Some English Puzzles!!!

Inter-disciplinary Activity

Here are some nice English puzzles. In pairs or small groups

try to get the correct answers. You will need your
Mathematics skill! Good luck!!

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1. 24 Hour Clocks

There are some countries – not many, to be sure, but a few – where the hours are
counted from 1 to 24 and where the clocks strike for each of the 24 hours. In one
of those countries, how many times would a clock strike in a full 24-hour day?

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2. Cats and Dogs

Ferdie Fawcett owns three dogs and four cats and they weigh a total of 528 ounces. If
he had four dogs and three cats, their total weight would be 592 ounces. How much
does each of Ferdie Fawcett's cats and dogs weigh?

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3. A present from Father

A rich father decides to give his five daughters £1,000, but he tells them that
they have got to divide the money according to their ages, so that each elder
daughter receives £20 more than her next younger sister. How much did the
youngest of the five girls get?
4. Swiss Family Robinet

Just outside Geneva live Monsieur and Madame Robinet and their charming
sons and daughters. Each of the Robinet boys has just as many brothers as
sisters, but each of the Robinet girls has twice as many brothers as sisters.
How many boys and how many girls are there in the family?

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5. Tricky Question

Add 8 to a certain mystery number, subtract 8 from the result, multiply the remainder
by 8 and divide what you get by twice 4. You'll end up with 4. What's the mystery
number?

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6. Roman Puzzle

There's a trick here somewhere, but there's a good clue as well. From 19
take 1 and leave 20.

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7. Jo's Boys

Jo Hepplewhite, car mechanic of Cambridge, has several strapping youns sons. The
eldest son is 4 years older than the second son, who is 4 years older than the third,
who is 4 years older than the youngest, who is half the age of the oldest. How old
are Jo's boys?

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8. Beasts and Birds

If a collection of animals, including both beasts and birds, has 21 heads and
54 feet, how many beasts and birds are there in this collection?

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YOU MIGHT WANT TO PRE-TEACH...

OUNCE: a unit of weight equal to 437.5 grains or 28.349 grams.

POUND (abbreviation: lb – from Latin “libra”): a unit of weight equal to 0.453 kilograms.

TO ADD (to) : to perform arithmetic addition.

TO SUBTRACT (from): to take away, as a part from a whole, or a number from another.

TO MULTIPLY (by): to find the product (of numbers) by multiplication.

TO DIVIDE (by): to separete (a number) into equal parts by division.

BEAST: any non-human animal, especially a large, four-footed animal.

SOLUTIONS

1. 24 Hours Clocks: 300 times

2. Cats and Dogs: Each cat: 48 ounces ( that's 3 lbs) Each dog: 112 ounces ( that's 7 lbs)

3. A present from Father: £160

4. Swiss Family Robinet: 4 boys and 3 girls

5. Tricky Question: 4

6. Roman Puzzle: You can solve this puzzle with Roman numerals by taking I from XIX: you get
XX!!

7. Jo's Boys: 24, 20, 16 and 12

8. Beasts and Birds: 17 beasts and 26 birds

These are some puzzles adapted from the collection “The Big Book of Puzzles and Games”, Treasure
Press.

They are good fun for students as they not only have to deal with the English language, but also with
some Mathematics. We have used it with our pre-intermediate groups as an inter-disciplinary activity
which has been very successful!

You can cut them out and give one by one to pairs of students, or you can decide to give the whole copy
to them and see which pair/group manages to solve the most in the least time. Or you can set a time
and see which pair/group solves the highest number in that time.

It's a good idea if you try all of them first. I can tell you that I'm very bad at maths but I have been
able to solve them in the end. So, if I have, I'm sure you'll do too!! Enjoy them!