A woman took her pet bird, which had a bad cough, to see the vet. The vet listened to the bird’s cough and agreed that it sounded bad but told the woman that the bird was not sick. Why not?
The woman bought this parrot from a pet shop. When she got it home, it developed a bad cough. When the vet said there was nothing wrong, she investigated its history and found that the parrot had previously been the pet in a home for the elderly. There, it had learned to copy the heavy coughs of some patients.
You are on your way to visit your Grandma, who lives at the end of the valley. It’s her birthday, and you want to give her the cakes you’ve made.
Between your house and her house, you have to cross 7 bridges, and as it goes in the land of make believe, there is a troll under every bridge! Each troll, quite rightly, insists that you pay a troll toll. Before you can cross their bridge, you have to give them half of the cakes you are carrying, but as they are kind trolls, they each give you back a single cake.
How many cakes do you have to leave home with to make sure that you arrive at Grandma’s with exactly 2 cakes?