Question 1206699
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Let's look at an example.


Let's say Gabor is 10 years old.
4 times that would be 4*10 = 40.
If his mother is 40 years older than him, then she would be 10+40 = 50.
Note 50/10 = 5 is the multiplier, which is where the other tutors are getting the 5w from.


If you changed "4 times older than" to "4 times as old as", then Gabor being 10 leads to the mother being 4*10 = 40.
In general if the mother was 4 times as old as her son, then her age would be 4w.


The phrasing is slightly different. I've seen some textbooks use the two styles interchangeably. Unfortunately it's a bit ambiguous. 
This is why it's a good idea to ask your teacher for further clarification.



Further Reading
<a href="https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/the-man-is-five-times-older-than-his-grandson.2879727/">https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/the-man-is-five-times-older-than-his-grandson.2879727/</a>
<a href="https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/times-older-than-times-as-old-as.3556657/">https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/times-older-than-times-as-old-as.3556657/</a>
<a href="https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-is-3-times-older-than-b-166610.html">https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-is-3-times-older-than-b-166610.html</a>
<a href="https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/268171/a-is-8-times-older-to-b">https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/268171/a-is-8-times-older-to-b</a>
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