Question: A desert has 3/5 fewer palm trees than a nearby forest, which has 5000 palm trees. How many palm trees are there in both the desert and the forest combined?
Answer: The desert has 3 / 5 fewer palm trees than the forest, and since the forest has 5000 palm trees, the desert has 3 / 5 * 5000 = 3000 fewer palm trees. The total number of palm trees in the desert is 5000 - 3000 = 2000. Together, the desert and the forest have a total of 5000 + 2000 = 7000 palm trees. The answer is 7000.

Question: Jerry works five days a week as a waiter and earns a variable amount of tips every night. The past four nights, he earned $20, $60, $15, and $40. How much does he need to earn tonight if he wants to make an average of $50 in tips per night?
Answer: The total money Jerry needs to make for 5 days to get $50 per night is 5 nights * $50 / night = $250. His total earnings for the past four days is $20 + $60 + $15 + $40 = $135. So, Jerry needs to earn $250 - $135 = $115 in tips tonight. The answer is 115.

Question: Mrs. Lacson harvested 80 sweet potatoes. She sold 20 of them to Mrs. Adams and 15 of them to Mr. Lenon. How many sweet potatoes are not yet sold?
Answer: Mrs. Lacson sold a total of 20 + 15 = 35 sweet potatoes. Hence, there are still 80 - 35 = 45 sweet potatoes left unsold. The answer is 45.

Question: Eastern rattlesnakes have 6 segments in their tails, while Western rattlesnakes have 8 segments. What is the percentage difference in their tail size, expressed as a percentage of the Western rattlesnake's tail size?
Answer:
First find the difference in size between the two kinds of snake tail: 8 segments - 6 segments = 2 segments. Then divide that amount by the size of the Western rattlesnake's tail and multiply by 100% to express the answer as a percentage: 2 segments / 8 segments * 100% = 25%. The answer is 25.