PSAT Math Multiple-Choice Question 368: Answer and Explanation

Question: 368

A high school's Environment Club receives a certain amount of money from the school to host an all-day event. The club budgets 40 percent of the money for a guest speaker, 25 percent for educational materials, 20 percent to rent a hotel conference room, and the remainder for lunch. If the club plans to spend $225 on lunch for the participants, how much does it plan to spend on the guest speaker?

• A. $375
• B. $450
• C. $525
• D. $600

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

D

Difficulty: Medium

Getting to the Answer: The total budget can be represented by 100%, so start there. The percent of the budget spent on lunch is 100% - 40% - 25% - 20% = 15%. You're told that the club plans to spend $225 on lunch. Let x be the total amount of the budget in dollars. Then 15% of x is 225, so 0.15x = 225. Solving this equation for x yields x = 1,500. The total budget is $1,500. Of this amount, 40% was budgeted for a guest speaker, or 0.4 × $1,500 = $600. Choice (D) is correct.