Step 1: Define the overlap regions.
Let JA, JS, AS represent people who read exactly two of the three months, July-August only, July-September only and August-September only, and JAS represent people who read all three months.
Step 2: Use the September breakdown.
Only September \(= 18\). September total \(= 28\). September but not August \(= 23\), so September and August together \(= 28 - 23 = 5\), which means \(AS + JAS = 5\).
Step 3: Use the July-September overlap.
September and July \(= 8\), so \(JS + JAS = 8\).
Step 4: Find the two-only overlaps for September.
September total minus only-September gives all overlaps involving September: \(28 - 18 = 10 = JS + AS + JAS\). Since \(AS + JAS = 5\), we get \(JS = 10 - 5 = 5\). Then from \(JS + JAS = 8\), \(JAS = 8 - 5 = 3\). And from \(AS + JAS = 5\), \(AS = 5 - 3 = 2\).
Step 5: Use the July breakdown to find JA.
July and August together \(= 10 = JA + JAS\), so \(JA = 10 - 3 = 7\).
Step 6: Add up the consecutive-month overlaps.
Exactly two consecutive months means July-August only or August-September only, since July and September are not consecutive as August lies between them. This is \(JA + AS = 7 + 2 = 9\). This matches option (2).