Question

A sequence has a second term of 1 and a common difference of -3.
The fifth term of the sequence is _____.

Answer 1

If the 2nd term, a(2), equals 1, then the next term has to be 1-3, or -2.  The next term after that has to be -2-3, or -5.  Repeating this procedure twice more, we get the 5th term; it is -11.