Q: Danny helps his friends carpool to work. He has to drive 8 miles to the first friend's house, half that distance to the second friend's house, then 3 times the total distance driven so far to get to work. How many miles does Danny drive between the second friend's house and work?
A: First find the distance to the second friend's house by halving the distance to the first friend's house: 8 miles / 2 = 4 miles. Then add that amount to the distance to the first friend's house: 4 miles + 8 miles = 12 miles. Then triple that number to find the distance from the second friend's house to work: 12 miles * 3 = 36 miles. The answer is 36.

Q: Diego baked 12 cakes for his sister's birthday. Donald also baked 4 cakes, but ate 1 while waiting for the party to start. How many cakes are left?
A: The total number of cakes baked is 12 + 4 = 16 cakes. But since Diego ate 1 cake, there are 16 - 1 = 15 cakes left. The answer is 15.

Q: John builds a box. The box is 26 inches by 26 inches by 14 inches. The walls are 1 inch thick on each side. How much is the internal volume in cubic feet?
A:
The walls take away 2 * 1 = 2 inches from each dimension. So the longer sides are 26 - 2 = 24 inches. That is 24 / 12 = 2 feet. The smaller dimension is 14 - 2 = 12 inches. That is 12 / 12 = 1 foot. So the internal volume is 2 * 2 * 1 = 4 cubic feet. The answer is 4.