There are 20 pens to be given away to 4 students. Each student receives a different number of pens and each student receives at least one pen. What is the largest number of pens that a student can receive?
(A) 17
(B) 15
(C) 14
(D) 8
(E) 5
If three of the students receive the smallest total number of pens possible, then the remaining student will receive the largest number of pens possible.

The smallest number of pens that a student can receive is 1 , since each student receives at least 1 pen.

Since each student receives a different number of pens, the second smallest number of pens that a student can receive is 2 and the third smallest number of pens that a student can receive is 3 . The smallest total number of pens that three students can receive is $1+2+3=6$.

Therefore, the largest number of pens that a student can receive is $20-6=14$.

ANSwer: $(\mathrm{C})$