They see 27 total birds because 9 + 11 + 7 = 27. They see an average of 9 birds each because 27 / 3 = 9.
The answer: 9
Reverse engineering the question: Marcus, Humphrey, and Darrel are bird watching. Marcus sees 7 birds, Humphrey sees 11 birds, and Darrel sees 9 birds. How many birds does each of them see on average?


Reasoning and answer: The total amount of money saved is $27 + $14 + $21 = $62. The total amount spent on books and new shoes is $5 + $17 = $22. Tina has $62 − $22 = $40 left.
The answer: 40
What was the question?
Question: Tina saved $27 in June, $14 in July, and $21 in August. Then Tina spent $5 on books and $17 on new shoes. How much money does Tina have left?


The fourth week had twice the number of employees as the third week, so 400 / 2 = 200 employees on the third week. In the third week, they hired 150 fewer employees than on the second week, that is 200 - 150 = 50 employees hired on the second week. The first week had 200 more hirings than the second week, that is 50 + 200 = 250 employees. The total number of employees hired is 250 + 50 + 200 + 400 = 900. The average number of employees hired per week is 900 / 4 = 225 employees.
The answer: 225
Reverse engineering the question: A company hires employees on a contract basis, depending on the availability of work. In a particular month, they hired 200 more employees on the first week than on the second week, and 150 fewer employees on the second week than on the third week. If the number of employees hired on the fourth week was twice the number hired in the third week, and the number of employees on the fourth week was 400, what's the average number of employees hired per week?


Reasoning and answer: There are 30 x 5 = 150 stamps on each of the first 10 pages. So she has a total of 150 x 10 = 1500 stamps in the first 10 pages. There are 50 - 10 = 40 pages that have 50 stamps each. There is a total of 40 x 50 = 2000 stamps in the remaining 40 pages. Therefore, Stella has 2000 + 1500 = 3500 stamps in her album.
The answer: 3500
What was the question?
Question: Stella collects stamps. She counted 50 pages in her collector's album. There are 5 rows of 30 stamps in each of the first 10 pages of her album. The rest of the pages each have 50 stamps. How many stamps are in Stella's album?


There are 50 + 16 = 66 passengers at first. Then 66 - 22 = 44 passengers remain. Since 5 more passengers get on the bus there are 44 + 5 = 49 passengers on the bus.
The answer: 49
Reverse engineering the question: There are 50 passengers on a bus. At the first stop, 16 more passengers get on the bus. On the other stops, 22 passengers get off the bus and 5 passengers more get on the bus. How many passengers are there on the bus in total at the last station?


First find how many carrots Maria needs to cut by multiplying the number of potatoes by 6: 6 * 2 = 12. Then find how many onions she needs by multiplying the number of carrots by 2: 12 * 2 = 24. Finally, divide the number of onions by 3 to find the number of green beans she needs 24 / 3 = 8.
The answer: 8
Reverse engineering the question:

Show your work and conclude with the exact phrasing "Therefore, the final answer is [answer]." where [answer] is just the final number or expression that solves the problem.
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Maria is chopping up vegetables for a stew. She wants to cut up six times as many carrots as potatoes, twice as many onions as carrots, and 1/3 as many green beans as onions. If she has two potatoes, how many green beans does she need to cut?