Two consultants can type up a report in 12.5 hours and edit it in 7.5 hours. If Mary needs 30 hours to type the report and Jim needs 12 hours to edit it alone, how many hours Q will it take if Jim types the report and Mary edits it immediately after he is done?	Pick:
A) 41.4  B) 34.1  C) 13.4  D) 12.4  E) 10.8

Rationale: break down the problem into two pieces : typing and editing . mary needs 30 hours to type the report - - > mary ' s typing rate = 1 / 30 ( rate reciprocal of time ) ( point 1 in theory below ) ; mary and jim can type up a report in 12.5 and - - > 1 / 30 + 1 / x = 1 / 12.5 = 2 / 25 ( where x is the time needed for jim to type the report alone ) ( point 23 in theory below ) - - > x = 150 / 7 ; jim needs 12 hours to edit the report - - > jim ' s editing rate = 1 / 12 ; mary and jim can edit a report in 7.5 and - - > 1 / y + 1 / 12 = 1 / 7.5 = 2 / 15 ( where y is the time needed for mary to edit the report alone ) - - > y = 20 ; how many q hours will it take if jim types the report and mary edits it immediately after he is done - - > x + y = 150 / 7 + 20 = ~ 41.4 answer : a .
Answer: A