🌼 Roses, lilies, daisies — and a basket that keeps growing

A closer look at one question · SMC 2026 mock, Question 29 (bank id C4)

Mary had 48 flowers. 1/3 were roses and the rest were lilies and daisies, with 4 MORE lilies than daisies. How many daisies should she BUY so that daisies become 1/2 of the total flowers in the basket?

1 Split the 48 flowers as they are now

48 flowers

roses — 16lilies — 18daisies — 14

Roses = 48 ÷ 3 = 16, so lilies + daisies = 32. With 4 more lilies than daisies: (32 − 4) ÷ 2 = 14 daisies, and 14 + 4 = 18 lilies.

2 "Daisies = HALF the total" means daisies = everything ELSE

If daisies are to be exactly half the basket, that means daisies alone must equal roses + lilies put together — because those two halves (daisies, and everything else) have to be equal.

Need

roses + lilies = 34daisies need to reach 34 too

Roses + lilies = 16 + 18 = 34, so daisies must grow to 34 as well.

3 Buy the difference

She already has 14 daisies, so she must buy 34 − 14 = 20 more.

20 daisies

(Check: 34 daisies out of 48 + 20 = 68 flowers, and 34 is half of 68 ✓)

The trap: taking "half the total" as half of the ORIGINAL 48 (= 24) and answering 10. The total GROWS with every daisy she buys, which is why matching daisies against "everything else" is the safer way in.