Question 1163612
<br>
You can take with a grain of salt (pretty much ignore) the response from the other tutor.  That response shows one POSSIBLE way to interpret the given expression; and in the end a simple arithmetic mistake leads to a wrong answer.<br>
The probable purpose of this question is to determine which of the following interpretations is correct:<br>
(1) 20/5(3+1) = {{{(20/5)(3+1) = (4)(4) = 16}}}
(2) 20/5(3+1) = {{{20/5(3+1) = 20/(5(3+1)) = 20/(5(4)) = 20/20 = 1}}}<br>
The correct response to the question is this:<br>
The expression should not be written the way it is, because different interpretations are possible.<br>
If you ask 100 different people this question -- experts or not -- you will get many of each possible answer (as well as a few others, due to careless arithmetic).  And many of those people will probably provide strong arguments why their interpretation is correct.<br>
But in fact the mathematics to be learned from this question is that an expression must ALWAYS be written in such a way that there is absolutely no doubt about the actual meaning of the expression.<br>
So instead of debating which interpretation is right, the resolution of this question is that the question is flawed.<br>