Meet Cody, a seventh grader with a knack for math. His school is taking the math portion of the Georgia Milestone , and one of the problems on his test asks him to solve an algebraic equation. Cody feels a rush of excitement; this is his chance to shine. The equation is: 5x - 3 = 2x + 4. Cody doesn't panic. He knows he needs to gather like terms together. He subtracts 2x from both sides to get 3x - 3 = 4. He then adds 3 to both sides to isolate the variable, 3x = 7. Now, Cody just needs to solve for x, so he divides both sides by 3. The solution he gets is x = 7/3. Cody smiles smugly as he looks for the answer choice to bubble in. He is shocked that his answer isn't there as a possible choice. He reminds himself of the importance of checking the solution. He plugs x = 7/3 back into the original equation and it holds true. "So...Why isn't it there? Did the test creators make a mistake?" he wonders frantically as he scratches his head. Suddenly with a satisfied smile, Cody remembers that the improper fraction could be converted to a mixed number. He quickly divides his denominator into his numerator and comes up with x = 2 and 1/3 as an alternate answer. He checks his available answer choices and sees it as Choice B. He marks his solution and moves on with his test feeling confident in his quick thinking and precise algebraic skills. When the 7th Grade Math Milestone scores finally come back, Cody isn't really surprised that he scored a Level 4 Distinguished Learner!