In Carrie's desk drawer there are 7 yellow highlighters. There are 7 more pink highlighters than yellow highlighters, and there are 5 more blue highlighters than pink highlighters. How many highlighters are in Carrie's desk drawer in all? Give me reasons, before answering the question
The number of pink highlighters is 7 + 7 = 14. The number of blue highlighters is 14 + 5 = 19. There are 7 yellow highlighters. The total number of yellow, pink, and blue highlighters is 7 + 14 + 19 = 40. So the final answer is 40.