Currently, Kate has only 1 / 3 * 30 = $10. That means Kate needs 30 - 10 = $20 more to buy the pen.
The answer: 20
Reverse engineering the question: Kate wants to buy a special pen as a gift for her friend. The pen costs $30, and Kate only has money for a third of that amount. How much more money does she need to buy the pen?


Reasoning and answer: First subtract the 7 double - counted animals from Mary's total: 60 animals - 7 animals = 53 animals. Then add the animals she missed to find the real total: 53 animals + 3 pigs = 56 animals.
The answer: 56
What was the question?
Question: Mary is trying to count the animals in the petting zoo, but they kept moving around so she double-counts 7 sheep and forgets to count 3 pigs. If Mary thinks there are 60 animals, how many are there really?


There are 4 x 2 = 8 cargo ships. There are 8 + 6 = 14 sailboats. There are 14 / 7 = 2 fishing boats. There are 4 + 8 + 14 + 2 = 28 vessels on the water.
The answer: 28
Reverse engineering the question: A busy port has 4 cruise ships and twice as many cargo ships. The number of sailboats is 6 more than the cargo ships and seven times more than fishing boats. How many vessels are there on the water?


Reasoning and answer: First find the area of the first wall: 5 feet * 8 feet = 40 square feet. Then find the area of the second wall: 7 feet * 8 feet = 56 square feet. Then add the areas of the two walls to find the total area: 40 square feet + 56 square feet = 96 square feet. Then divide the number of square feet by the number of tiles per square foot to find the total number of tiles needed: 96 square feet * 4 tiles / square foot = 384 tiles. Then find the difference in cost per tile: $13 / tile - $11 / tile = $2 / tile. Then multiply the number of tiles by the cost difference per tile to find the total cost difference: $2 / tile * 384 tiles = $768.
The answer: 768
What was the question?
Question: Janet is considering two options to retile her bathroom. The turquoise tiles cost $13/tile and the purple tiles cost $11/tile. If Janet needs to tile two walls that measure 5 feet by 8 feet and 7 feet by 8 feet, and each square foot of wall takes 4 tiles, how much will Janet save by buying the purple tiles instead of the turquoise ones?


The Chicago Cubs scored 2 home runs in the third inning, 1 home run in the fifth inning, and 2 home runs in the eighth for a combined total of 2 + 1 + 2 = 5 home runs for the game. The Cardinals scored 1 home run in the second inning and 1 home run in the fifth inning for a combined total of 1 + 1 = 2 home runs for the game. If the Chicago Cubs scored a total of 5 home runs in the game and the Cardinals scored a total of 2 home runs in the games then 5 - 2 = 3 more home runs were scored by the Chicago Cubs than the Cardinals in the game.
The answer: 3
Reverse engineering the question: Baseball season opened up with the Chicago Cubs at home at Wrigley Field. They scored 2 home runs in the third inning, 1 home run in the fifth inning and 2 more home runs in the eighth inning. Their opponents, the Cardinals, scored 1 home run in the second inning and 1 home run in the fifth inning. How many more home runs did the Chicago Cubs score than the Cardinals in the game?


Jerry has 2 x 20 = 40 dice. Therefore, they have 20 + 40 = 60 dice altogether.
The answer: 60
Reverse engineering the question:
Ivan has 20 dice. Jerry has twice as many dice as Ivan. How many dice do they have altogether?