I’ve been speaking with a lot of students recently who are really struggling with translation problems “ even when they can figure out how to translate, they end up taking way too much time on the problem.

So let’s try this GMATPrep problem; set your timer for 2 minutes and GO!

If Bob produces 36 or fewer items in a week, he is paid x dollars per item. If Bob produces more than 36 items in a week, he is paid x dollars per item for the first 36 items and [latex]1frac{1}{2}[/latex] times that amount for each additional item. How many items did Bob produce last week?

(1) Last week Bob was paid a total of $480 for the items that he produced that week.

(2) This week Bob produced 2 more items than last week and was paid a total of $510 for the items that he produced this week.

Ugh. Okay, obviously we’re going to have to translate, because we’ve got a story going on here. It also looks like there’s going to be some algebra involved. Let’s dig in.

I’m now Bob. (Put yourself in the story; that’ll make things a little bit easier.) I can make either 36 or fewer items in one week or more than 36 items. How am I going to get paid? For the first scenario, I can figure out my pay by multiplying the number of items by x. If I make exactly 36 items, I’ll get paid 36x. If I make 33 items, I’ll get paid 33x. Hmm. I guess I should assign a variable for the number of items I make; let’s call that N.

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