In a city, the distance between the library and the police station is 3 miles less than twice the distance between the police station and the fire station. The distance between the library and the police station is 5 miles. How far apart are the police station and the fire station?

Let x be the distance between the police station and the fire station. The library-to-police distance is 3 miles less than twice that distance, so 2x − 3 = 5. Solving gives 2x = 8 and x = 4, so the stations are 4 miles apart (choice C).

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