Real-Life Math
You're writing copy to promote a new brand of tennis shoes.
You're excited because you've thought of a great pitch to sell the
shoes. You type furiously at the keyboard. Ideas are flowing onto
the page.
After writing 1 1/2 pages of text, the copy editor comes
by your desk to check your progress. She sees you typing wildly.
"Whoa,
you'd better slow down," she says. "I've only got room for 3 4-inch
columns to go in the ad." You can fit 35 words into 1 inch of type.
You
stop. You have already written 750 words. How many words will fit into the
space given by the copy editor? How many words will you have to cut from your
story?
Finally, you cut down the story and begin polishing up the copy
you are planning to send in for the ad.
The copy editor comes by your
desk again. "I hope you haven't forgotten about the photo that will run
with your promotion," she says. "It's a great snap of the new shoe."
The photo is 10 inches by 4 inches.
With the copy you have already
written, you estimate that you will have room for a photo that is 7.5 inches
long. The photo can be reduced by using a scanner. How wide will the photo
be when it has been reduced?
Now that you have the reduced picture
in place, you see that you have 2 extra inches of space to fill with writing.
How many words will you have to add back into your copy to fill the 2 inches?