MGMAT cat exam problem - answer seems incorrect

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Hi team,

I'm taking practice MGMAT CATs and was stumped at how the answer to this question is 10 and not 13. It seems that they say that 81 - 68 = 10, instead of 16. My answer was that 16 - 3 = 13.

Your help is greatly appreciated!

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In a group of 68 students, each student is registered for at least one of three classes - History, Math and English. Twenty-five students are registered for History, twenty-five students are registered for Math, and thirty-four students are registered for English. If only three students are registered for all three classes, how many students are registered for exactly two classes?

13

10

9

8

7

For an overlapping set problem with three subsets, we can use a Venn diagram to solve.

Each circle represents the number of students enrolled in the History, English and Math classes, respectively. Notice that each circle is subdivided into different groups of students. Groups a, e, and f are comprised of students taking only 1 class. Groups b, c, and d are comprised of students taking 2 classes. In addition, the diagram shows us that 3 students are taking all 3 classes. We can use the diagram and the information in the question to write several equations:

History students: a + b + c + 3 = 25
Math students: e + b + d + 3 = 25
English students: f + c + d + 3 = 34
TOTAL students: a + e + f + b + c + d + 3 = 68

The question asks for the total number of students taking exactly 2 classes. This can be represented as b + c + d.

If we sum the first 3 equations (History, Math and English) we get:

a + e + f + 2b +2c +2d + 9 = 84.

Taking this equation and subtracting the 4th equation (Total students) yields the following:

a + e + f + 2b + 2c +2d + 9 = 84
-[a + e + f + b + c + d + 3 = 68]
b + c + d = 10

The correct answer is B.
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by naremnaresh » Wed Dec 15, 2010 3:31 am
HISORY and any 2 subjects excluding students with 3 subjects = 25- 3 = 22
Maths and any 2 subjects excluding students with 3 subjects = 25- 3 = 22
english and any 2 subjects excluding students with 3 subjects = 34- 3 = 31
total students excluding students with 3 subjects = 68- 3 = 65

consider x be the students with 2 subjects
then 22+22+31-x = 65
x = 75 - 65 = 10

The answer you got is correct.

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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:08 am
lavinia wrote:In a group of 68 students, each student is registered for at least one of three classes - History, Math and English. Twenty-five students are registered for History, twenty-five students are registered for Math, and thirty-four students are registered for English. If only three students are registered for all three classes, how many students are registered for exactly two classes?
(A)13
(B)10
(C) 9
(D) 8
(E) 7
This problem is testing your knowledge of overlapping groups. Here is the formula for 3 overlapping groups in which sometimes 2 of the groups overlap and sometimes all 3 groups overlap:

T = G1 + G2 + G3 - (those in 2 of the groups) - 2*(those in all 3 groups)


The big idea with overlapping groups is to subtract the overlaps. When we count everyone in the 3 groups, those in 2 of the groups will be counted twice, so they need to subtracted from the total once. Those in all 3 groups will be counted 3 times, so they need to be subtracted from the total twice.

In the problem above:
T = 68
G1+G2+G3 = history + math + english = 25+25+34 = 84
Those registered for exactly 2 subjects = x
Those registered for all 3 subjects = 3

Plugging into the formula, we get:

68 = 84 - x - 2*3
68 = 78 - x
x = 10.

The correct answer is B.
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by goyalsau » Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:16 am
itslateagain_7 wrote:Hi team,

I'm taking practice MGMAT CATs and was stumped at how the answer to this question is 10 and not 13. It seems that they say that 81 - 68 = 10, instead of 16. My answer was that 16 - 3 = 13.
Answer of this question must be 10, not 13,
itslateagain_7 wrote:
In a group of 68 students, each student is registered for at least one of three classes - History, Math and English. Twenty-five students are registered for History, twenty-five students are registered for Math, and thirty-four students are registered for English. If only three students are registered for all three classes, how many students are registered for exactly two classes?

13

10

9

8

7
There is a formula for this, or can drive it by your self.

total in the group = Group A + Group B + Group C - ( in exactly two groups ) - 2 ( in exactly 3 groups )

68 = 25 + 25 + 34 - x - 6

68 = 78 - x

x - 10

if you have doubts please refer to the link, Rahul has given a very good explanation on this one.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/venn-diagram ... tml#316739
Saurabh Goyal
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