N ATIONAL U NIVERSITY OF S INGAPORE
D EPARTMENT OF S TATISTICS AND DATA S CIENCE
ST2334 P ROBABILITY AND S TATISTICS
S EMESTER II, AY 2024/2025
Tutorial 02
Please work on the questions before attending the tutorial.
Exam Format Questions
1. Multiple choice question: choose the unique correct answer.
Let A and B be events satisfying P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B). Which of the following statement is
NOT true?
(a) If A and B are independent, then P(A) = 0 or P(B) = 0.
(b) If A ̸= B, then A and B are mutually exclusive.
(c) If P(A) > P(B) > 0, then A and B are not independent.
(d) If A = S, the sample space, then P(B) = 0.
2. Multiple choice question: choose the unique correct answer.
Draw 4 balls randomly without replacement from a basket containing 4 blue balls, 4 green balls,
and 2 red balls. What is the probability to get 2 blue balls, 1 green ball, and 1 red ball?
(a) 7/105
(b) 8/105
(c) 9/35
(d) 8/35
3. Multiple choice question: choose the unique correct answer.
The probability that a Singaporean company will set up a factory in City A is 0.7. The probability
that it will set up a factory in City B is 0.4, and the probability that it will set up in either City A
or City B or both is 0.8. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?
(a) The probability that the company will set up a factory in both cities is 0.3.
(b) The probability that the company will set up a factory in neither city is 0.2.
(c) Whether the company will set up a factory in City A will not affect whether it will set up a
factory in City B.
(d) Whether the company will set up a factory in City B will affect whether it will set up a factory
in City A.
(e) None of the given options.
4. Fill in the blank.
Consider 5-card poker hands dealt from a standard 52 card deck. Two important events are
A = {You draw a flush}, B = {You draw a straight}.
• A flush means that you have 5 cards from the same suit.
1
• A straight means that the 5 cards are in numerical order, e.g., 9 of diamonds, 10 of hearts,
jack of hearts, queen of spades and king of spades.
• We assume that the ace can come before 2, or after the king.
• A straight flush, i.e., 5 consecutive cards of the same suit, is not a straight.
If you are dealt a 5-card hand, find the following probabilities:
(a) P(A) = 0.00198
(b) P(B) = 0.00392
Analytical Questions
1. Suppose there are 500 applicants for five equivalent positions at a factory. The company is able to
narrow the field to 30 equally qualified applicants. Seven of the finalists are minority candidates.
Assume that the five who are chosen are selected at random from this final group of thirty.
(a) In how many ways can the selection be made?
(b) What is the probability that none of the minority candidates are hired?
(c) What is the probability that no more than one minority candidates is hired?
2. There are two intersections with traffic lights along the route taken by a motorist driving to work.
The probability that he must stop at the first light is 0.4, the probability that he must stop at the
second light is 0.5, and the probability that he must stop at at least one of the two lights is 0.6.
What is the probability that he must stop
(a) at both lights?
(b) at exactly one light?
(c) at neither light?
(d) at the second light given that he has stopped at the first light?
Is the event “stopping at the first traffic light” independent of the event “stopping at the second
traffic light”?
3. A soft-drink bottling company maintains records concerning the number of unacceptable bottles of
soft drink obtained from the filling and capping machines. Based on the past data, the probability
that a bottle came from machine I and was nonconforming is 0.01, and the probability that a bottle
came from machine II and was nonconforming is 0.025. Half the bottles are filled on machine
I and the other half are filled on machine II. If a filled bottle of soft drink is selected at random,
what is the probability that
(a) it is a nonconforming bottle?
(b) it was filled on machine II?
(c) it was filled on machine II and is a conforming bottle?
(d) It was filled on machine I or is a conforming bottle?
(e) Suppose you know that the bottle was produced on machine I. What is the probability that it
is nonconforming?
(f) Suppose you know that the bottle is nonconforming. What is the probability that it was pro-
duced on machine I?
Explain the difference in the answers to (3e) and (3f).
Answers for Some of the Analytical Questions
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1. (a) 142506; (b) 0.2361; (c) 0.6711. 3. (a) 0.035; (b) 0.5; (c) 0.475; (d) 0.975; (e) 0.02; (f) 0.2857.
2. (a) 0.3; (b) 0.3; (c) 0.4; (d) 0.75. Not independent