Practice Problems – Ch 12 to 13

Chapter 12 From Randomness to Probability

1) What is the probability of an event?

A) A number between 0 and 1 that reports the likelihood of the event's occurrence
B) A collection of outcomes
C) A single attempt or realization of a random phenomenon
D) Its long-run relative frequency
E) Two of the above
Answer: E

2) The Multiplication Rule says that P(A and B) = P(A) × P(B). What must be true about events A and B
for this rule to apply?
A) The events must be disjoint.
B) The events must be independent.
C) The events must be mutually exclusive.
D) Two of the above
E) All of the above
Answer: B

3) The Addition Rule says that P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B). What must be true about events A and B for this
rule to apply?
A) The events must be disjoint.
B) The events must be independent.
C) The events must be mutually exclusive.
D) Two of the above
E) All of the above
Answer: D

4) Which of the following are equivalent to the probability of the complement of event A?
(i) P( )
(ii) 1 - P(A does not occur)
(iii) 1 - P(A occurs)
(iv) P(A does not occur)
A) ii
B) i, iii, and iv
C) i and iii
D) i, ii, and iv
E) iii and iv
Answer: B

List the sample space and tell whether the events are equally likely.
5) A family has two children; record the genders in order of birth.
A) {BB, BG, GG}, equally likely
B) {BB, BG, GB, GG}, equally likely
C) {BB, BG, GG}, not equally likely
D) {BB, BG, GB, GG}, not equally likely
E) {B, G}, equally likely

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Answer: B

6) Many stores run "secret sales": Shoppers receive cards that determine how large a discount they get,
but the percentage is revealed by scratching off that black stuff only after the purchase has been totaled at
the cash register. The store is required to reveal (in the fine print) the distribution of discounts available.
Determine whether the following probability assignment is legitimate.

Probability of . . .

A) Legitimate
B) Not legitimate
Answer: B

7) Melissa is looking for the perfect man. She claims that at her university 35% of men are smart, 29% are
funny, and 17% are both smart and funny. If Melissa is right, are being smart and being funny mutually
exclusive? Why?
A) Yes, the probability that a man is smart is the same as the probability that a man is smart given that he
is funny.
B) Yes, because P(S or F) = P(S) + P(F)
C) Yes, no man is both smart and funny
D) No, the probability that a man is funny is 0.29, but the probability that a man is funny given that he is
smart is 0.49.
E) No, 17% are both smart and funny
Answer: E

8) In a business class, 25% of the students have never taken a statistics class, 35% have taken only one
semester of statistics, and the rest have taken two or more semesters of statistics. The professor randomly
assigns students to groups of three to work on a project for the course. What is the probability that the
first group mate you meet has studied some statistics?
A) 0.65
B) 0.60
C) 0.35
D) 0.40
E) 0.75
Answer: E

9) According to a survey in one U.S. city, 49% of women between the ages and 25 of 35 are married, 47%
are working full time, and 21% are married and working full time. If a woman between the ages of 25 and
35 is picked at random from the city, what is the probability that she is working full time or married but
not both?
A) 0.79
B) 0.25
C) 0.75
D) 0.54
E) 0.96

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Answer: D

10) An auto insurance company was interested in investigating accident rates for drivers in different age
groups. The following table was based on a random sample of drivers and classifies drivers by age group
and accident rate.

Suppose one of these people is selected at random. Compute the probability that the person is aged over
45 and has had no accidents in the past three years.
A) 0.382
B) 0.089
C) 0.484
D) 0.537
E) 0.789
Answer: A

Chapter 13 Probability Rules!

11) In a language program at a university, 14% of students speak Spanish, 7% speak French, and 4%
speak both languages. A student is chosen at random from the college What is the probability that a
student who speaks Spanish also speaks French?
A) 0.170
B) 0.286
C) 0.030
D) 0.040
E) 0.571
Answer: B

12) The table shows the political affiliation of voters in one city and their positions on raising taxes.

Raising Taxes

What is the probability that a voter who favours raising taxes is an NDP supporter?
A) 0.120
B) 0.520

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C) 0.400
D) 0.231
E) 0.300
Answer: D

13) Opinion-polling organizations sometimes contact their respondents by sampling random telephone
numbers. Assume that interviewers can now reach about 78% of Canadian households, while the
percentage of those contacted who agree to cooperate with the survey is 36%. Each household, of course,
is independent of the others. What is the probability of obtaining an interview with the next household
on the sample list?
A) 0.281
B) 0.079
C) 0.780
D) 0.499
E) 0.141
Answer: A

14) A study conducted at a certain college shows that 61% of the school's graduates find a job in their
chosen field within a year after graduation. Find the probability that among 6 randomly selected
graduates, at least one finds a job in his or her chosen field within a year of graduating.
A) 0.3660
B) 0.9965
C) 0.9485
D) 0.0035
E) 0.1667
Answer: B

15) Applicants for a job first submit a written application. Based on the written applications, 37% of the
applicants are invited for a first interview. Of those that have a first interview, 58% are rejected after the
interview. What is the probability that a randomly selected applicant receives a first interview and is
rejected after the interview?
A) 0.1554
B) 0.58
C) 0.2146
D) 0.95
E) 0.7354
Answer: C

16) You are dealt a hand of three cards, one at a time. Find the probability that your cards are all aces.
Round your answer to five decimal places.
A) 0.00018
B) 0.01294
C) 0.00046
D) 0.17575
E) 0.00025
Answer: A

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17) In a language program at a university, 24% of students speak Spanish, 8% speak French, and 4%
speak both languages. Are speaking Spanish and speaking French independent events? Why?
A) Yes, because P(S and F) = P(S) ∙ P(F)
B) No, 24% of all students speak Spanish, but among those who speak French, 50.0% speak Spanish.
C) Yes, a student cannot speak both Spanish and French at the same time
D) Yes, the probability that a student speaks French is the same as the probability that a students speaks
French given that they speak Spanish.
E) No, 4% of students speak both languages
Answer: B

Use a tree diagram to find the indicated probability.

18) In one town in British Columbia, only 24% of days are sunny. A company's records indicate that on
sunny days 1.8% of employees will call in sick.When it is not sunny, 0.9% of employees will call in sick.
What percent of employees call in sick on a randomly selected day?
A) 1.8%
B) 0.684%
C) 0.432%
D) 1.116%
E) 1.35%
Answer: D