Trisha just got a job offer for an hourly job that pays 15 dollars an hour, 40 hours per week. She has been told to estimate that 20 percent of her pay will be withheld to pay taxes, unemployment insurance, and social security. Assuming Trisha works 52 weeks in a year, what is her annual "take-home" pay?
Let's think: Trisha's pay before taxes is 15 dollars an hour x 40 hours per week x 52 weeks = 31,200 dollars. The amount withheld is 20 percent, or 0.2 x 31,200 = 6,240 dollars. Trisha's gross pay of 31,200 - 6,240 = 24,960 dollars.. The answer is: 24960.

Lillian went out to forage for mushrooms with her handy guidebook. She found 32 mushrooms and used her guidebook to identify which ones were poisonous and which were safe to eat. In the end, she had 9 mushrooms she could safely eat for dinner. Of the rest, she identified twice the amount she ate as poisonous, and a remaining bunch she was uncertain about. How many mushrooms was she uncertain were safe or poisonous?
Let's think: Lillian found 9 of the mushrooms were safe, so there were 32 - 9 = 23 that she found poisonous or uncertain. She knew twice the amount she ate were poisonous, so she found 9 * 2 = 18 poisonous mushrooms. Thus, she was uncertain about 23 - 18 = 5 mushrooms.. The answer is: 5.

Polly and Gerald went for a fun afternoon riding mini race cars at the munchkin track, which is a one-quarter mile circular track. Polly managed to circle the track 12 times in one half hour, but Gerald's car was malfunctioning, and he only moved at an average speed half of what Polly did. What speed did Gerald's car average, in miles per hour?
Let's think: Polly circled the one - quarter mile track 12 times in 0.5 hours at a speed of 12 / 0.5 = 24 circuits of the track per hour. 24 / 4 = 6 miles per hour. Gerald traveled at a speed half of what Polly traveled for an average speed of 6 / 2 = 3 miles per hour.. The answer is: 3.

Sammy has 2 more bottle caps than Janine. Janine has 3 times as many bottle caps as Billie. If Billie has 2 bottle caps, how many does Sammy have?
Let's think:
Janine has 2 * 3 = 6 bottle caps. Sammy has 6 + 2 = 8 bottle caps.. The answer is: 8.