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Boredom
According to a recent survey,
400 million packets of crisps are eaten in the UK, every year, out of
sheer boredom.
The Moral?
Boredom makes us fat.
A better approach
Exercise your mind!
Get a new job, join a group,
take a class, create something, teach-yourself-something, start a diary,
grow something, join your library, write a best-seller, run off with your
neighbor (Whoops! Just kidding!), build something, get involved in your
favorite cause, build a web site.
It doesn't really matter what
you do, as long as you exercise your mind. Because if your mind is busy,
you won't be bored and you won't eat so much junk.
Start now!
To prod you into action, here are 2 problems. The first is easy, the
second is more difficult and requires pen and paper. Have a go at solving
them. It'll take your mind off popcorn!
Problem
1
Bill is traveling through the jungle in a jeep. Sitting next to him is
his son Jack. Suddenly, the jeep hits an obstacle and overturns. Bill
is killed and Jack is left unconscious. Fortunately, an hour later, the
jeep is discovered by several natives who carry Jack to the local hospital.
As he is wheeled into the emergency room, Jack is recognized by the ageing,
drunken surgeon who exclaims: 'Good Lord! It's my son!'
Question
What is the relationship between Jack and the ageing drunken surgeon?
Problem
2
Cinderella and three of her girlfriends are rushing home from the ball.
It is seventeen minutes before midnight. To avoid being turned into pumpkins
they must reach Cinderella's castle before the clock strikes twelve. It
is pitch dark and the only way into the castle is across a long narrow
foot-bridge. So they have seventeen minutes to cross the bridge.
However,
there are several problems
- Due to the wobbly state
of the bridge, no more than two people may cross at one time.
- There is only one flashlight.
It must be carried by any person (or pair of people) who cross.
- Once used, the flashlight
must be 'walked' back across the
bridge. It cannot be thrown. Thus, if Cinderella and a friend cross
the bridge together, one of them must walk back to the others with the
flashlight.
- Each girl walks at a different speed.
Cinderella takes 1 minute to cross the bridge; Jackie takes 2 minutes;
Eileen takes 5 minutes and Mary takes 10 minutes.
- If two of them cross together, they
must walk at the rate of the slower girl's pace.
Thus, if Jackie and Mary cross together, it takes them 10 minutes. However,
if Jackie then returns with the flashlight, it takes her only 2 minutes
to cross.
Question
How do they all manage to cross the bridge within seventeen minutes?
For the answers to both
problems, click Answers.
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