Actuarial Challenge
The Actuarial Challenge appears in the Actuarial Edge Newsletter every quarter. Here is the current actuarial challenge. For a list of all past challenges, visit our Actuarial Challenge Archive page.
Challenge: Mary’s Little Lambs (4th Quarter 2011)
Reprinted from Work This One Out by L.H. Longley-Cook
Printed by Gold Medal Books, London, 1960
Mary had some little lambs and so had her friend, Laura. If Mary gave Laura two lambs, they would each have the same number of lambs. If Laura gave Mary two lambs, Mary would have twice as many as Laura. How many lambs did Mary have?
Answer to the Actuarial Challenge:
Mary had 14 lambs. Laura had 10 lambs.