the only Science book

Therefore, the answer is D (all statements are true).

LEARNING SUMMARY

Skills We Used

• Converting averages to totals: Instead of calculating multiple averages, we converted the \(\$12.00\) average requirement to a \(\$48.00\) total requirement
• Constraint recognition: We immediately identified that Eels must be included due to section constraints
• Strategic maximization: To satisfy the average price requirement, we selected the highest-priced option from each remaining section

Strategic Insights

• Start with fixed selections: Identifying the "must-have" book (Eels) gave us an anchor for our calculations
• Use backward threshold calculation: Working backward from the required average to a required total made verification simpler
• Maximize strategically: When trying to exceed an average threshold, select the highest-priced options first

Common Mistakes We Avoided

• Unnecessary combinations: We didn't need to test multiple combinations - selecting the highest-priced options was sufficient
• Calculating exact averages: We only needed to know if the total exceeded \(\$48.00\), not the exact average
• Overlooking forced selections: Recognizing that Eels must be included saved us from testing invalid combinations

Remember that in GMAT table analysis questions, identifying constraints first often reveals "forced" selections that significantly narrow your search space and save valuable time.