Answer the following question.
Seven parrots and some crows are perched on a tree branch. There was a noise and the same number of parrots and crows flew away. If only 2 parrots and 1 crow are left on the tree branch now, how many birds were perched on the branch to begin with?
Step-by-step reasoning process: The number of parrots that flew away after the noise is 7 - 2 = 5. The same number of crows (5) flew away leaving 1 crow so there were 5 + 1 = 6 crows to begin with. The total number of crows and parrots was 7 + 6 = 13.
The answer is 13.

Answer the following question.
A married couple opened a savings account. The wife committed to saving $100 every week while the husband committed to saving $225 every month. After 4 months of savings, they decided to invest half of their money in buying stocks. Each share of stocks costs $50. How many shares of stocks can they buy?
Step-by-step reasoning process: The wife saves $100 / week x 4 weeks / month = $400 a month. Together, the wife and husband save $400 / month + $225 / month = $625 / month. In 4 months, their total savings is $625 / month x 4 months = $2500. They are going to invest $2500 / 2 = $1250. So, they can buy $1250 / $50 / share = 25 shares of stocks.
The answer is 25.

Answer the following question.
The dog toys Samantha buys for her dog are "buy one get one half off" and all cost $12.00 each. She buys 4 toys. How much does she spend on dog toys?
Step-by-step reasoning process: If she buys 1 toy at $12.00 she gets the 2nd toy 1 / 2 off, the 2nd toy is 12 * .5 = $6.00. 1 full - priced toy is $12.00 and 1 / 2 priced toy is $6.00 so these 2 toys come to 12 + 6 = $18.00. She buys 2 more toys that are "buy one get one 1 / 2 off" so all total she spends 2 * 18 = $36.00.
The answer is 36.

Answer the following question.
Bobby has 16 toy cars, and the number of cars he has increases by 50% every year. How many toy cars will Bobby have in three years?
Step-by-step reasoning process: In the first year, Bobby will acquire 16 * .5 = 8 new cars. After the first year, he will have a total of 16 + 8 = 24 cars. In the second year, Bobby will acquire 24 * .5 = 12 new cars. After the second year, he will have 24 + 12 = 36 cars in total. In the third year, Bobby will acquire 36 * .5 = 18 new cars. After the third year, he will have 36 + 18 = 54 cars in total.
The answer is 54.