1957 AHSME Problems/Problem 16

Problem

Goldfish are sold at $15$ cents each. The rectangular coordinate graph showing the cost of $1$ to $12$ goldfish is:

$\textbf{(A)}\ \text{a straight line segment} \qquad \\  \textbf{(B)}\ \text{a set of horizontal parallel line segments}\qquad\\  \textbf{(C)}\ \text{a set of vertical parallel line segments}\qquad\\  \textbf{(D)}\ \text{a finite set of distinct points} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \text{a straight line}$

Solution

$1$ goldfish costs $1 \cdot 15 = 15$ cents, $2$ goldfish cost $2 \cdot 15 = 30$ cents, and so on until $12$ fish. One may think that it is a straight line segment at first, but note that there cannot be a third of a goldfish sold (if so then that would be creepy). Thus our answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(B)}}$.

See also

1957 AHSC (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 15
Followed by
Problem 17
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