Question: A rectangular flowerbed in the city park is 4 meters wide. Its length is 1 meter less than twice its width. The government wants to fence the flowerbed. How many meters of fence are needed?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: Twice the width is 4 x 2 = 8 meters. The length of the rectangular flowerbed is 8 - 1 = 7 meters. Since the rectangular flower bed has 2 equal lengths, then it needs 7 x 2 = 14 meters of fence. The rectangular bed has also 2 equal widths, so it needs 4 x 2 = 8 meters of fence. Therefore, the rectangular flower bed needs a total of 14 + 8 = 22 meters of fence.
So the answer is 22.


Question: Darryl sells melons on the side of the road. He sells cantaloupes for $2 each and honeydews for $3. He started the day with 30 cantaloupes and 27 honeydews. He accidentally dropped a couple of cantaloupes and three of the honeydews turned out to be rotten. At the end of the day he had 8 cantaloupes and 9 honeydews left. How much money did he make?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: He dropped two cantaloupes and had 8 left over at the end of the day, so he sold 30 - 2 - 8 = 20 cantaloupes. Three honeydews were rotten, and he had 9 left at the end of the day, so he sold 27 - 3 - 9 = 15 honeydews. He sold 20 cantaloupes * $2 / cantaloupe = $40 in cantaloupes. He also sold 15 honeydews * $3 / honeydew = $45 in honeydews. Altogether he made $40 + $45 = $85.
So the answer is 85.


Question: Catherine had an equal number of pencils and pens. If she had 60 pens and gave eight pens and 6 pencils to each of her seven friends and kept the rest for herself, how many pens and pencils did she have left?
Answer with step-by-step thinking:
Catherine gave eight pens to each of her seven friends, a total of 8 * 7 = 56 pens. She remained with 60 - 56 = 4 pens. When she also gave 6 pencils to each of her seven friends, she gave away 6 * 7 = 42 pencils. Since she had the same number of pencils as pens, she remained with 60 - 42 = 18 pencils. The total number of pens and pencils that Catherine remained with is 4 + 18 = 22.
So the answer is 22.