Alex gives his friends a total of 5 friends * 20 meters of silk = 100 meters of silk. This means he has 600 – 100 = 500 meters of silk left in storage. He can therefore make 500 meters of silk / 5 meters of silk per dress = 100 dresses.
The answer: 100
Reverse engineering the question: Alex makes luxury dresses out of silk. Each dress needs 5 meters of silk and Alex has 600 meters of silk in storage. His friends also want to learn how to make these dresses so Alex gives all 5 of them 20 meters of silk each. He uses the rest to make dresses himself. How many dresses can Alex make?


Reasoning and answer: A dietitian ate three - fourths of her lunch during her lunch break, containing 3 / 4 * 40 = 30 calories. If the recommended calorie intake by the FDA is 25, the dietitian ate 30 - 25 = 5 more calories than the recommended amount.
The answer: 5
What was the question?
Question: A dietitian ate three-fourths of her lunch during her lunch break. If the total amount of food she had prepared for lunch had 40 calories, and the recommended calorie intake by the FDA is 25, how many more calories than the recommended amount did she eat?


First find the total number of starfish arms: 7 starfish * 5 arms / starfish = 35 arms. Then add the number of seastar arms to find the total number of arms: 35 arms + 14 arms = 49 arms.
The answer: 49
Reverse engineering the question: Carly collected 7 starfish with 5 arms each and one seastar with 14 arms. How many arms do the animals she collected have in total?


Reasoning and answer: To the initial 2 pounds of jelly beans, he added enough brownies to cause the weight to triple, bringing the weight to 2 * 3 = 6 pounds. Next, he added another 2 pounds of jelly beans, bringing the weight to 6 + 2 = 8 pounds. And finally, he added enough gummy worms to double the weight once again, to a final weight of 8 * 2 = 16 pounds.
The answer: 16
What was the question?
Question: Ken created a care package to send to his brother, who was away at boarding school. Ken placed a box on a scale, and then he poured into the box enough jelly beans to bring the weight to 2 pounds. Then, he added enough brownies to cause the weight to triple. Next, he added another 2 pounds of jelly beans. And finally, he added enough gummy worms to double the weight once again. What was the final weight of the box of goodies, in pounds?


Micah picks 2 x 12 = 24 strawberries. After he eats 6, there are this many strawberries left for his mom: 24 - 6 = 18.
The answer: 18
Reverse engineering the question: Micah picks 2 dozen strawberries from the field. He eats 6 and saves the rest for his mom. How many strawberries are there for his mom?


The second cat meowed twice as frequently as the three meows per minute from the first cat, for a total of 2 * 3 = 6 meows per minute. The third cat meowed at one - third the frequency of the second cat, for a total of 6 / 3 = 2 meows per minute. Thus, combined, the three cats meow 3 + 6 + 2 = 11 times per minute. In five minutes, the three cats meow 5 * 11 = 55 times.
The answer: 55
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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Three cats sat on a fence, meowing at the moon. The first cat meowed 3 times per minute. The second cat meowed twice as frequently as the first cat. And the third cat meowed at one-third the frequency of the second cat. What is the combined total number of meows the three cats make in 5 minutes?