Taking successive discounts of 15% off and then 25% off is the same as taking a one time discount of 40%.

A 15% discount leaves 85% of the original price, and the next 25% discount leaves 75% of that reduced price. The final price is 0.85 × 0.75 = 0.6375, or 63.75% of the original, so the total discount is 36.25%, not 40%. Therefore, the statement is false: choice B.

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