Answer:
(a) more
(b) less
(c) more
(d) greater
(e) Left to right: Susan, George, Antonio, Maria
Step-by-step explanation:
When a point total is lower, more points are needed to stay in the game.
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(a) Maria's total is less than -30, so she needs more than 30 to stay in the game. Phone #4 is the only one indicating a need of more than 30, so it is Maria's.
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(b) Susan's total is greater than -25, so she needs less than 25* to stay in the game. Phone #1 is the only one indicating a need of less than 25, so it is Susan's.
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(c) George's point total is lower than Susan's, so he needs more points than Susan. Susan's phone indicates she needs 20 points. Since George needs 5 more points, his is phone #2.
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(d) Antonio needs 15 fewer points than Maria, so his total is more than Maria's total. Maria's phone indicates she needs 45 points, so Antonio only needs 30 points. His is phone #3.
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(e) Susan needs 20, George needs 25, Antonio needs 30, Maria needs 45.
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* If we assume whole numbers of points, a total of "greater than -25" might be a total of -24. To bring the score to a positive value (1), <em>exactly 25 points</em> might be needed. That is, there is some ambiguity in part (b) in that Susan might need <em>less than or equal to 25 points</em>. Susan's phone could be either the first or the second.
The problem is poorly worded. The answer choices above are consistent with the problem statement overall.
