“Hey, I’m not silly!” said Jason. He stuck out his tongue and jumped up and down.
“It’s redickle-dockle!” agreed Joe.
Stephen raised his arms in the air and made monkey noises.
“Settle down!” called Mrs. Jewls. “What’s the matter with you children?”
“Allison invited Stephen and me to her birthday party,” complained Jason.
“That’s good, isn’t it?” asked Mrs. Jewls.
“We’re the only boys,” said Stephen. “She says if she invites more boys, then all the boys will act silly.”
“She’s right,” said Mrs. Jewls. “It’s a matter of simple arithmetic.” She picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the equation on the board.
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PROBLEM 1
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s = ?ggo = ?ggi = ?ggl = ?ggb = ?ggy = ?
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Jason studied the board. “I guess we are silly,” he said. “Arithmetic doesn’t lie.”
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(Looking at the problem, each letter stands for a single digit number (a number between zero and nine). All the s’s are the same number. All the b’s are the same number, but different from s. And so forth. You have to figure out what number each letter represents, so that it all adds up correctly.
If you need help a clue can be found on page 40. If you still need help after that, a hint can be found on page 45.)
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All the girls were very excited. They danced around the room singing, “Boys and boys are silly! Boys and boys are silly! Boys and boys are silly!”
“Girls and girls are silly, too,” said Mrs. Jewls.
The girls stopped singing.
Mrs. Jewls put it on the board.
PROBLEM 2
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s = ?ggl = ?ggy = ?ggr = ?ggi = ?ggg = ?
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The girls yelled and screamed, and made faces, and once again proved that arithmetic doesn’t lie.
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