【Question 3】There is a basket of apples. The first time, take out half of all plus 2 more. The second time, take out half of the remaining minus 3. There are still 24 left in the basket. The basket originally had $\qquad$ apples.
Analysis:
(Method 1) After the first take, there are left $(24-3) \times 2=42$ (pieces), originally there were $(42+2) \times 2=88$ (pieces) 
(Method 2) Let the original number of apples be $x$; $\left(\frac{x}{2}-2\right) \times \frac{1}{2}+3=24$; solving for $x$ gives $x=88$