SAT Prep of the Day 5

Word of the Day:
DEARTH ~ lack of something.
Students who do not wear socks on cold days suffer from a dearth of common sense.

Question of the Day:
Today's question is from the Math Section...
In a supermarket, Shakira bought 5 items from aisles 1 through 7, inclusive, and 7 items from aisles 4 through 10, inclusive. Which of the following could be the total number of items that Shakira bought?

1. 9
2. 10
3. 11

a) II only
b) I and II only
c) I and III only
d) II and III only
e) I, II, and III

So this problem is tricky and its one that is sure to make you stop and second-guess yourself. But let's think about it... so 5 objects from aisles 1-7 and 7 from aisles 4-10. Thus, we have four aisles that potentially overlap (aisles 4-7). However, they have given us NO information as to which aisle different objects are in and thus we can make any assumptions we want. So it could happen that none of the objects came from aisles 4-7, in which case there would be 12 total items. Or there could be one object from aisles 4-7, in which case there would be 11 total items. Or two, for 10 total items. Or three, for 9 total items. And so on and so forth. An interesting thing to think is the LEAST number of total items. Suppose they were all in aisles 4-7. How many total items would there be? There has to be a minimum of 7 items in that case.

But in any case back to the original question, you could potentially have 9, 10, or 11 total items and therefore the correct answer is E.