A woman needs to buy 16 oz of butter for a dessert recipe. She can either buy a single 16 oz package of the store-brand butter for $7, or she can buy an 8oz package of store butter for $4 and use a coupon to get an additional two 4 oz packages that normally sell for $2.0 each at a 50% discount (which is applied to each 4oz package separately). What is the lowest price she can pay for the 16 oz of butter she needs? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. If she uses the coupon, she will pay 2 * 0.5 = $1 for each 4oz package. Thus, she will pay 4 + 2 * 1 = $6 in total for the 8oz package and the two 4oz packages she needs to reach 16 oz of butter when using the coupon. Therefore, the lowest amount she can pay is $6, as this is cheaper than the $7 price for a 16 oz package.. The answer is: 6.

Wendi brought home 4 chickens. After a few days, she brought home enough additional chickens to double the number of chickens she owned. Then, a neighbor's dog ate one of her chickens. Finally, Wendi found an additional 4 less than ten chickens and brought them home too. After this, how many chickens does Wendi have? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. Wendi doubled her number of chickens from 4 to 4 * 2 = 8 chickens. After a dog ate one of the chickens, 8 - 1 = 7 chickens remained. 4 less than 10 is 10 - 4 = 6. Therefore, Wendi added another 4 less than ten chickens for a total of 7 + 6 = 13 chickens.. The answer is: 13.

Three years ago, Bethany was twice the age of her younger sister. In 5 years, her younger sister will be 16. How old is Bethany now? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. First find how old Bethany's sister currently is: 16 years - 5 years = 11 years. Then find how old her sister was 3 years ago: 11 years - 3 years = 8 years. Then double that age to find how old Bethany was three years ago: 8 years * 2 = 16 years. Then add 3 years to that number to find how old Bethany is now: 16 years + 3 years = 19 years.. The answer is: 19.