Three people are on an elevator.The woman weighs three times as much as the child.The man weighs 7 pounds more than 5 times as much as the child. If the child weighs p pounds, represent in terms of p, the combined weight of the child, the woman, and the man.
so put the words into math:
child: p
woman: 3p
man: 7+5p
So just add them up.