
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
In a classroom, there are 20 female students and 18 male students. Each student is paired with another student of the opposite gender for a project. If the pairings are done randomly, what is the probability that Maria, a female student, is paired with her best friend Alex, a male student? Express your answer as a common fraction.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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