Every morning, a deli offers a “commuter special” in which customers can select a pastry, beverage, and a copy of one of the local papers and pay $1.00. Their options are listed in the table.Commuter SpecialPastryBeveragePaperDonutCoffeeThe TimesBrownieMilkThe HeraldMuffinTea SconeOrange Juice Croissant Last Tuesday, the deli did not have any muffins. How did that affect the number of possible combinations?
Answer
A
It decreased the number of combinations by 1.
B
It decreased the number of combinations by 4.
C
It decreased the number of combinations by 8.
D
It decreased the number of combinations by 10.
Explanation
Each combination includes one pastry, one beverage, and one paper. Removing the muffin eliminates every combination that would have included it: 4 beverages × 2 papers = 8 combinations. So the number of possible combinations decreased by 8, which is choice C.
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