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When both increase-and-decrease ratios are present in a problem, the rule (per OCR Points to Remember) is to:
ACancel both ratios out
BAlways multiply by lesser ratio first
CMultiply quantity by greater ratio (increase) then by lesser (decrease) for the final result
DAdd the ratios then divide
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Multiply quantity by greater ratio (increase) then by lesser (decrease) for the final result
1. Per OCR: "When both increasing and decreasing of quantities are present in a problem multiply the quantity by greater ratio to increase and multiply the result by lesser ratio to obtain the final result."
2. Order of operations matters for compounded changes.
3. Maps to percentage change problems.
_Source: ICMAI BoS CMA Foundation Paper 3 (FBMS) — Paper3_07042026.pdf, Module 1 §1.1 (page 11)_