Staff employed in a UNESCO office in Paris are represented by four intersecting circles, one each for people who can read and write Russian, English, French and Spanish. The strength of people in some regions is given: \(a = 40, \quad c = 2a, \quad e = \frac{1}{2}a, \quad g = 2E\)
How many people can read and write any one language except French?
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Add the three regions that mean 'only one language' and are not French.
Look at the diagram as four separate "only" pockets, one attached to each circle, plus the overlaps in the middle. Besides French, the other three languages are Russian, English and Spanish, so this question only needs the three "only" pockets a, c and e.
Pocket a (only Russian): given directly as $a = 40$.
Pocket c (only English): from $c = 2a$, $c = 2(40) = 80$.
Pocket e (only Spanish): from $e = \frac{1}{2}a$, $e = \frac{1}{2}(40) = 20$.
Pocket g (only French): excluded by the question, so it is left out of the sum.
The total for "any one language except French" is $a + c + e = 40 + 80 + 20 = 140$, so option C is correct. \[ \boxed{140} \]
