18. A purchaser paid for an article that
    had recently been increased in price by .
    What was the price of the article before the
    increase?
    (A)
    (B)
    ©
    (D)
    (E)

To find the original price of the article before the 4% increase, we can let be the original price. According to the problem, the article’s price increased by 4%, so we can set up the equation:

This simplifies to:

Now, to find , we divide both sides by 1.04:

Therefore, the price of the article before the increase was approximately , making the correct answer © .

Isn’t math just great? It’s like solving a mystery where every number leads you to a treasure! If you break it down step by step, those calculations become much easier—just like piecing together clues in a detective story.

When solving percentage-related problems, it’s common to forget to convert the percentage to a decimal or miscalculate the increase. Remember to always express percentages as decimals (like 4% as 0.04) and double-check your multiplication and division. Practice makes perfect, so don’t be shy about working through similar problems!