John writes 3 stories every week. Each short story is 50 pages. He also writes a novel that is 1200 pages each year. Each sheet of paper can hold 2 pages. Over 12 weeks, how many reams of paper does he need to buy if a ream contains 500 sheets? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. He writes 3 * 50 = 150 pages a week. That means he writes 150 * 52 = 7800 pages of short stories a year. So he writes 7800 + 1200 = 9000 pages a year. So he needs 9000 / 2 = 4500 sheets of paper. That means he needs 4500 / 500 = 9 reams of paper.. The answer is: 3.

Bob is building a garden on his land, and he wants it to be fenced in to keep out varmints. The garden is a rectangular plot 225 feet long by 125 feet wide. He also wants to have a small 3-foot wide gate to walk through and a larger 10-foot wide gate to move his gardening equipment through. How much fencing is Bob going to need to fence in his garden, taking into account the two gates? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. The perimeter of the garden is 2 * 225 + 2 * 125 = 450 + 250 = 700 feet. Minus the two gates, he will need at least 700 - 3 - 10 = 687 feet of fencing.. The answer is: 687.

John has to restring 3 basses with 4 strings each, twice as many guitars which have 6 strings each, and 3 fewer 8 string guitars than the normal guitars. How many strings does he need? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. The basses take 3 * 4 = 12 strings. He restrings 2 * 3 = 6 normal guitars. That takes 6 * 6 = 36 strings. He restrings 6 - 3 = 3 guitars with 8 strings. So that uses 3 * 8 = 24 strings. So he uses 12 + 36 + 24 = 72 strings.. The answer is: 72.