Let's analyze and solve question 26 from the image.

Question:

A shoe store reduced the original price of a shoe by 20% and then by a further 15%. What percent of its original price is the current price of the shoe?

Solution:

We can solve this by applying successive percentage reductions.

1. Initial price: Let the original price of the shoe be $P$.

2. First reduction (20%): After reducing by 20%, the price becomes: $P_1 = P \times (1 - 0.20) = P \times 0.80$

3. Second reduction (15%): After reducing by a further 15% on the new price, the price becomes: $P_2 = P_1 \times (1 - 0.15) = P \times 0.80 \times 0.85 = P \times 0.68$

4. Final percentage of the original price: The final price is 68% of the original price, since: $P_2 = P \times 0.68$

Thus, 68% of the original price is the current price of the shoe.

Answer:

The correct answer is D) 68%.

Would you like more details or have any questions?

Here are five related questions to expand your understanding:

1. What would the final price be if the second reduction was 10% instead of 15%?
2. How can you calculate successive percentage increases instead of reductions?
3. What is the final percentage if the original price is reduced by 30% and then by another 10%?
4. How would the calculation change if both reductions were 20%?
5. Can you generalize a formula for two successive percentage reductions?

Tip: Always apply percentage changes one after the other, not by directly adding or subtracting them from the original.