Final answer:
The student who has read the greatest number of pages is Oliver with 5/8 of the book. When comparing fractions, 5/8 stands out as the largest proportion read. In probability, the sum of an event and its complement is always 1, representing all possible outcomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine who has read the greatest number of pages, we compare the fractions 4/9, 5/8, 7/12, and 4/10 that represent the part of the book that each student has read. To compare these fractions effectively, we would typically find the least common denominator (LCD) and convert them to equivalent fractions with the same denominator. Without performing calculations and based on the provided options, 5/8 is the largest since 5 is more than half of 8 and is larger than 4/9, 7/12, and 4/10.
The probability of randomly selecting a fiction book from a shelf that holds 12 books (8 fiction and 4 nonfiction) is the number of fiction books divided by the total number of books, which equals 8/12 or 2/3. The probability of selecting a nonfiction book is the number of nonfiction books divided by the total number of books, which is 4/12 or 1/3.
According to the formulas and concepts of probability, the sum of the probabilities of an event and its complement is always 1. This is because the complement of an event includes all possible outcomes that are not part of the original event, and together, they represent all possible outcomes.