If $44,000 is $1000 less than five times more than he had made on his previous painting, then $44,000 + $1000 = $45,000 is five times what he made on his previous painting. If $45,000 is five times what he made for his previous painting, then he made $45,000 / 5 = $9,000 for selling his previous painting.
The answer: 9000
Reverse engineering the question: Porter is a painter who creates beautiful paintings of wild animals. Most recently, he painted a mural of a pack of wolves standing on a snowy-white mountainside underneath a full moon. He put the painting up for auction and it sold for $1000 less than five times more than he had made on his previous painting. If he received $44,000 for the sale of his most recent painting, how much, in dollars, did he make for selling his previous painting?
Reasoning and answer: Two daughters planted 5 * 2 = 10 flowers. The flowers grew into 10 + 20 = 30 total. 30 - 10 = 20 flowers were left after 10 died. The daughters put 20 / 5 = 4 flowers in each basket.
The answer: 4
What was the question?
Question: Dane's two daughters need to plant 5 flowers each to grow a garden. As the days passed, the flowers grew into 20 more but 10 of them died. Dane's daughters harvested the flowers and split them between 5 different baskets. How many flowers ended up in each basket?
He got 250 * .8 = $200. He gets a 600 * .25 = $150 discount on the second system. So it cost 600 - 150 = $450. So he was 450 - 200 = $250 out of pocket.
The answer: 250
Reverse engineering the question: John decides to trade in his stereo system. His old system cost 250 dollars and he got 80% of the value for it. He then buys a system that costs $600 that he gets a 25% discount on. How much money came out of his pocket?
Reasoning and answer: Hannah's total earnings are 18 hours * $30 / hour = $540 a week. Her pay was docked because she was late 3 times, so 3 times * $5 per time = $15 were docked. She gets paid $540 - $15 = $525 at the end of the week.
The answer: 525
What was the question?
Question: Hannah is trying to figure out how much she'll get paid this week. She makes $30/hour and works 18 hours per week. Her pay is docked $5 each time she's late. If she was late 3 times this week, how much does she get paid?
If Mariam remains with 30 marbles after giving her brother 60 marbles, she had 30 + 60 = 90 marbles. Mariam's sister receives twice as many marbles as her brother, a total of 2 * 60 = 120 marbles. The total number of marbles before giving any to her brother or sister is 120 + 90 = 210. Savannah is to receive three times as many marbles as Mariam has to remain with, a total of 3 * 30 = 90 marbles. Before giving out any marble, Mariam has 210 + 90 = 300 marbles.
The answer: 300
Reverse engineering the question: Miriam currently has 30 marbles, but she used to have more. Miriam gave her brother 60 marbles, gave her sister twice that amount and gave her friend Savanna three times the amount she currently has. How many marbles did Miriam start with?
First find the number of green straws each mat needs: 30 orange straws / 2 orange straws / green straw = 15 green straws. Then find the total number of straws in each mat: 15 straws + 20 straws + 30 straws = 65 straws. Then multiply that number by the number of mats to find the total number of straws Ginger needs: 65 straws / mat * 10 mats = 650 straws.
The answer: 650
Reverse engineering the question:
Ginger is weaving mats out of colored straw. Each mat takes 20 red straws, 30 orange straws, and half as many green straws as orange straws. How many straws does she need to make 10 mats?