Q: A group of researchers are studying a colony of penguins. Their results show that the size doubled in the first year they watched the colony, then tripled in the next year. This year, however, harsh conditions meant the colony only gained 129 penguins. The colony has 1077 penguins in it now. Each penguin eats one and a half fish every day. How many fish did the whole colony catch per day to eat at the beginning of the first year?
A: The colony had 1077 - 129 = 948 penguins in it at the beginning of this year. At the beginning of the second year, the colony had 948 / 3 = 316 penguins in it. At the beginning of the first year, it had 316 / 2 = 158 penguins in it. Thus, at the beginning of the first year, the penguin colony was catching 158 * 1 1 / 2 = 237 fish per day. The answer is 237.

Q: Cloud 9 Diving Company has taken individual bookings worth $12,000 and group bookings worth $16,000. Some people have cancelled at the last minute. $1600 has had to be returned to them. How much money has the sky diving company taken altogether?
A: Cloud 9 earned $12,000 + $16,000 = $28,000 from bookings. After returning money due to cancellations, they had a final total of $28,000 - $1600 = $26,400. The answer is 26400.

Q: An animal shelter recently took in twelve cats. The shelter already had half that number of cats. Two days later, three had been adopted. The next day, one of the cats had five kittens, and one person arrived to pick up one of the cats that was their missing pet. How many cats does the shelter have now?
A:
The shelter started with 12 / 2 = 6 cats. The cats they took in increased the number to 12 + 6 = 18 cats. Three cats were adopted, so they had 18 - 3 = 15 cats. One cat had 5 kittens, which increased the number of cats to 15 + 5 = 20 cats. The pet owner came to get his missing cat, so they now have 20 - 1 = 19 cats. The answer is 19.