Question Mrs Ismail was 4 times as old as her daughter 5 years ago . How old is Mrs Ismail now if the sum of their present ages is 55 years ? I was initially stumped by the question. I drew the necessary block diagram but "the 5 years ago" and the "present age is 55 years". I gave up on the question and decided to leave it aside for a day. The next day, I had a light bulb moment when it daunt upon me to just add the 5 years to each block to make it a total of 55 years old. If you have drawn the blocks without the +5, I feel you. That was where I got stuck too till that light bulb moment. Once you see this diagram, you should immediately know how to solve this question. Step 1: 55 - (5+5)= 45 The total value of the five boxes is 45. Step 2: 45 / 5 = 9 The value of each box is 9. Step 3: 9 x 4 = 36 Mrs Ismail was 36 years old 5 years ago. Step 4: 36+5 = 41 Mrs Ismail is 41 years old now.