Answer: Let's use algebra to solve this problem.
Let C be Clot's present age and S be Soup's present age. Then, according to the problem:
One year ago, Clot was C-1 years old, and four times Soup's age at that time was 4(S-1).
Clot's age one year ago was one-third of four times Soup's age, so we have:
C - 1 = (1/3) * 4(S - 1)
Simplifying this equation, we get:
C - 1 = (4/3)(S - 1)
C = (4/3)(S - 1) + 1
One year from now, Clot will be C + 1 years old, and Soup will be S + 1 years old. The sum of their ages will be 21, so we have:
(C + 1) + (S + 1) = 21
C + S + 2 = 21
C + S = 19
Now we have two equations with two unknowns. We can substitute the expression for C from the first equation into the second equation to get an equation in terms of S:
(4/3)(S - 1) + 1 + S = 19
Simplifying and solving for S, we get:
S = 6
Substituting S = 6 into the equation C + S = 19, we get:
C + 6 = 19
C = 13
Therefore, Clot's present age is 13 and Soup's present age is 6.
Explanation: