I have always been lazy to the "statements", never thought they were really important, unless it is the conclusion other than that the answer is pretty obvious. In calculus questions for integrals and derivative questions like rate of change and etc. I never put Let x be that so I almost always lost marks on that. Because with all the assigning variables sometimes confuses me on what they mean and confused them with the important variables. I am still thinking in a concrete way so I just go by formula. I really need to get used to this because I am taking a course that has a lot of Proofing next. and my english isn't as good either :P