A student is reading a 434-page novel. He reads 112 pages on Monday, 98 pages on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 88 pages on Thursday. How many pages does he have left?

A student is reading a 434-page novel. He reads 112 pages on Monday, 98 pages on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 88 pages on Thursday. How many pages does he have left?

• A. 52 pages
• B. 24 pages
• C. 38 pages
• D. 40 pages

Answer: (C)

To know how many pages are left, add up all the pages read and subtract that total from the book’s total pages. He reads 112 pages on Monday, 98 pages on Tuesday and 98 pages on Wednesday, and 88 pages on Thursday. Adding these: 112 + 98 + 98 + 88 = 396 pages read in total. Subtract from 434 pages: 434 − 396 = 38 pages remaining. So, 38 pages are left. If you tried counting only one 98 instead of both, you’d get a different number not in the options, which shows why it’s important to count that 98 on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

To know how many pages are left, add up all the pages read and subtract that total from the book’s total pages. He reads 112 pages on Monday, 98 pages on Tuesday and 98 pages on Wednesday, and 88 pages on Thursday. Adding these: 112 + 98 + 98 + 88 = 396 pages read in total. Subtract from 434 pages: 434 − 396 = 38 pages remaining. So, 38 pages are left. If you tried counting only one 98 instead of both, you’d get a different number not in the options, which shows why it’s important to count that 98 on both Tuesday and Wednesday.