
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
A student, Alex, is required to do a specified number of homework assignments to earn homework points using a different system: for the first four points, each point requires one homework assignment; for the next four points (points 5-8), each requires two homework assignments; then, for points 9-12, each requires three assignments, etc. Calculate the smallest number of homework assignments necessary for Alex to earn a total of 20 homework points.

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