Here's the picture you started out with:

The first question was to determine how many units (arrows) of energy the atmosphere needs to emit to be in energy balance.  The atmosphere is absorbing 3 units (highlighted below): 1 from sunlight and 2 are IR radiation emitted by the earth.  To be in balance the atmosphere must also emit 3 units. 

How many of the units would need to be sent upward and into space.  The intent was for you to determine how many of the 3 units emitted by the atmosphere would need to be sent upward and into space (the original wording might not have made that clear).  The atmosphere would need to send 1 unit upward into space.  This is the blue arrow (highlighted) in the figure below.

2 units (sunlight) are coming in and arriving at the top of the atmosphere and 2 units (one from the ground, the other from the atmosphere) are going out.  That part of the picture is in balance.  The 2 remaining units emitted by the atmosphere must travel downward (again the wording in the original question might have been misleading).  They are shown below.

Now the ground (which is absorbing 3 units and emitting 3 units) is in balance.

However you interpreted the original questions your final drawing should have looked like the one above.