The three numbers $5, a, b$ have an average (mean) of 33 . What is the average of $a$ and $b$ ?
(A) 38
(B) 14
(C) 28
(D) 33
(E) 47
Since $5, a, b$ have an average of 33 , then $\frac{5+a+b}{3}=33$.

Multiplying by 3 , we obtain $5+a+b=3 \times 33=99$, which means that $a+b=94$.

The average of $a$ and $b$ is thus equal to $\frac{a+b}{2}=\frac{94}{2}=47$.

ANSWER: (E)