What is the middle value among the total meet fees for 6-year-old, 11-year-old, and 15-year-old?

• A. $60
• B. $90
• C. $130
• D. $240

Answer: (B)

The question tests finding the middle value, or median, of three numbers. With three totals, the middle value is the one that sits between the smallest and the largest when you list them in order.

Think of the three total meet fees as one small, one large, and one somewhere in between. The value that lies between the other two is the middle. In this case, the set of totals has a middle option of $90, meaning one total is less than 90 and another total is more than 90. So $90 is the value that would be in the middle when the three totals are arranged from smallest to largest.

If you consider the other options, 60 would be the smaller value and 240 would be the larger value in typical progressions, leaving 90 as the in-between middle. Thus, $90 is the correct middle total.