Each of the 20 boxes in a certain shipment weighs either 10 pounds or 20 pounds, and the average (arithmetic mean) weight of the boxes in the shipment is 18 pounds. If the average weight of the boxes in the shipment is to be reduced to 12 pounds by removing some of the 20-pound boxes, how many 20-pound boxes must be removed?  Options
A) 3
B) 6
C) 9
D) 12
E) 15

Rationale: "if the average of 10 - pound and 20 - pound boxes is 18 , the ratio of 10 - pound boxes : 20 - pound boxes is 1 : 4 . so out of 20 boxes , 4 are 10 - pound boxes and 16 are 20 - pound boxes . if the average of 10 and 20 - pound boxes is to be 12 , the ratio of 10 - pound boxes : 20 - pound boxes should be 4 : 1 . the number of 10 pound boxes remains the same so we still have 4 of them . to get a ratio of 4 : 1 , the number of 20 - pound boxes must be 1 . we need to remove 15 of the 20 - pound boxes . the answer is e ."
Answer: E