Hi SportEarth,You are right that nothing in the stem forces every guest to order at least one of the two, so the "neither" group can absolutely exist. The thing worth separating is whether that group
exists and whether we need to
know its size. Split the guests into two rows and both become visible.
Where the neither group does matter: Statement (1) aloneTake
100 guests. Dessert =
75, so no dessert =
25. Statement (1) gives both =
60% of
75 =
45. That fills in only the first row:
Dessert row, 75 guests:45 ordered coffee,
30 did not.
No-dessert row, 25 guests: unknown. Say
k ordered coffee, so
25 minus k ordered neither.
The coffee total is
45 + k, and the neither group is that leftover
25 minus k. Both hang on the same unknown, and nothing so far pins it.
Case A,
k = 0: coffee total =
45, so coffee is
45%. Neither =
25.
Case B,
k = 15: coffee total =
60, so coffee is
60%. Neither =
10.
Both cases obey Statement (1), yet coffee lands on
45% in one and
60% in the other. Two answers means
not sufficient. Your instinct is exactly right: it is the freedom in that second row that sinks Statement (1).
Where it stops mattering: adding Statement (2)Statement (2) says those
45 "both" guests are
90% of everyone who ordered coffee. Call the coffee total x:
0.9x = 45, therefore
x = 50.
That equation uses only the overlap (
45) and the ratio (
90%). The neither group never appears in it, so its size cannot move the answer. And once the coffee total is fixed at
50, the rest simply follows:
Dessert row, 75 guests:45 ordered coffee,
30 did not.
No-dessert row, 25 guests:5 ordered coffee,
20 ordered neither.
Look at that last figure.
20 guests really did order neither coffee nor dessert. We never set it to zero and never assumed it away. It falls out at the end as the leftover, rather than being something we needed on the way in.
Takeaway: the question asks only for the coffee total. Statements (1) and (2) together pin that down without ever touching the neither group, which is why the answer is
C and not E.
Answer: CSportEarth
Why are we not considering those who didn't order neither coffee nor desert? It is not mentioned in the question that all have ordered atleast one.