
income apartments. Three of the apartments are on the
north side of town, and five are on the south side. If the
apartments are to be assigned by means of a lottery, what
is the probability that
a. A specific qualified applicant will be selected for one of
these apartments?
b. Two specific qualified applicants will be selected for
apartments on the same side of town?
25. A student studying for a vocabulary test knows the mean-
ings of 12 words from a list of 20 words. If the test contains
10 words from the study list, what is the probability that at
least 8 of the words on the test are words that the student
knows?
26. D
RIVING
T
ESTS
Four different written driving tests are
administered by the Motor Vehicle Department. One of
these four tests is selected at random for each applicant for
a driver’s license. If a group consisting of two women and
three men apply for a license, what is the probability that
a. Exactly two of the five will take the same test?
b. The two women will take the same test?
27. B
RAND
S
ELECTION
A druggist wishes to select three brands
of aspirin to sell in his store. He has five major brands to
choose from: A, B, C, D, and E. If he selects the three
brands at random, what is the probability that he will select
a. Brand B?
b. Brands B and C?
c. At least one of the two brands B and C?
28. B
LACKJACK
In the game of blackjack, a 2-card hand con-
sisting of an ace and a face card or a 10 is called a black-
jack.
a. If a player is dealt 2 cards from a standard deck of
52 well-shuffled cards, what is the probability that the
player will receive a blackjack?
b. If a player is dealt 2 cards from 2 well-shuffled standard
decks, what is the probability that the player will
receive a blackjack?
29. S
LOT
M
ACHINES
Refer to Exercise 25, Section 6.3, where
the “lucky dollar” slot machine was described. What is the
probability that the three “lucky dollar” symbols will
appear in the window of the slot machine?
30. R
OULETTE
In 1959 a world record was set for the longest
run on an ungaffed (fair) roulette wheel at the El San Juan
Hotel in Puerto Rico. The number 10 appeared six times in
a row. What is the probability of the occurrence of this
event? (Assume that there are 38 equally likely outcomes
consisting of the numbers 1–36, 0, and 00.)
In “The Numbers Game,” a state lottery, four numbers
are drawn with replacement from an urn containing balls
numbered 0–9, inclusive. In Exercises 31–34, find the
probability that a ticket holder has the indicated winning
ticket.
31. All four digits in exact order (the grand prize)
32. Two specified, consecutive digits in exact order (the first
two digits, the middle two digits, or the last two digits)
33. One digit (the first, second, third, or fourth digit)
34. Three digits in exact order
A list of poker hands, ranked in order from the highest to
the lowest, is shown in the accompanying table along
with a description and example of each hand. Use the
table to answer Exercises 35–40.
7.4 USE OF COUNTING TECHNIQUES IN PROBABILITY 387
Hand Description Example
Straight 5 cards in sequence
flush in the same suit
Four of 4 cards of the same
a kind rank and any other
card
Full 3 of a kind and a
house pair
Flush 5 cards of the same
suit that are not
all in sequence
Straight 5 cards in sequence
but not all of the
same suit
Three 3 cards of the
of a same rank and 2
kind unmatched cards
Two 2 cards of the same
pair rank and 2 cards
of any other rank
with an unmatched
card
One 2 cards of the
pair same rank and 3
unmatched cards
A2345
K KKK 2
333
77
569J K
10 J Q K A
KKK24
KK224
KK524
If a 5-card poker hand is dealt from a well-shuffled deck
of 52 cards, what is the probability of being dealt the
given hand?
35. A straight flush (Note that an ace may be played as either
a high or low card in a straight sequence—that is, A, 2, 3,
4, 5 or 10, J, Q, K, A. Hence, there are ten possible
sequences for a straight in one suit.)
36. A straight (but not a straight flush)
37. A flush (but not a straight flush)
38. Four of a kind
39. A full house
40. Two pairs
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