Question ID 31eeebef
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 31eeebef
Employees working for a customer service line at an electric company recorded all the calls last Monday and
noted whether the caller asked for repairs and whether the caller asked about a bill. The results are
summarized in the table below.
Asked for Did not ask
Total
repairs for repairs
Asked
48 623 671
about a bill
Did not ask
130 90 220
about a bill
Total 178 713 891
If a caller last Monday who asked about his or her bill is selected at random,
which of the following is closest to the probability that the customer also asked
for repairs?
A. 0.05
B. 0.07
C. 0.20
D. 0.27
ID: 31eeebef Answer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. According to the table, a total of 671 customers asked about a bill. Of these, 48 also asked for
repairs. Therefore, if a customer who asked about a bill is selected at random, the probability that the customer
also asked for repairs is .
Choice A is incorrect. This is the probability that a customer selected at random from all customers who called
on Monday both asked for repairs and asked about a bill. Choice C is incorrect. This is the probability that a
customer selected at random from all customers who called on Monday asked for repairs, regardless of whether
or not the customer asked about a bill. Choice D is incorrect. This is the probability that a customer selected at
random from those who asked for repairs also asked about a bill.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID 74ea40c2
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 74ea40c2
The table summarizes the distribution of age and assigned group for participants in a study.
– years – years years Total
Group A
Group B
Group C
Total
One of these participants will be selected at random. What is the probability of selecting a participant from group A,
given that the participant is at least years of age? (Express your answer as a decimal or fraction, not as a percent.)
ID: 74ea40c2 Answer
Correct Answer: .3833, 23/60
Rationale
23
The correct answer is . It's given that one of the participants will be selected at random. The probability of
60
selecting a participant from group A given that the participant is at least 10 years of age is the number of
participants in group A who are at least 10 years of age divided by the total number of participants who are at
least 10 years of age. The table shows that in group A, there are 14 participants who are 10–19 years of age and 9
participants who are 20 + years of age. Therefore, there are 14 + 9, or 23, participants in group A who are at least
10 years of age. The table also shows that there are a total of 30 participants who are 10–19 years of age and 30
participants who are 20 + years of age. Therefore, there are a total of 30 + 30, or 60, participants who are at least
10 years of age. It follows that the probability of selecting a participant from group A given that the participant is
23
at least 10 years of age is . Note that 23/60, .3833, and 0.383 are examples of ways to enter a correct answer.
60
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID 02018f6d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 02018f6d
On May 10, 2015, there were 83 million Internet subscribers in Nigeria. The major
Internet providers were MTN, Globacom, Airtel, Etisalat, and Visafone. By
September 30, 2015, the number of Internet subscribers in Nigeria had increased
to 97 million. If an Internet subscriber in Nigeria on September 30, 2015, is
selected at random, the probability that the person selected was an MTN
subscriber is 0.43. There were p million MTN subscribers in Nigeria on
September 30, 2015. To the nearest integer, what is the value of p ?
ID: 02018f6d Answer
Rationale
The correct answer is 42. It’s given that in Nigeria on September 30, 2015, the probability of selecting an MTN
subscriber from all Internet subscribers is 0.43, that there were p million, or , MTN subscribers, and
that there were 97 million, or 97,000,000, Internet subscribers. The probability of selecting an MTN subscriber
from all Internet subscribers can be found by dividing the number of MTN subscribers by the total number of
Internet subscribers. Therefore, the equation can be used to solve for p. Dividing 1,000,000
from the numerator and denominator of the expression on the left-hand side yields . Multiplying
both sides of this equation by 97 yields , which, to the nearest integer, is 42.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID fad8f3a4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: fad8f3a4
For a science project, Anka recorded whether it rained each weekday and weekend day for 12 weeks. Her
results are summarized in the table below.
Weekday and Weekend Day Rain for 12 Weeks
Rain No rain Total
Number of weekdays 12 48 60
Number of weekend days 8 16 24
Total 20 64 84
If one of the days on which there was no rain is selected at random, what is the
probability the day was a weekend day?
A.
B.
C.
D.
ID: fad8f3a4 Answer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. There were 64 days with no rain. It was a weekend day for 16 of those 64 days. So 16 out of 64
of the days with no rain were weekend days. Because the day is selected at random, each day has an equal
chance of being selected, so the probability is .
Choice A is incorrect. It is the probability that a day selected at random from any one of the days during the 12
weeks is a weekend day with no rain. Choice C is incorrect. It is the probability that a day selected at random
from the weekend days has no rain. Choice D is incorrect. It is the probability that a day selected at random from
the days with no rain is a weekday.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID 97867995
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 97867995
Number of Contestants by Score and Day
5 4 3 2 1 0
out out out out out out Total
of 5 of 5 of 5 of 5 of 5 of 5
Day
2 3 4 6 2 3 20
1
Day
2 3 5 5 4 1 20
2
Day
3 3 4 5 3 2 20
3
Total 7 9 13 16 9 6 60
The same 20 contestants, on each of 3 days, answered 5 questions in order to win a prize. Each contestant received 1
point for each correct answer. The number of contestants receiving a given score on each day is shown in the table
above.
No contestant received the same score on two different days. If a contestant is
selected at random, what is the probability that the selected contestant received
a score of 5 on Day 2 or Day 3, given that the contestant received a score of 5 on
one of the three days?
ID: 97867995 Answer
Rationale
The correct answer is . It is given that no contestant received the same score on two different days, so each of
the contestants who received a score of 5 is represented in the “5 out of 5” column of the table exactly once.
Therefore, the probability of selecting a contestant who received a score of 5 on Day 2 or Day 3, given that the
contestant received a score of 5 on one of the three days, is found by dividing the total number of contestants
who received a score of 5 on Day 2 or Day 3 by the total number of contestants who received a score of
5, which is given in the table as 7. So the probability is . Note that 5/7, .7142, .7143, and 0.714 are examples of
ways to enter a correct answer.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID 4fde548c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 4fde548c
At a conference, there are a total of attendees. Each attendee is assigned to either group A, group B, or group C. If
one of these attendees is selected at random, the probability of selecting an attendee who is assigned to group A is
and the probability of selecting an attendee who is assigned to group B is . How many attendees are assigned to
group C?
ID: 4fde548c Answer
Correct Answer: 88
Rationale
The correct answer is 88. It's given that there are a total of 275 attendees and each attendee is assigned to either
group A, group B, or group C. It's also given that if one of these attendees is selected at random, the probability of
selecting an attendee who is assigned to group A is 0.44 and the probability of selecting an attendee who is
assigned to group B is 0.24. It follows that there are 0.44275, or 121, attendees who are assigned to group A and
0.24275, or 66, attendees who are assigned to group B. The number of attendees who are assigned to group C is
the number of attendees who are not assigned to group A or group B. In other words, the number of attendees
who are assigned to group C is the total number of attendees minus the number of attendees who are assigned to
group A and group B. Therefore, the number of attendees who are assigned to group C is 275 - 121 - 66, or 88.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID 6e59ead2
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 6e59ead2
Phone Email
Dinner
55% 80%
dance
Football
20% 10%
game
Picnic 20% 5%
Pool
5% 5%
party
Total 100% 100%
An alumni association survey asked each high school graduate to select the one activity he or she
preferred for the association’s next event. Some of the people responded by phone, and the others
responded by email. The table above shows the distribution of preferred activity, in percent, for each
response type used. For the survey, the number of email responses was twice the number of phone
responses. If a person who preferred a picnic is selected at random, what is the probability that the person
responded by email?
ID: 6e59ead2 Answer
Rationale
The correct answer is . It’s given that the number of email responses is twice the number of phone
one third
responses. Therefore, if the number of phone responses is p, then the number of email responses is . The
2p
table shows that 20% of people who responded by phone preferred a picnic. It follows that the expression
represents the number of these people. The table also shows that 5% of the people who responded
0 point 2 0 p
by email preferred a picnic. The expression , or , represents the number of
0 point 0 5 times 2 p 0 point 1 p
these people. Therefore, a total of , or people preferred a picnic. Thus,
0 point 2 0 p plus 0 point 1 p 0 point 3 p
the probability of selecting at random a person who responded by email from the people who preferred a picnic
is , or . Note that 1/3, .3333, and 0.333 are examples of ways to
the fraction 0 point 1 p over 0 point 3 p one third
enter a correct answer.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID da87ee8d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: da87ee8d
The table below shows the distribution of US states according to whether they have a state-level sales tax and
a state-level income tax.
2013 State-Level Taxes
State sales tax No state sales tax
State income tax 39 4
No state income tax 6 1
To the nearest tenth of a percent, what percent of states with a state-level sales
tax do not have a state-level income tax?
A. 6.0%
B. 12.0%
C. 13.3%
D. 14.0%
ID: da87ee8d Answer
Correct Answer: C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. The sum of the number of states with a state-level sales tax is . Of these states,
6 don’t have a state-level income tax. Therefore, , or about 13.3%, of states with a state-level
sales tax don’t have a state-level income tax.
Choice A is incorrect. This is the number of states that have a state-level sales tax and no state-level income tax.
Choice B is incorrect. This is the percent of states that have a state-level sales tax and no state-level income tax.
Choice D is incorrect. This is the percent of states that have no state-level income tax.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID 37c4161f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 37c4161f
Human Resources Accounting
Bachelor’s degree 4 3
Master’s degree 2 6
The table above shows the number of people who work in the Human Resources
and Accounting departments of a company and the highest level of education
they have completed. A person from one of these departments is to be chosen
at random. If the person chosen works in the Human Resources department,
what is the probability that the highest level of education the person completed
is a master’s degree?
A.
B.
C.
D.
ID: 37c4161f Answer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. In total, there are 6 people in the Human Resources department. Of those 6, 2 have a master’s
degree as their highest level of education. Therefore, the probability of an employee selected at random from the
Human Resources department having a master’s degree is , which simplifies to .
Choice A is incorrect; it is the probability that an employee selected at random from either department will be in
the Human Resources department and have a master’s degree. Choice C is incorrect; it is the probability that an
employee with a master’s degree selected at random will be in the Human Resources department. Choice D is
incorrect; it is the probability that an employee selected at random from either department will have a master’s
degree.
Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID 17870462
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Math Problem-Solving Probability and
PSAT 10 and Data Analysis conditional
probability
ID: 17870462
Blood type
Rhesus factor A B AB O
plus 33 9 3 37
minus 7 2 1 x
Human blood can be classified into four common blood types—A, B, AB, and O.
It is also characterized by the presence or absence of the rhesus factor.
The table above shows the distribution of blood type and rhesus factor for a
group of people. If one of these people who is rhesus negative is chosen at
random, the probability that the person has blood type B is . What is the
value of x ?
ID: 17870462 Answer
Rationale
The correct answer is 8. In this group, of the people who are rhesus negative have blood type B. The total
number of people who are rhesus negative in the group is , and there are 2 people who are rhesus
negative with blood type B. Therefore, . Combining like terms on the left-hand side of the
equation yields . Multiplying both sides of this equation by 9 yields , and multiplying
both sides of this equation by yields . Subtracting 10 from both sides of this equation yields
Question Difficulty: Hard
