SAT Mathematics Practice Test 4

Let a be the number of hours Angelica worked last week. Since Raul worked 11 more hours than Angelica, Raul worked $\mathit{a}+11$hours last week. Since they worked a combined total of 59 hours, the equation $\mathit{a}+\left(\mathit{a}+11\right)=59$ must hold. This equation can be simplified to $2\mathit{a}+11=59,$ or $2\mathit{a}=48.$ Therefore, $\mathit{a}=24,$ and Angelica worked $24$ hours last week.Choice B is incorrect because it is the number of hours Raul worked last week. Choice C is incorrect. If Angelica worked 40 hours and Raul worked 11 hours more, Raul would have worked 51 hours, and the combined total number of hours they worked would be 91, not 59. Choice D is incorrect and may be the result of solving the equation $\mathit{a}+11=59$ rather than $\mathit{a}+\left(\mathit{a}+11\right)=59.$