Problem 2 · 2006 AMC 8
Easy
Arithmetic & Operations
scoring-rule
On the AMC 8 contest Billy answers 13 questions correctly, answers 7 questions incorrectly and doesn't answer the last 5. What is his score? (right = +1, wrong or N/A = +0)
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Answer: C — 13.
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Hint 1 of 2
Read the scoring rule carefully: wrong and blank both earn the same as each other — zero. So all the "7 wrong" and "5 blank" numbers are decoys.
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Hint 2 of 2
When points come only from one category, ignore every other number in the problem. The 7 and the 5 are there to tempt you into subtracting.
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Approach: ignore the zero-point categories
- Wrong = 0 points and blank = 0 points, so only the 13 correct matter.
- 13 × 1 = 13.
- Watch out: the answer choices 6 (13−7) and 1 (13−7−5) are traps for kids who think wrong answers cost points — many contests do penalize, but this one doesn't. Always score by the rule you're actually given.
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