Question

a farmer had 15 sheep,all but 8 die. how many sheeps did farmer had now

Answer 1

The farmer has 8 sheep now.

• The question given here is tricky to understand given the use of language.
• At first glance, one might be tempted to subtract 8 from 15 to find the number of sheep alive. However, a second reading of the words in the question proves that this is the wrong approach.
• The question says that the farmer initially has 15 sheep. Moreover, "all but 8" die.
• This implies that all sheep 'except' 8 die.
• Hence, the number of sheep alive is mentioned in the question itself, since the question says that all sheep other than 8 died. Hence, the farmer still has those 8 sheep.
• Hence, 8 would be the correct answer.

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