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PRACTICE EXERCISES FOR PROBLEM SOLVING TEST Number of Questions 23 18 9 50 Total PURPOSE This is provided to help you understand the rules for answering the Problem Solving Test by: 1. Telling you about important features of the test. 2. Giving you suggestions and strategies that can help when you answer it. 3. Giving you practice on questions similar to the actual test. FEATURES OF PROBLEM SOLVING TEST There are three types of questions which require critical thinking and analy tical skills: Understanding data presented in tables or graphs Understanding written paragraphs Solving math problems You will have 65 minutes to answer the 50 questions. You are allowed to use a calculator, although one is not required. You should use a pencil so you can erase to change an answer. Every question has five possible answers from which you must choose the most correct answer. You will not have to write any essays. You will simply mark ONE of the five answers which will be labeled A, B, C, D, E. During the actual test, you will mark your answers on a special answer sheet separate from the questions. If you mark more than one answer to a question, it will NOT be counted as co rrect. If you change an answer, it is important to erase your first answer so it do es not appear that you have marked more than one answer. SCORING Each correct answer adds one point to your score. Points are NOT taken off i f you mark an incorrect answer. You should try to score as many points as you can. FORMS/PST_Pra3_doc rbs Revised: 1/8/97 - 1 - SUGGESTIONS TO GET BEST RESULTS Recent research has indicated that the following practices can lead to bette r scores on Problem Solving Tests, including some you should do, and some you should not do. Things you should do to score well on a Problem Solving Test: Determine clearly the nature of the question before looking at the answer ch oices. Work as fast as possible with reasonable assurance of accuracy: do not lose time on a question you do not understand. Eliminate answers from consideration that you know are incorrect and choose from among the remaining answers. Mark an answer to every question, even if you have to guess. Use time remaining after completion of the test to reconsider answers. Things you should not do in answering a Problem Solving Test: Do not read slowly and carefully through the entire test before you start wo rking. Do not spend time verifying questions you have already answered until you ha ve answered every question. Do not spend time considering an answer that is not one of the five answer c hoices. - 2 - EXAMPLE QUESTION A. 80 kilometers B. 240 kilometers C. 40 kilometers D. 30 kilometers E. None of the above Time when you started: Time when you finished: Total time taken: Here is an example question with the correct answer marked as it should be o n the answer sheet: 1. A truck travels at the rate of 80 kilometers per hour. How much distance will it travel in 30 minutes? You will now have 25 questions to do as practice. Try to answer all of the q uestions in 30 minutes. Try to get the best score you can by practicing the suggestions to skip a question, or to guess, to save time. When you are ready, go to the next page and answer the practice questions as quickly as you can. Write the time when you start below. When you are finished, write the time b elow and determine the total amount of time used. This will give you an idea of whether you are working as quickly as you will need to do on the actual test. PRACTICE QUESTIONS ANSWER SHEET 1. A B EXAMPLE EXPLANATION 30 minutes is one half of an hour, so a truck going 80 kilometers per hour will travel 40 kilometers in half an hour. Answer C is colored in to indicate the correct answer. - 3 - D E Compare to 30 minutes INDUSTRY Agriculture Communication Construction Finance and Real Estate Manufacturing Transportation A. Agriculture B. Construction C. Finance and Real Estate D. Manufacturing E. Transportation A. Agriculture B. Communication C. Construction D. Finance and Real Estate E. Manufacturing A. Agriculture B. Communication C. Construction D. Manufacturing PRACTICE QUESTIONS Mark your answers on the attached ANSWER SHEET. TABLE 1 AMOUNT OF INCOME IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES (in billions of dollars) YEAR 2 YEAR 1 22 14 36 78 213 27 1. Which industry had the largest increase in the dollar amount of income from Year 1 to Year 2? 2. Which industry had the smallest increase in the dollar amount of income from Year 1 to Year 5? 3. Which industry experienced the largest percentage increase from Year 3 to Year 4? 4. Which industry experienced the least percent change from Year 1 to Year 4? YEAR 3 26 26 18 17 47 43 100 90 226 218 33 30 E. Transportation 5. For which industry was there the least consistent increase in income over the period of time covered by the table? A. Agriculture B. Construction C. Finance and Real Estate D. Manufacturing E. Transportation GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. - 4 - YEAR 5 YEAR 4 51 30 21 20 57 52 118 108 287 253 40 36 TABLE 1 (REPEATED) AMOUNT OF INCOME IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES (in billions of dollars) YEAR 2 26 17 43 90 218 30 YEAR 1 22 14 36 78 213 27 INDUSTRY Agriculture Communication Construction Finance and Real Estate Manufacturing Transportation 6. If the trend in the Transportation industry were to continue, its income for Year 6 would most likely be about A. 42 billion dollars B. 44 billion dollars C. 46 billion dollars D. 48 billion dollars E. 50 billion dollars 7. In which of the following instances has the first type of industry named consistently had an income about half that of the second? A. Agriculture; Finance and Real Estate B. Communication; Agriculture C. Construction; Finance and Real Estate D. Finance and Real Estate; Manufacturing E. Transportation; Communication 8. In how many instances did a type of industry make a gain of 10% or more over the previous year listed? A. 1 - 4 B. 5 - 8 C. 9 - 12 D. 13 - 16 E. 17 - 20 9. The type of industry showing the steadiest rate of growth in income during this period was A. Communication B. Construction C. Finance and Real Estate D. Manufacturing E. Transportation 10. In which one of the following groups did all three types of industry increase their respective incomes by most nearly one-third from Year 1 to Year 3? A. Agriculture; Communication; Transportation B. Agriculture; Communication; Construction C. Communication; Construction; Transportation D. Construction; Finance and Real Estate, Transportation YEAR 5 51 21 57 118 287 40 YEAR 4 30 20 52 108 253 36 YEAR 3 26 18 47 100 226 33 E. Communication; Construction; Finance and Real Estate 11. Which one of these types of industry experienced the least percent change from Year 1 to Year 4? A. Agriculture B. Communication C. Construction D. Manufacturing E. Transportation 12. Among the following, the greatest percentage increase in income occurred for A. Agriculture between Year 3 and Year 4 B. Communication between Year 2 and Year 3 C. Construction between Year 1 and Year 2 D. Finance and Real Estate between Year 4 and Year 5 E. Manufacturing between Year 3 and Year 4 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. - 5 - Read this page and then answer the questions on the next page. You may read any part of this again while you are answering the questions.
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