Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 1
Below is a stem and leaf diagram showing the finishing time, in
seconds, of 15 sprinters who took part in a race.

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1 8 9

2 0 4 5 6 6 9

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3 1 3 5 9

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4 0 3 4

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What is the median finishing time? ID
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Answer

Question 2
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Using the above stem and leaf diagram, what is the mean finishing
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time? Write your answer to one decimal point.

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Answer
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Question 3
A ruler is 30 cm in length, correct to the nearest centimetre. What is the
smallest possible length of the ruler?
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Answer
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 4
Add 7/9 of 189 to 5/8 of 128.

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Answer

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Question 5
Below show three different offers for a 49 inch plasma TV.

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Online Store 1 Online Store 2 Online Store 3

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SPECIAL OFFER SPECIAL OFFER SPECIAL OFFER
Original price = Original price =
£268.00 £295.00
r Pay £18.50
Discount = Discount = weekly for 16
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20% off! 1/4 off! weeks

Work out which online store offers the cheapest deal.

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Answer
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Question 6
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The following table shows the percentage of nickel in two coins.

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COIN WEIGHT NICKEL

50p coin 8g 25%

20p coin 5g 16%

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If both the coins are made of only nickel and copper, what is the
difference between the weight of copper present in the 50 pence coin
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and the weight of copper in the 20 pence coin?

A B C D E
1.3 g 2.5 g 1.8 g 2g 3g
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 7
How much more does it cost a company to place two 24 x 10 mono
advertisements and one 22 x 5 colour advertisements, compared to

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a company placing three 8 x 10 colour advertisements and one 7 x 5

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mono advertisement?

ADVERTISEMENT PRICES

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Size of the
Colour Mono
Advertisement
24 x 10 £12,435 £8,567

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22 x 5 £6,437 £4,218

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8 x 10 £4,208 £3,987

7x5 £2,576 £1,340

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£5,040 £1,365 £10,460 £9,607 £2,464
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Question 8
Below is a table representing the actual and target income for 2016 for
five different companies.
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ACTUAL INCOME TARGET INCOME

COMPANY
(ANNUAL) for 2016 (ANNUAL) for 2016
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Company A £234,570 £300,000

Company B £420,000 £421,560
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Company C £215,750 £450,000

Company D £310,250 £325,000
Company E £375,995 £325,000
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In the following year, Company B earns £275,000. What is the

percentage decrease from Company B’s earnings in 2016 and the
earnings in the following year? To one decimal place.
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A B C D E
65.5% 45.5% 39.5% 34.5% 41.5%
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 9
Below is a table representing costs for different products.

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Manu-
No. of Cost of Sales Total Sales
facturing Total cost
PRODUCT units material price per Revenue

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costs per per unit
(1000s) per unit unit After tax
unit

P 18.5 2.25 2.15 4.4 6.5 38,850

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Q 29.5 4.75 2.25 7 10 36,400
R 9 1.5 1.75 3.25 8 42,750

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S 13 3.5 2.25 5.75 15 120,250

Product P gets taxed 25% of the total sales revenue. What would the

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total sales revenue be before tax?
A B C D E
£43,320 £56,700 £51,800 £52,300 £62,700
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Question 10
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The table shows the number of times a die was thrown. It shows how
many times each number on the die appeared.
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Casts 1 2 3 4 5 6
First 10 2 3 1 1 2 1
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First 20 5 4 3 4 3 1
First 30 8 5 6 5 4 2
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First 40 10 6 7 6 5 6
First 50 13 7 10 7 6 7
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The same number did not appear on any two consecutive casts. If the
number 4 appeared in the 20th cast, which number/s could not have
appeared in the 11th cast?
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A B C D E
4 1 2 and 3 6 3
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 11
Using the above table, which of the following numbers must have
turned up the least amount of times in the first 50 casts?

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A B C D E

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2, 4 and 6 6 5 3 1

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Question 12
Using the above table, if the same number occurred for the 33rd and

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the 37th cast, what number/s could it be?

A B C D E

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1 2 4 1 and 6 6

Question 13
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A farmland is measured to be 220m in length by 80m in width. What
is the approximate area of the field in hectares? 1 hectare = 10,000m2
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= 2.47 acres.

A B C D E
17 hectares 1.76 hectares 176 hectares 17.6 hectares 7.67 hectares
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Question 14
The sterling to US dollar rate is 1:1.32. How many dollars would you
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receive if you changed up £450?

A B C D E
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$592 $541 $594 $531 $441

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 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 15
A flight leaves the airport at 2200 hours. It is an 11 hour and 45 minute
flight. There is a 2 hour time difference. What time will they arrive at

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their destination, assuming the time difference is 2 hours in front?

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Answer

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Question 16
Multiply 0.04 by 1.1.

Answer r ID
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Question 17
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What is 6/8 ÷ 2⁄3 ? Write your number using mixed fractions and its
simplest form.
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Answer
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 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 18
A lady has been prescribed medication by her doctor. She is prescribed
a 10.5 fluid ounce bottle of medication with the instructions to take

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0.25 fluid ounces three times a day. How many days does she have to

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take the medication for?

A B C D E

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7 days 10 days 12 days 13 days 14 days

Question 19

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What is 2⁄8 x 9?

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A B C D
2 1⁄3 1 1⁄4 2 2⁄8 2 1⁄4
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Question 20
Responses when asked how they get to school
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Bike,
Walk,
50
65
Train,
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60 Car,
80
Bus,
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105
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Among the respondents, 80% of the people who said they walk to
school and 90% of the people who said they bike to school also said
that they used this mode of transport because their school was less
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than 5 miles away. How many people said that they walk or bike to
school because it is less than 5 miles away?
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A B C D E
50 97 120 132 145
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 21
A History test consists of three papers. The first paper will be marked
out of 80, and has a weighting of 35% towards the final grade.

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The second paper will be marked out of 60, and has a weighting of

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30% towards the final grade.
The third and final test will be marked out of 40, and has a weighting

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of 35% towards the final grade.
A pupil scores 60 in the first paper, 45 in the second, and 35 in the third

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paper.
What is the pupil’s final percentage score? Give your answer to 1

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decimal place.
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Answer
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Question 22
There are 45 students in a class. 37 students have completed their
challenge of reading 6 books. What is the percentage of students who
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have completed their reading challenge? Round up to the nearest

whole number.
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Answer
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 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 23

Family Tree

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June Walker Jim Phillips
19.04.1924 05.11.1921

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Sam Walker Ellie Walker James Walker Jessica Smith
22.03.1958 03.02.1960 25.12.1965 31.01.1969

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Abbie Walker
31.01.1983

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old was Sam when he died? ID
Sam dies before Abbie is born. James was 16 when Sam died. How
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A B C D E
17 23 19 25 28
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 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 24
Government spending on “Education services” and “Health services”
was 56.3 billion pounds and 106.7 billion respectively for the year

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2009-2010. In the same year, the Government spending on “Debt

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Interests” was 22.22% of the spending on “Education services”.
The spending on "Education services", “Health services” and “Debt
Interests” constituted 50% of the total spending by the Government.

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What was the Government’s approximate total spending for the year
2009-2010?

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A B C D
551 billion pounds 615 billion pounds 351 billion pounds 435 billion pounds

Question 25
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STORE PERCENT CHANGE FROM PERCENT CHANGE
2011 TO 2012 FROM 2012 TO 2013
U 18 -10
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V 17 -7
W 16 6
X 20 -5
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Y -15 -8

If the dollar amount of sales at Store W was $456,250 for 2011, what
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was the dollar amount of sales at that store for 2013?

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Answer
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 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 26
Here are four match sticks.
Pattern 1

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The pattern continues as follows:

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Pattern 1 Pattern 2 Pattern 3

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How many match sticks would be in pattern 9?

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Answer
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Question 27
Below is a table of the total staff at Company A (Staff Distribution).
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HR(%) Sales(%) Finance(%) Media(%) Distribution(%) TOTAL(%)

Year 1 21 8 19 32 20 100
Year 2 28 11 17 28 16 100
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Year 3 16 21 19 26 18 100
Year 4 13 30 21 14 22 100
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Year 5 4 9 25 38 24 100
Year 6 20 27 25 12 16 100
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In Year 4, there were 504 people employed in Finance. How many

people in total were employed in Year 4 in the department of Sales?
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Answer
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 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Question 28
Below is a table listing the percentage changes in earnings from 2012
to 2014 for five different companies.

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Company Percentage Change Percentage Change
from 2012-2013 from 2013-2014
Company A +17% -5%

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Company B +12% +5%
Company C -11% +8%
Company D -5% -7%

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Company E +8% -3%

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At Company E, the amount of sales for 2013, was what percent of the
amount of sales for 2014? To one decimal point.
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A B C D
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3.1% 97.3% 103.1% 115.9%
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Question 29
Using the above table, if company B earned £412,500 in 2012, how
much money did the company make in 2014?
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A B C D
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£316,875 £462,000 £415,290 £485,100

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Question 30
You are going to drive to your friend’s house. She lives 17 miles away
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from you with an average speed limit of 30mph. Your friend asks for
an estimated time of arrival. If you leave your house at 1415, and you
stick to the speed limit, what time will you arrive at your friend’s house?
(Assuming there is no traffic).
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A B C D
14:49 15:00 14:32 15:04
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

ANSWERS TO NUMERICAL REASONING (BASIC SECTION 2)

Q1. 29 seconds
EXPLANATION = ‘median’ simply means ‘middle’. So, what number is

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in the middle? Using the data in ascending order, you will notice that 29

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(seconds) is the median/middle number.

Q2. 30.1 seconds

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EXPLANATION = to work out the mean number, add up all the numbers
and then divide it by how many numbers there are.

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So, 452 ÷ 15 = 30.133. To one decimal point = 30.1.

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Q3. 29.5 cm
EXPLANATION = if 29.5 is rounded up to the nearest whole number,
it becomes 30cm. If the number is less than 29.5, like 29.4, it would be
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rounded down to 29 cm. Therefore, 29.5 cm is the smallest possible
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length the ruler can be.

Q4. 227
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EXPLANATION = 189 ÷ 9 x 7 = 147.

• 128 ÷ 8 x 5 = 80.
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• So, 80 + 147 = 227.

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Q5. Online Store 1 offers the cheapest deal

EXPLANATION = Online Store 1 = 20% off £268.00
• 10% = 26.80
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• 20% = 26.80 + 26.80 = 53.60

• 268.00 – 53.60 = £214.40
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Online Store 2 = ¼ off £295

• 295 ÷ 4 = 73.75
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• 295 – 73.75 = £221.25

Online Store 3 = £18.50 for 16 weeks
• 18.50 x 16 = £296
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Therefore Online Store 1 offers the best deal.

Q6. C = 1.8 g

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EXPLANATION = to work out the question:

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Step 1 = 50p coin = 25% of 8g = 2g (nickel)
= 75% of 8g = 6g (copper)

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Step 2 = 20p coin = 16% of 5g = 0.8g (nickel)
= 84% of 5g = 4.2g (copper)

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Step 3 = so the difference in copper = 6g – 4.2g = 1.8g

Q7. D = £9,607

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EXPLANATION = to work out the question:

Step 1 = first company places orders for two 24 x 10 mono advertisements

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= 2 x £8,567 = £17,134 and one 22 x 5 colour advertisement = 1 x
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£6,437 = 6,437

Step 2 = 6,437 + 17,134 = £23,571

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Step 3 = second company places orders for three 8 x 10 colour

advertisements = 3 x 4,208 = 12,624 and one 7 x 5 mono advertisement
= 1 x £1,340 = £1,340
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Step 3 = £12,624 + £1,340 = £13,964

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Step 4 = difference between the first company and the second company
= £23,571 – £13.964 = £9,607
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Q8. D = 34.5%
EXPLANATION = 420,000 – 275,000 = 145,000.
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• So, 145,000 ÷ 420,000 x 100 = 34.5%.

Q9. C = £51,800
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EXPLANATION = 38,850 x 100 = 3,885,000

3,885,000 ÷ 75 = 51,850
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Q10. D = 6
EXPLANATION = the question may seem tricky at first, but if you
notice, the individual number of 6 was cast once in the first 10 attempts,

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and only once in the first 20 attempts. Therefore, the number 6 could
not have turned up from casts 11 – 20.

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Q11. C = 5

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EXPLANATION = the number 5 only appears 6 times in the first 50
casts, no other number has a lower cast rate at the end of 50 casts,
therefore 5 is the number with the least amount of casts in 50 attempts.

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Q12. D = 1 and 6
EXPLANATION = the numbers have to occur more than once between

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30 and 40. Only the numbers 1 and 6 do this, therefore this would be
the correct answer.
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Q13. B = 1.76 hectares
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EXPLANATION = 220 x 80 = 17,600 m2. 17,600 ÷ 10,000 = 1.76
hectares.
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Q14. C = $594
EXPLANATION = in order to work out the exchange rate, you need
to multiply the amount (£450) by the exchange rate for which you are
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changing into ($).

So, 450 x 1.32 = $594.
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Q15. 11.45am
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EXPLANATION = 10pm + 11 hours 45 minutes = 09.45. Plus 2 hours

time difference (ahead) = 11.45am.
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Q16. 0.044
EXPLANATION = in order to work out how to multiply decimals,
multiply the numbers normally, ignoring the decimal points. Then put
the decimal points back into the answer – remember, it will have as
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many decimal places as the two original numbers combined.

So, 4 x 11 = 44.
To get 4 from 0.04, it has 2 decimal places. To get 11 from 1.1, it has
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

1 decimal place. Therefore your answer needs to contain 3 decimal

places = 0.044.

Q17. 1 1 ⁄ 8

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EXPLANATION = an easy way to remember how to divide fractions is

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to turn the last fraction upside down, and then multiply.
So, 2 ⁄ 3 becomes 3 ⁄ 2

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So, 6 ⁄ 8 x 3 ⁄ 2 = 6 x 3 = 18. 8 x 2 = 16. So, we have the fraction = 18 ⁄ 16
This then needs to be simplified, both numbers can be divided by 2 to

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make 9 ⁄ 8.
Finally, we need to change this fraction into a mixed fraction. 8 goes
into 9 once, so that is our number before the fraction. We then know 1

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is remaining from (9-8), and the number 8 will remain on the bottom of
the fraction to form: 1 1 ⁄ 8.
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Q18. E = 14 days
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EXPLANATION = 0.25 x 3 = 0.75 (a day).
So, 10.5 ÷ 0.75 = 14 days.
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Q19. D = 2 1 ⁄4
EXPLANATION = this may seem tricky, but you must remember that
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‘9’ is also a fraction. You need to add the 1 underneath it to make 9 ⁄ 1.

So, 9 ⁄ 1 x 2 ⁄ 8 = 9 x 2 = 18 and 1 x 8 = 8. This gives us the fraction = 18 ⁄ 8.
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This can be simplified to 9 ⁄4 and as a mixed fraction, is equivalent to =

2 1 ⁄4.
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Q20. B = 97
EXPLANATION = people who walked = 80% of 65 = 65 ÷ 100 x 80 =
52.
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People who biked = 90% of 50 = 50 ÷ 100 x 90 = 45. So 52 + 45 = 97.

Q21. 79.4
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EXPLANATION = for paper 1 = the score was 60 out of 80 which

accounted for 35% of the total mark. So, 60 ÷ 80 x 35 = 26.25.
Paper 2 = 45 ÷ 60 x 30 = 22.5.
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

Paper 3 = 35 ÷ 40 x 35 = 30.625.
Finally, you need to add up all these percentage scores. So, 30.625 +
22.5 + 26.25 = 79.375.

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To one decimal place = 79.4.

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Q22. 82%
EXPLANATION = 37 ÷ 45 x 100 = 82.222. To the nearest whole number

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= 82%.

Q23. B = 23

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EXPLANATION = James was 16 = 1965 + 16 = 1981. So Sam died in
1981, 1981 – 1958 = 23.

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Q24. C = 351 billion pounds
EXPLANATION = Education services = 56.3 billion pounds and Health
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services = 106.7 billion pounds.
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22.22% of 56.3 = 56.3 ÷ 100 x 22.22 = 12.50986 (Round up = 12.51).
The total of Education, Health and Debt Interests = 175.51 billion
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pounds.
The total Government spending = 175.51 x 100 ÷ 50 = 351.02.
So, the approximate total = 351 billion pounds.
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Q25. $561,005
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EXPLANATION = for Store W, in 2011 = $456,250. In order to get from

2011 to 2012, we see a 16% increase. So, 456,250 ÷ 100 x 116(%) =
529,250.
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To get from 2012 to 2013, we see a 6% increase. So, 529,250 ÷ 100 x

106 = 561,005.
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So, the store amount of sales for Store W in 2013 is $561,005.

Q26. 28
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EXPLANATION = In each pattern, the number of match sticks is

increasing by 3 each time.
To work out the pattern, you will need to multiply the pattern number by
3 and then add 1.
 Richard McMunn's Aptitude Vault

To work out pattern number 9:

9 x 3 = 27 + 1 = 28

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Q27. 720

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EXPLANATION = in order to work out the number of people working in
Sales in Year 4, you need to work out the total number of employees
in that year.

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So, 504 (number of people employed in Finance) x 100 ÷ 21 (percentage
of Finance) = 2400.

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So, 2400 ÷ 100 x 30 (number of employees in Sales) = 720.

Q28. C = 103.1%

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EXPLANATION = If A is the dollar amount of sales at Company E for
2013, then 3 percent of A, or 0.03 , A is the amount of decrease from
2013 to 2014. Thus 0.03 = 0.97 (to make a whole one).
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Therefore, the desired percent can be obtained by dividing A by 0.97.
So, 1 ÷ 0.97 = 1.0309 x 100 = 103.09. Expressed as a percentage to
the nearest tenth = 103.1%.
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Q29. D = £485,100
EXPLANATION = According to the table, if the dollar amount of sales
at Company B was £412,500 for 2012, then it was 12 percent greater
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for 2013, which is 112 percent of that amount. So, 412,500 ÷ 100 x 112
= 462,000. From 2013 to 2014, the company saw a 5% increase, which
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is 105% of the previous month. So, 462,000 ÷ 100 x 105 = 485,100. So,
the correct answer is £485,100.
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Q30. A = 14:49

EXPLANATION = if you travel at an average speed of 30 mph for 17

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miles, this will take 34 minutes. If you leave your house at 14:15, you
will arrive at 14:49.
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