Question 165665
karen is five years younger than susan. three years ago, the sum of their ages was 11. how old are they now? 
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NOW DATA:
Let Susan be "x" yrs. old , 
Then Karen is "x-5" yrs. old.
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3 years ago DATA:
Susan was "x-3" yrs. old,
Karen was "x-5-3" which is "x-8" yrs. old.
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EQUATION:
(x-3) + (x-8) = 11
2x - 11 = 11
2x = 22
x = 11 yrs. old (Susan's age now)
x-5 = 11-5 = 6 yrs. old (Karen's age now)
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Cheers,
Stan H.