Directions: The table below shows the number of people who purchased two…

Concept: A "what percentage more or less" comparison measures the gap between two quantities as a fraction of a base, and the phrase "than ..." is what names that base. For a quantity A compared against a base B, the required percentage = (|A − B| ÷ B) × 100; A is less than B when B is the larger of the two, and more than B when A is the larger.

Application: the stem names two groups, so read each one off the table and identify which one the word "than" makes the base.

1. People who purchased a Thai dish and a Korean dish together from R = 150 + 90 = 240.

2. People who purchased a Thai dish from P and Q together = 50 + 200 = 250.

3. The comparison runs "... than the number of people who purchased a Thai dish from P and Q together", so 250 is the base and 240 is the quantity being compared to it.

4. Gap between the two groups = 250 − 240 = 10. Since 240 is the smaller total, R’s pair is less, not more.

5. Required percentage = (10 ÷ 250) × 100 = 4%, so the R total is 4% less.

Cross-check: 4% of 250 = 10, and 250 − 10 = 240, which is exactly the Thai-plus-Korean total at R — so the 4% shortfall reproduces the table’s figures.

Watch the base: dividing the same gap of 10 by 240 instead of 250 answers a different question (by how much more the P-and-Q Thai total is than R’s pair), and gives roughly 4.17% rather than 4%.