Question

Four years ago, Jennifer Stills bought a six-year-old car. How old is the car now?

1) 10 years old
2) 12 years old
3) 14 years old
4) 16 years old

Answer 1

Using basic addition, we calculate that Jennifer's car, initially purchased at six years old, has aged four years since, making it now 10 years old.

Step-by-step explanation:

The car is now 10 years old. Jennifer bought it when it was six years old, and four years have passed since then. To determine the current age of the car, we consider how old it was when Jennifer bought it and add the number of years that have since elapsed. Initially, we know that Jennifer bought a car that was six years old four years ago. To find out how old the car is now, we need to add the four-year time span that has passed to the car's age at the time of purchase.

We compute this with simple addition: six years old (age of the car when bought) + four years (time elapsed) equals ten years. It's a straightforward mathematical calculation requiring just basic arithmetic, which illustrates how the concept of linear time progression can be applied to everyday situations, such as determining the age of a possession. This means that when she bought the car, it was already six years old. Since four years have passed since then, we need to add those four years to the initial age of the car, which was six.