Final answer:
To find the fraction of male cousins, subtract the number of female cousins from the total number of cousins, and then express the result as a fraction of the total. Here, it is 10 male cousins out of 26 which simplifies to (5/13).
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking what fraction of Ben's cousins are male. To solve this, we take the total number of cousins, which is 26, and subtract the number of female cousins, 16, to determine the number of male cousins.
Therefore, the number of male cousins is 26 - 16 = 10.
To express this as a fraction of the total we have 10 (male cousins) / 26 (total cousins), which simplifies to (5/13) when divided by the common factor of 2. This is answer A.