The table gives the results of a survey of 200 people who were asked how often they see a movie...

1. TRANSLATE the problem information

• Given information:
  • A frequency table showing 200 people's movie theater habits
  • Need to find people who responded "either 'never' or 'almost never'"

• What this tells us: We need to locate both the "never" and "almost never" rows in the table

2. INFER the approach

• The word "either...or" in math typically means we include both options
• This means we need the frequency for "never" PLUS the frequency for "almost never"
• Strategy: Find both frequencies and add them together

3. Locate the frequencies in the table

Looking at the frequency column:

• Never: 29 people
• Almost never: 53 people

4. SIMPLIFY by adding the frequencies

\(\mathrm{29 + 53 = 82}\) people

Answer: C. 82

Why Students Usually Falter on This Problem

Most Common Error Path:

Weak TRANSLATE skill: Students misinterpret "either 'never' or 'almost never'" to mean they should choose just one category instead of both.

They might think "either...or" means "one or the other but not both" and select only the "almost never" category (53 people). This may lead them to select Choice B (53).

Second Most Common Error:

Poor INFER reasoning: Students understand they need both categories but incorrectly think they should find the difference between them rather than the sum.

They calculate \(\mathrm{53 - 29 = 24}\), thinking this shows how the responses compare. This may lead them to select Choice A (24).

The Bottom Line:

This problem tests whether students understand that "either A or B" in a frequency context means "A plus B," not "A minus B" or "just A." The key insight is recognizing that we're counting all people who fall into at least one of these two response categories.