Hi ALL,
While this question IS wordy, it's really just a Combination Formula question (albeit with a lot of little pieces of information).
By reorganizing the information in the prompt, we are told the following:
1) There are 3 cities on the East Coast; we must put a distribution center in 2 of them.
2) There is 1 city in the Midwest; we must put a distribution center there.
3) There are 3 cities on the West Coast; we must put a distribution center in 2 of them.
Since the "order" of the distribution centers does NOT matter, we're dealing with a Combinatorics situation.
East Coast: 3c2 = 3!/[2!1!] = 3 ways to place the distribution centers
Midwest: 1c1 = 1 way to place the distribution center
West Coast: 3c2 = 3!/[2!1!] = 3 ways to place the distribution centers
We have to multiply these results to calculate the TOTAL possible combinations of distribution centers:
(3)(1)(3) = 9 different ways to place the distribution centers.
Final Answer:
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich