Which two signs should be interchanged to make the following equation correct? 247 ÷ 13 + 16 × 3 − 148 = 119

Correct — A. Swap − and +, then read the line under BODMAS.

Rule: divide and multiply first, then add and subtract left to right.

Printed: 247 ÷ 13 + 16 × 3 − 148
After the swap: 247 ÷ 13 − 16 × 3 + 148

Divide: 247 ÷ 13 = 19
Multiply: 16 × 3 = 48

Then left to right: 19 − 48 = −29
−29 + 148 = 119

That is the 119 the question demands, so option (a) is the swap.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  ÷ and × — Swapping ÷ and × gives 247 × 13 + 16 ÷ 3 − 148. The first term alone is 3,211, so the line cannot come near 119.
• (c)
  − and × — Swapping − and × gives 247 ÷ 13 + 16 − 3 × 148 = 19 + 16 − 444 = −409, on the wrong side of zero.
• (d)
  + and × — Swapping + and × gives 247 ÷ 13 × 16 + 3 − 148 = 304 + 3 − 148 = 159, forty above the target.

Sign-interchange questions are BODMAS drills in a puzzle costume. You are not solving for a number; you are testing four rewritten lines and keeping the one that balances.

So work the options, not the equation. Each swap takes about fifteen seconds if you settle the division and the multiplication first and only then run the additions and subtractions left to right.

A quick filter: if a swap breaks an exact division, the line usually collapses, because these are built round a clean quotient.

Key facts

• 247 ÷ 13 = 19 exactly.
• After swapping − and +, the line reads 247 ÷ 13 − 16 × 3 + 148 = 119.
• BODMAS settles division and multiplication before addition and subtraction, then runs left to right.

Common traps

• Working straight left to right without BODMAS, which makes more than one option look right.
• Swapping the signs inside the answer options instead of inside the equation.
• Stopping at the option that gets close rather than the one that reaches exactly 119.

No directly related past PYQ was found.