The table below shows incomes (in rupees) earned by five employees of a company during the month of March 2019 and the income sources. Source/Name of Employee → Reeta | Seeta | Geeta | Neeta | Aneeta Overtime — 2,500 | 2,800 | 2,300 | 2,200 | 2,600 Arrears — 4,500 | 4,800 | 4,900 | 5,300 | 5,600 Bonus — 2,300 | 2,100 | 2,500 | 2,700 | 2,800 Salary — 24,000 | 30,000 | 29,000 | 32,000 | 34,000 The total amount of arrears paid by the company during the given period is what percentage of the total amount of bonus paid during the given period?
- (a)102.42%
- (b)402.42%
- (c)202.42%
- (d)302.42%
Answer
Why
Correct — C. Only two rows matter. Add the arrears row, add the bonus row, and divide the first by the second.
Total arrears = 4,500 + 4,800 + 4,900 + 5,300 + 5,600
= ₹25,100
Total bonus = 2,300 + 2,100 + 2,500 + 2,700 + 2,800
= ₹12,400
Required % = 25,100 ⁄ 12,400 × 100
= 2.0242 × 100 = 202.42% → option (c)
Why the others are wrong
- (a)102.42% — 102.42% is the amount by which arrears *exceed* bonus — (25,100 − 12,400) ⁄ 12,400 × 100. The question asks what percentage arrears are of bonus, so nothing is subtracted first.
- (b)402.42% — 402.42% would need the arrears total to be about ₹49,900, nearly double the ₹25,100 the table actually gives. Only the shared ".42" tail makes it look computed.
- (d)302.42% — 302.42% is 37,500 ⁄ 12,400 × 100, i.e. arrears plus bonus measured against bonus. You have added the base back in; the ratio itself is 25,100 ⁄ 12,400.
Concept
In "A is what percentage of B", the noun after of is the base. It goes on the bottom, and the answer is A ⁄ B × 100.
When A is bigger than B the answer exceeds 100%, which is normal and not a sign of error. Here arrears are just over twice the bonus, so anything near 200% is the right neighbourhood.
The table interpretation is the other half of the item. Four rows are printed and only two are wanted, so the discipline is to sum the named rows and leave Salary and Overtime alone.
Both totals run across all five employees. The individual names carry no information in this question — they exist to make the table wide enough to slow you down.
Key facts
- In "A is what percentage of B", B is the base: the answer is A ⁄ B × 100.
- The arrears row totals ₹25,100 across the five employees.
- The bonus row totals ₹12,400 across the five employees.
- A ⁄ B × 100 minus 100 answers a different question — by what percentage A exceeds B.
Study next
Common traps
- Adding the base back in and reporting 302.42% instead of the ratio itself
- Summing the Salary row because it holds the largest numbers
- Subtracting 100 out of habit and landing on 102.42%
SSC prints a four-row income table and asks for one row measured against another, so the arithmetic is small and the reading is the test. The same shift runs the identical percentage-of-total step off a pie chart at Quant Q.9.
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