> A brick weighs one pound and half the brick. How many pounds does the brick weigh? I am a native english speaker and am having a hard time parsing this one.

> A brick weighs one pound and half the brick. How many pounds does the brick weigh? I am a native english speaker and am having a hard time parsing this one. The only sane interpretation I can think of is that one pound + half the brick = the whole brick. EDIT: I think the reason it is so confusing to me is because "and half the brick" sounds like (the start of) an independent thought. "A brick weighs one pound and half the brick was painted yellow". This version is much clearer, IMO: "A brick weighs one pound plus half a brick". Maybe there is a fear that wording the problems too clearly makes the solution obvious.