Question: Five people are planning a party. Sonja will buy a loaf of French bread ($3 a loaf) and a platter of cold cuts ($23). Barbara will buy the soda ($1 per person) and two boxes of crackers ($2 per box). Mario and Rick will split the cost of two packages of Cheese Doodles ($3 per package). Danica will supply a package of paper plates for $4. How much more will Sonja spend than the rest of the office put together?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: Sonja will spend $3 + $23 = $26. Barbara will spend 5 + ( 2 * 2) = $9. Mario and Rick will spend 2 * 3 = $6. Everyone but Sonijs spend $9 + $6 + $4 = $19. Sonija spent $26 - $19 = $7 more than the rest of the people at the party.
So the answer is 7.


Question: Alex is stacking his books in a pyramid. Each level of the pyramid has 80% as many books as the number of books in the previous level. If he makes four levels and the top level has 64 books, how many books are in the pyramid in total?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: The third level has 80 books because 64 / .8 = 80. The second level has 100 books because 80 / .8 = 100. The first level has 125 books because 100 / .8 = 125. In total there are 369 books because 64 + 80 + 100 + 125 = 369.
So the answer is 369.


Question: The central Texas countryside contains many toads that come out at night. For every green toad, there are 25 brown toads, and one-quarter of the brown toads are spotted. If there are 50 spotted brown toads per acre, how many green toads are there per acre?
Answer with step-by-step thinking:
If there are 50 spotted brown toads per acre, and this represents one - quarter of the brown toads, then there are 50 * 4 = 200 brown toads per acre. If for every 25 brown toads there is one green toad, then there are 200 / 25 = 8 green toads per acre.
So the answer is 8.