Question 1095287
THE FIFTH GRADER'S SOLUTION:
The sum of the ages of the two oldest persons
must be greater than the other two sums including the youngest person.
So, Sam is the youngest.
If you switch from Sam to Matt in a pair,
the sum of ages increases by 37-26=11,
so Matt is 11 years older than Sam.
That means that the sum of ages for Matt and Sam (29)
is 11 more than twice Sam's age,
so 29-11=18 is twice Sam's age and Sam is {{{highlight(9)}}} .
 
ALGEBRA:
{{{S}}}= Sam's age,
{{{M}}}= Matt's age,
{{{B}}}= Ben's age.
{{{system(B+M=37,B+S=26)}}}-->{{{B+M-(B+S)=37-26}}}-->{{{B+M-B-S=12}}}-->{{{M-S=11}}}
{{{system(M+S=29,M-S=11)}}}-->{{{M+S-(M-S)=29-11}}}-->{{{M+S-M+S=29-11}}}-->{{{2S=18}}}-->{{{S=28/2}}}-->{{{highlight(S=9)}}}
 
CONCLUSION: Algebra makes the statement shorter and requires no translation.
It is the easiest foreign language you will ever learn.