Not to worry, we've got 71 and 974. Let's get to adding them!

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 1 & 4 in column 1 and get 5.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 7 & 7 in column 2 and get 14.
We'll write down the last digit 4 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 0 & 9 in column 3 and get 10.
We'll write down the last digit 0 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 71 + 974 = 1045.

