Question: A bird is building a nest from twigs. The bird has put twelve twigs together already to make a circle. For each twig it placed into the circle, it wants to weave in six more twigs to fill out the nest. It knows a tree that has dropped a third of the twigs it needs. How many twigs will the bird still need to find to finish its nest? Think carefully first, then make a decision:
The bird wants 12 * 6 = 72 twigs to add to the nest. It knows a tree that has dropped 72 * 1 / 3 = 24 twigs. Thus, the bird will still need 72 - 24 = 48 twigs to finish the nest. So the answer is 48.