UPSC Prelims 2019·CSAT·Quantitative Aptitude·Combinatorics and Probability

In a group of 15 people; 7 can read French, 8 can read English while 3 of them can read neither of these two languages. The number of people who can read exactly one language is

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Last updated 23 May 2026, 3:31 pm IST
  1. A10
  2. B9Correct
  3. C5
  4. D4

Explanation

Total number of people is 15. Since 3 people can read neither language, the number of people who can read at least one language is 15 minus 3, which equals 12. Let F be the number of people who read French (7) and E be the number of people who read English (8). The sum of people reading these languages is 7 plus 8, which equals 15. The number of people who read both languages is found by subtracting the total number of readers (12) from the combined sum (15). This means 3 people read both languages. To find those who read exactly one language, subtract the number of people who read both languages from the total number of readers. So, 12 minus 3 equals 9. Therefore, 9 people can read exactly one language. The correct option is B.
Quantitative Aptitude: In a group of 15 people; 7 can read French, 8 can read English while 3 of them can read neither of these two languages.

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