Readers often need to revise or translate sentences of old texts into current language so that they can update the author's word choices to modern usage conventions improve the author's original wording with their own determine the correct meaning of an unknown word bring archaic words back into popular use

substitute y = 2x - 4 to x + 2y = 12:

x + 2(2x - 4) = 12     use distributive property

x + (2)(2x) + () = 12

x + 4x - 8 = 12     add 8 to both sides

5x = 20     divide both sides by 5

x = 4

put the value of x to the first equation:

y = 2(4) - 4

y = 8 - 4

y = 4

b. our party quickly made its way into the cave / but we failed to find our host [the cyclops] himself inside.