In a basketball shooting competition, each competitor shoots ten balls which are numbered from 1 to 10. The number of points earned for each successful shot is equal to the number on the ball. If a competitor misses exactly two shots, which one of the following scores is not possible? (A) 52 (B) 44 (C) 41 (D) 38 (E) 35

score 35 is not possible

Step-by-step explanation:

Here, the competitor misses exactly two shots

what we have here is that, if we added from the numbers between 1-10 , excluding exactly two numbers, which of the numbers in the option cannot be obtained by this addition

a) 52

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10

Total is 55

if we removed (2 and 1)

we get 52

This is a possible score

b) 44

Here, we just have to remove 11

if we take off 10 and 1, we can have 44

c) 41

if we removed 4 and 10 ; we get 41

d) 38

if we remove 17, we get 38

so let us remove 10 and 7

e) 35

here, we have to remove 20

Now, no two numbers added between 1 and 10 exactly will give 20

The highest sum to be deducted is 9 + 10 which is 19

So the lowest possible score is 55-19 = 36

This means that the term 35 is not possible