Question

William is 16 years older than Ashley. Sixteen years ago, William was 5 times as old as Ashley.
How old is Ashley now?

Answer 1

Let W be William's age.
Let A be Ashley's age.

W = A + 16 <--- William = Ashley + 16 years
W - 16 = 5A <--- Minus 16 years from William (years ago) = 5 times Ashley age.

I know these are a little tricky to set up :)
Try to read little keywords like (is means = usually).

Answer 2

So you have a system of equations, solve for the unknowns. Yay.