Now, very quickly, I'd like to point out the fact that there is no way they can accurately measure the number of people that would fail the test, so the "97%" statistic is clearly bogus. On top of that, why would you first say that only a small percentage of people will succeed and then use that fleeting success as the basis for whether or not it should be shared.
Surely you would want the 97% failures to do the sharing...unless you don't want it shared for some bizarre reason.
But, those little bits aren't the point of this. The point of this is that there are, as I can see it, three possible correct solutions, and everyone should understand why this is.
The basic solution is this. If you take the result of the first problem and add it to the addends in the second, you get the result of the second problem. Therefore, 5 + 2 + 5 equals 12. Moving on, 12 + 3 + 6 = 21, and this is where two of the three results come into play.
34
Using the established rule, 21 + 5 + 8 = 34. Simple and easy.
Except when it isn't. Perhaps another view could be taken that you are meant to extrapolate the complete problem from the given values. Shouldn't there be a "4" in the mix? Isn't that how things work? If your answer is "NO!" then stick with 34 as your answer and shake your head at all of those foolish people who say "YES!" and come up with:
45
Because if you add the 4+7 equation into the mix and then you follow the rule established above then you end up with this:
1 + 4 = 5
2 + 5 = 12
3 + 6 = 21
4 + 7 = 32
5 + 8 = 45
Except...
A third perspective, and one that will be irritating to SAT enthusiasts everywhere but possibly delightful to realists or people who don't have time for silly games is this:
Just because someone else makes a mistake doesn't mean you have to join them in it.
You know the answer. You've known it all along. You just thought you shouldn't.
5 + 8, no matter what anyone tells you is
13
I'm glad we had this talk.