Terry is half as old as Alice was when Alice was five years older than Terry is now. How old is Terry now?
Answer
Terry is 5 years old.
Let’s translate words to math. “Alice was five years older than Terry is now” translates to: A = 5 + T, where A is the age of Alice and T is the age of Terry.
Now translate again. “Terry is half as old as Alice was” becomes : T = (1⁄2)A.
Solving the two equations will give T = 5.