Q: Anna wants to grow some lettuce in the garden and would like to grow enough to have at least 12 large salads. She estimates that, despite her best efforts, half of the lettuce will be lost to insects and rabbits. Each lettuce plant is estimated to provide 3 large salads. How many lettuce plants should Anna grow in the garden?
A: The total number of plants needed for 12 dinner salads (without loss to insects or rabbits) is 12 / 3 salads from each lettuce plant = 4 lettuce plants. Since Anna expects to lose half of her plants to insects and rabbits, so we need to plant twice as many plants or 4 * 2 = 8 lettuce plants. The answer is 8.

Q: Miss Darlington has a basket of 20 blueberries. She picked 9 more baskets with the same amount of berries. How many blueberries did Miss Darlington have in all?
A: Miss Darlington picked 9 x 20 = 180 blueberries more. So she had a total of 180 + 20 = 200 blueberries. The answer is 200.

Q: John Smith buys 3 cakes for $12 each and splits the cost with his brother. How much did he pay?
A:
The cakes cost 3 * 12 = $36. So he paid 36 / 2 = $18. The answer is 18.