document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=1196844>Question 1196844</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> Rachel and Monica are working on printing résumés. Rachel and Monica working together can finish printing the résumés in 3.5 hours. Rachel working by herself is 4 times as slow as Monica. How long will Rachel take to finish printing the résumés by herself? </SPAN>\n" );
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document.write( "\"4 times as slow\" is common (but sloppy) everyday English; but it is poor mathematical form....<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "I will assume it means that it takes Rachel 4 times as long as Monica to do the work.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "That means when working together Rachel does 1/4 as much work as Monica; and that means she does 1/5 of the work.  (If you don't see that right away, look at it like this: Rachel does 1/5 of the work; Monica does 4 times as much work, which is 4/5 of the work; together they do 1/5 of the work plus 4/5 of the work, which is the whole job.)<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "So in 3.5 hours Rachel does 1/5 of the work; that means the amount of time it would take her to do the job alone is 5*3.5 = 17.5 hours.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "ANSWER: 17.5 hours<br><BR>\n" );
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