Ginny's study group has three more than twice as many girls as boys. There are $11$ girls in the group. How many boys are in the study group?

Let $b$ be the number of boys. "Three more than twice the number of boys" translates to $2b + 3$, and that quantity equals the number of girls: $2b + 3 = 11 \Rightarrow 2b = 8 \Rightarrow b = 4$. Check: $2(4) + 3 = 11$ ✓. - Trap A ($3 = 11 - 8$) confuses which side of the equation $3$ belongs on. - Trap C ($5 = (11-1)/2$) mis-applies the parity of the equation. - Trap D ($7 = 11 - 4$) misreads "three more than twice" as "twice three more than." The load-bearing translation is *more than* → addition, and *twice* → coefficient $2$.