This question is based on the five, three-digit numbers given below. (Left)…

In digit-position reasoning problems built on a set of numbers, each number is read as an ordered sequence of digit-places — first, second, and third digit, counted strictly left to right (as shown in the example). The task first ranks the given numbers by value (to find the lowest/highest, etc.), then reads off the digit at the stated place from each selected number, and finally combines those digits by performing the stated operation strictly in the left-to-right order given in the note.

1. List the five numbers exactly as given: 895, 874, 832, 897, 824.

2. Rank them by value: 824 < 832 < 874 < 895 < 897, so the lowest number is 824 and the highest number is 897.

3. Break each selected number into its first, second, and third digit (left to right): 824 → 8, 2, 4 and 897 → 8, 9, 7.

4. Read off the digits the question asks for: the third digit of the lowest number (824) is 4, and the second digit of the highest number (897) is 9.

5. Add the two digits in the left-to-right order stated in the question: 4 + 9 = 13.

Independent check: every one of the five numbers shares the same first digit (8), so their ranking is decided entirely by the remaining two digits read as a two-digit number: 95, 74, 32, 97, 24. The smallest of these, 24, belongs to 824 (confirming it as the lowest), and the largest, 97, belongs to 897 (confirming it as the highest) — the same ranking reached above by a different, faster route, so the addition 4 + 9 = 13 stands confirmed.