
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Pauline Bunyan can shovel snow at the rate of $25$ cubic yards for the first hour, $24$ cubic yards for the second, $23$ for the third, etc., always shoveling one cubic yard less per hour than the previous hour. After every two hours, Pauline takes a $30$-minute break, during which no snow is shoveled. If her driveway is $5$ yards wide, $12$ yards long, and covered with snow $4$ yards deep, then the number of hours it will take her to shovel it clean, including break times, is closest to:
A) 14
B) 15
C) 16
D) 17
E) 18

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user