Question 747453
Many teachers fail to state the very simple notion that math is another language, literally. Every symbol and word in a math problem has an "English" translation.

So, we start at the beginning. "What is" lets us know we have to begin setting up a problem/equation. "the difference" tells us we need to subtract the upcoming numbers, in this case "9 and 7". "over" means we can literally just draw a line and put these numbers "over" the next numbers (in math terminology, divided by). "one plus four" is obvious :).

So, let's start at the beginning. 

9-7 over 1+4 (written as):

9-7 / 1+4


Now that it is set up, I'll let you do the math :).
If you still need help just ask!