Jessica has two cats named Mittens and Fluffy. Last year Mittens weighed 12 pounds, and Fluffy weighed 19 pounds. Fluffy was placed on a diet, and his weight decreased by $20\%$ Mittens weight has increased by $20\%$. By what percentage did Mitten's and Fluffy's combined weight decrease, to the nearest tenth of a percent?

Jack's weight first increased by 20% and then his new weight decreased by 25%. His final weight is what percent of his beginning weight?

A solid, cone-shaped lead crystal paper weight has a height of 5 centimeters and a base diameter that is 20% larger than the height. If the density of lead crystal is $3.1g\text{/}c{m}^3$, what is the approximate mass of the paperweight? Round your answer to the nearest gram.

Question 37 and 38 refer to the following information
The U.S. federal Government tracks the Consumer Price Index (CPI)- a comprehensive standard used to estimate the average price change for the typical goods and services purchased by consumers. This measure gives economics a useful way to estimate the rates of the inflation or deflation, which reflects the respective general increase or decrease of prices of goods and services in the economy. The accompanying tables summarizes the changes in the CPI for the years 2005 through 2014, which can be assumed to be the corresponding percent rates of inflation.

Q. At a beginning of 2015, a retired person is shopping for a retirement annunity, which is an investment policy that will give him fixed monthly payments for the rest of his life. He would like the amount of his annuity payments to more than keep up with the rate of inflation. He decides that he will choose a policy that issuse payments that increase annually at a rate of that is at least 1.5% greater than the average yearly compounded rate of inflation calculated from the period that extends from the second half of 2005 through the first half of 2008. What should be the minimum annual rate of increase in his monthly annuity payments, correct to the nearest tenth?

A Little to the Left, but Not Too Much!
Italy’s Tower of Pisa has been leaning southward since the initial 12 $\underset{–}{\text{stages of it’s}}$ construction over 800 years ago. 13 $\underset{–}{\text{Indeed,}}$ if the tower’s construction had not taken two centuries and involved significant breaks due to war and civil unrest, which allowed the ground beneath the tower to settle, the tower would likely have collapsed before it was completed.
Luckily, the tower survived, and its tilt has made it an Italian 14 $\underset{–}{\text{icon, it attracts}}$ visitors from all over who flock to Pisa to see one of the greatest architectural 15 $\underset{–}{\text{weirdnesses}}$ in the world. 16 By the late twentieth century, the angle of the tower’s tilt had reached an astonishing 5.5 degrees, in 17 $\underset{–}{\text{1990, Italy’s government closed}}$ the tower to visitors and appointed a committee to find a way to save it.
The committee was charged with saving the tower without ruining its aesthetic, 18 $\underset{–}{\text{which no one had yet managed to achieve.}}$ The committee’s first attempt to reduce the angle of the tower’s tilt—placing 600 tons of iron ingots (molded pieces of metal) on the tower’s north side to create a counterweight—was derided because the bulky weights ruined the tower’s appearance. The attempt at a less visible solution—sinking anchors into the ground below the tower—almost caused the tower to fall.
[1] Enter committee member John Burland, 19 $\underset{–}{\text{he is}}$ a geotechnical engineer from England who saved London’s clock tower Big Ben from collapse. [2] Burland began a years-long process of drilling out small amounts of soil from under the tower 20 $\underset{–}{\text{that took several years to complete}}$ and then monitoring the tower’s resulting movement. [3] Twice daily, Burland evaluated these movements and made recommendations as to how much soil should be removed in the next drilling. [4] By 2001, almost 77 tons of soil had been removed, and the tower’s tilt had decreased by over 1.5 degrees, the ugly iron weights were removed, and the tower was reopened to visitors. [5] Burland 21 $\underset{–}{\text{advocated using}}$ soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower. 22
The tower’s tilt has not increased since, and the committee is confident that the tower will be safe for another 200 years. Burland is now working on a more permanent solution for keeping the tower upright, but he is adamant that the tower never be completely straightened. In an interview with PBS’s Nova, Burland explained that it is very important “that we don’t really change the character of the monument. That would be quite wrong and quite inappropriate.”

A Little to the Left, but Not Too Much!
Italy’s Tower of Pisa has been leaning southward since the initial 12 $\underset{–}{\text{stages of it’s}}$ construction over 800 years ago. 13 $\underset{–}{\text{Indeed,}}$ if the tower’s construction had not taken two centuries and involved significant breaks due to war and civil unrest, which allowed the ground beneath the tower to settle, the tower would likely have collapsed before it was completed.
Luckily, the tower survived, and its tilt has made it an Italian 14 $\underset{–}{\text{icon, it attracts}}$ visitors from all over who flock to Pisa to see one of the greatest architectural 15 $\underset{–}{\text{weirdnesses}}$ in the world. 16 By the late twentieth century, the angle of the tower’s tilt had reached an astonishing 5.5 degrees, in 17 $\underset{–}{\text{1990, Italy’s government closed}}$ the tower to visitors and appointed a committee to find a way to save it.
The committee was charged with saving the tower without ruining its aesthetic, 18 $\underset{–}{\text{which no one had yet managed to achieve.}}$ The committee’s first attempt to reduce the angle of the tower’s tilt—placing 600 tons of iron ingots (molded pieces of metal) on the tower’s north side to create a counterweight—was derided because the bulky weights ruined the tower’s appearance. The attempt at a less visible solution—sinking anchors into the ground below the tower—almost caused the tower to fall.
[1] Enter committee member John Burland, 19 $\underset{–}{\text{he is}}$ a geotechnical engineer from England who saved London’s clock tower Big Ben from collapse. [2] Burland began a years-long process of drilling out small amounts of soil from under the tower 20 $\underset{–}{\text{that took several years to complete}}$ and then monitoring the tower’s resulting movement. [3] Twice daily, Burland evaluated these movements and made recommendations as to how much soil should be removed in the next drilling. [4] By 2001, almost 77 tons of soil had been removed, and the tower’s tilt had decreased by over 1.5 degrees, the ugly iron weights were removed, and the tower was reopened to visitors. [5] Burland 21 $\underset{–}{\text{advocated using}}$ soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower. 22
The tower’s tilt has not increased since, and the committee is confident that the tower will be safe for another 200 years. Burland is now working on a more permanent solution for keeping the tower upright, but he is adamant that the tower never be completely straightened. In an interview with PBS’s Nova, Burland explained that it is very important “that we don’t really change the character of the monument. That would be quite wrong and quite inappropriate.”

A Little to the Left, but Not Too Much!
Italy’s Tower of Pisa has been leaning southward since the initial 12 $\underset{–}{\text{stages of it’s}}$ construction over 800 years ago. 13 $\underset{–}{\text{Indeed,}}$ if the tower’s construction had not taken two centuries and involved significant breaks due to war and civil unrest, which allowed the ground beneath the tower to settle, the tower would likely have collapsed before it was completed.
Luckily, the tower survived, and its tilt has made it an Italian 14 $\underset{–}{\text{icon, it attracts}}$ visitors from all over who flock to Pisa to see one of the greatest architectural 15 $\underset{–}{\text{weirdnesses}}$ in the world. 16 By the late twentieth century, the angle of the tower’s tilt had reached an astonishing 5.5 degrees, in 17 $\underset{–}{\text{1990, Italy’s government closed}}$ the tower to visitors and appointed a committee to find a way to save it.
The committee was charged with saving the tower without ruining its aesthetic, 18 $\underset{–}{\text{which no one had yet managed to achieve.}}$ The committee’s first attempt to reduce the angle of the tower’s tilt—placing 600 tons of iron ingots (molded pieces of metal) on the tower’s north side to create a counterweight—was derided because the bulky weights ruined the tower’s appearance. The attempt at a less visible solution—sinking anchors into the ground below the tower—almost caused the tower to fall.
[1] Enter committee member John Burland, 19 $\underset{–}{\text{he is}}$ a geotechnical engineer from England who saved London’s clock tower Big Ben from collapse. [2] Burland began a years-long process of drilling out small amounts of soil from under the tower 20 $\underset{–}{\text{that took several years to complete}}$ and then monitoring the tower’s resulting movement. [3] Twice daily, Burland evaluated these movements and made recommendations as to how much soil should be removed in the next drilling. [4] By 2001, almost 77 tons of soil had been removed, and the tower’s tilt had decreased by over 1.5 degrees, the ugly iron weights were removed, and the tower was reopened to visitors. [5] Burland 21 $\underset{–}{\text{advocated using}}$ soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower. 22
The tower’s tilt has not increased since, and the committee is confident that the tower will be safe for another 200 years. Burland is now working on a more permanent solution for keeping the tower upright, but he is adamant that the tower never be completely straightened. In an interview with PBS’s Nova, Burland explained that it is very important “that we don’t really change the character of the monument. That would be quite wrong and quite inappropriate.”
Which choice best supports the main point of the paragraph?

A Little to the Left, but Not Too Much!
Italy’s Tower of Pisa has been leaning southward since the initial 12 $\underset{–}{\text{stages of it’s}}$ construction over 800 years ago. 13 $\underset{–}{\text{Indeed,}}$ if the tower’s construction had not taken two centuries and involved significant breaks due to war and civil unrest, which allowed the ground beneath the tower to settle, the tower would likely have collapsed before it was completed.
Luckily, the tower survived, and its tilt has made it an Italian 14 $\underset{–}{\text{icon, it attracts}}$ visitors from all over who flock to Pisa to see one of the greatest architectural 15 $\underset{–}{\text{weirdnesses}}$ in the world. 16 By the late twentieth century, the angle of the tower’s tilt had reached an astonishing 5.5 degrees, in 17 $\underset{–}{\text{1990, Italy’s government closed}}$ the tower to visitors and appointed a committee to find a way to save it.
The committee was charged with saving the tower without ruining its aesthetic, 18 $\underset{–}{\text{which no one had yet managed to achieve.}}$ The committee’s first attempt to reduce the angle of the tower’s tilt—placing 600 tons of iron ingots (molded pieces of metal) on the tower’s north side to create a counterweight—was derided because the bulky weights ruined the tower’s appearance. The attempt at a less visible solution—sinking anchors into the ground below the tower—almost caused the tower to fall.
[1] Enter committee member John Burland, 19 $\underset{–}{\text{he is}}$ a geotechnical engineer from England who saved London’s clock tower Big Ben from collapse. [2] Burland began a years-long process of drilling out small amounts of soil from under the tower 20 $\underset{–}{\text{that took several years to complete}}$ and then monitoring the tower’s resulting movement. [3] Twice daily, Burland evaluated these movements and made recommendations as to how much soil should be removed in the next drilling. [4] By 2001, almost 77 tons of soil had been removed, and the tower’s tilt had decreased by over 1.5 degrees, the ugly iron weights were removed, and the tower was reopened to visitors. [5] Burland 21 $\underset{–}{\text{advocated using}}$ soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower. 22
The tower’s tilt has not increased since, and the committee is confident that the tower will be safe for another 200 years. Burland is now working on a more permanent solution for keeping the tower upright, but he is adamant that the tower never be completely straightened. In an interview with PBS’s Nova, Burland explained that it is very important “that we don’t really change the character of the monument. That would be quite wrong and quite inappropriate.”

A Little to the Left, but Not Too Much!
Italy’s Tower of Pisa has been leaning southward since the initial 12 $\underset{–}{\text{stages of it’s}}$ construction over 800 years ago. 13 $\underset{–}{\text{Indeed,}}$ if the tower’s construction had not taken two centuries and involved significant breaks due to war and civil unrest, which allowed the ground beneath the tower to settle, the tower would likely have collapsed before it was completed.
Luckily, the tower survived, and its tilt has made it an Italian 14 $\underset{–}{\text{icon, it attracts}}$ visitors from all over who flock to Pisa to see one of the greatest architectural 15 $\underset{–}{\text{weirdnesses}}$ in the world. 16 By the late twentieth century, the angle of the tower’s tilt had reached an astonishing 5.5 degrees, in 17 $\underset{–}{\text{1990, Italy’s government closed}}$ the tower to visitors and appointed a committee to find a way to save it.
The committee was charged with saving the tower without ruining its aesthetic, 18 $\underset{–}{\text{which no one had yet managed to achieve.}}$ The committee’s first attempt to reduce the angle of the tower’s tilt—placing 600 tons of iron ingots (molded pieces of metal) on the tower’s north side to create a counterweight—was derided because the bulky weights ruined the tower’s appearance. The attempt at a less visible solution—sinking anchors into the ground below the tower—almost caused the tower to fall.
[1] Enter committee member John Burland, 19 $\underset{–}{\text{he is}}$ a geotechnical engineer from England who saved London’s clock tower Big Ben from collapse. [2] Burland began a years-long process of drilling out small amounts of soil from under the tower 20 $\underset{–}{\text{that took several years to complete}}$ and then monitoring the tower’s resulting movement. [3] Twice daily, Burland evaluated these movements and made recommendations as to how much soil should be removed in the next drilling. [4] By 2001, almost 77 tons of soil had been removed, and the tower’s tilt had decreased by over 1.5 degrees, the ugly iron weights were removed, and the tower was reopened to visitors. [5] Burland 21 $\underset{–}{\text{advocated using}}$ soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower. 22
The tower’s tilt has not increased since, and the committee is confident that the tower will be safe for another 200 years. Burland is now working on a more permanent solution for keeping the tower upright, but he is adamant that the tower never be completely straightened. In an interview with PBS’s Nova, Burland explained that it is very important “that we don’t really change the character of the monument. That would be quite wrong and quite inappropriate.”

A Little to the Left, but Not Too Much!
Italy’s Tower of Pisa has been leaning southward since the initial 12 $\underset{–}{\text{stages of it’s}}$ construction over 800 years ago. 13 $\underset{–}{\text{Indeed,}}$ if the tower’s construction had not taken two centuries and involved significant breaks due to war and civil unrest, which allowed the ground beneath the tower to settle, the tower would likely have collapsed before it was completed.
Luckily, the tower survived, and its tilt has made it an Italian 14 $\underset{–}{\text{icon, it attracts}}$ visitors from all over who flock to Pisa to see one of the greatest architectural 15 $\underset{–}{\text{weirdnesses}}$ in the world. 16 By the late twentieth century, the angle of the tower’s tilt had reached an astonishing 5.5 degrees, in 17 $\underset{–}{\text{1990, Italy’s government closed}}$ the tower to visitors and appointed a committee to find a way to save it.
The committee was charged with saving the tower without ruining its aesthetic, 18 $\underset{–}{\text{which no one had yet managed to achieve.}}$ The committee’s first attempt to reduce the angle of the tower’s tilt—placing 600 tons of iron ingots (molded pieces of metal) on the tower’s north side to create a counterweight—was derided because the bulky weights ruined the tower’s appearance. The attempt at a less visible solution—sinking anchors into the ground below the tower—almost caused the tower to fall.
[1] Enter committee member John Burland, 19 $\underset{–}{\text{he is}}$ a geotechnical engineer from England who saved London’s clock tower Big Ben from collapse. [2] Burland began a years-long process of drilling out small amounts of soil from under the tower 20 $\underset{–}{\text{that took several years to complete}}$ and then monitoring the tower’s resulting movement. [3] Twice daily, Burland evaluated these movements and made recommendations as to how much soil should be removed in the next drilling. [4] By 2001, almost 77 tons of soil had been removed, and the tower’s tilt had decreased by over 1.5 degrees, the ugly iron weights were removed, and the tower was reopened to visitors. [5] Burland 21 $\underset{–}{\text{advocated using}}$ soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower. 22
The tower’s tilt has not increased since, and the committee is confident that the tower will be safe for another 200 years. Burland is now working on a more permanent solution for keeping the tower upright, but he is adamant that the tower never be completely straightened. In an interview with PBS’s Nova, Burland explained that it is very important “that we don’t really change the character of the monument. That would be quite wrong and quite inappropriate.”

A Little to the Left, but Not Too Much!
Italy’s Tower of Pisa has been leaning southward since the initial 12 $\underset{–}{\text{stages of it’s}}$ construction over 800 years ago. 13 $\underset{–}{\text{Indeed,}}$ if the tower’s construction had not taken two centuries and involved significant breaks due to war and civil unrest, which allowed the ground beneath the tower to settle, the tower would likely have collapsed before it was completed.
Luckily, the tower survived, and its tilt has made it an Italian 14 $\underset{–}{\text{icon, it attracts}}$ visitors from all over who flock to Pisa to see one of the greatest architectural 15 $\underset{–}{\text{weirdnesses}}$ in the world. 16 By the late twentieth century, the angle of the tower’s tilt had reached an astonishing 5.5 degrees, in 17 $\underset{–}{\text{1990, Italy’s government closed}}$ the tower to visitors and appointed a committee to find a way to save it.
The committee was charged with saving the tower without ruining its aesthetic, 18 $\underset{–}{\text{which no one had yet managed to achieve.}}$ The committee’s first attempt to reduce the angle of the tower’s tilt—placing 600 tons of iron ingots (molded pieces of metal) on the tower’s north side to create a counterweight—was derided because the bulky weights ruined the tower’s appearance. The attempt at a less visible solution—sinking anchors into the ground below the tower—almost caused the tower to fall.
[1] Enter committee member John Burland, 19 $\underset{–}{\text{he is}}$ a geotechnical engineer from England who saved London’s clock tower Big Ben from collapse. [2] Burland began a years-long process of drilling out small amounts of soil from under the tower 20 $\underset{–}{\text{that took several years to complete}}$ and then monitoring the tower’s resulting movement. [3] Twice daily, Burland evaluated these movements and made recommendations as to how much soil should be removed in the next drilling. [4] By 2001, almost 77 tons of soil had been removed, and the tower’s tilt had decreased by over 1.5 degrees, the ugly iron weights were removed, and the tower was reopened to visitors. [5] Burland 21 $\underset{–}{\text{advocated using}}$ soil extraction: removing small amounts of soil from under the tower’s north side, opposite its tilt, to enable gravity to straighten the tower. 22
The tower’s tilt has not increased since, and the committee is confident that the tower will be safe for another 200 years. Burland is now working on a more permanent solution for keeping the tower upright, but he is adamant that the tower never be completely straightened. In an interview with PBS’s Nova, Burland explained that it is very important “that we don’t really change the character of the monument. That would be quite wrong and quite inappropriate.”