Final answer:
To solve the problem, assign a variable to the person's age and set up an equation. Solve for the variable by isolating it and performing the necessary operations. The person is 502 years old.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve the problem, let's start by assigning a variable to the person's age. Let's call the person's age x. According to the problem, 500 reduced by 3 times their age is equal to 2006. We can write this as the equation:
500 - 3x = 2006
To solve for x, we need to isolate the variable. We can do this by subtracting 500 from both sides:
500 - 3x - 500 = 2006 - 500
-3x = 1506
Next, we divide both sides of the equation by -3:
x = 1506 ÷ -3
x = -502
So, the person is 502 years old. Therefore, the correct answer is A) 502 years old.