© Alpha One Coaching College

© Alpha One Coaching College

Thinking Skills Class 2 [Problem Solving - Finding Procedures]

Introduction

Finding procedures is another type of “Problem Solving” question in the test.

In these types of questions, you will have to find a method or procedure which you can
use to generate a solution using the information provided. Read the question carefully
and decide on the necessary procedures to find the desired answer before doing any
calculations!

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For these types of questions, it may be helpful to use algebra.

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When using algebra to solve these questions:

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Step 1: Let the unknown value be x.

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o If you have two unknown values, use the information in the question to write the
second unknown value in terms of x.

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o Eg. If you have 24 coins, being either 20 cents or 50 cents, let the number
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of 20 cent coins be x, therefore the number of 50 cent coins is (24-x)
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Step 2: Use the information given in the question to solve the question
o This will usually just involve some calculations (addition, subtraction,
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multiplication or division) as well as substitution.

Alpha Tip: If you get stuck and have extra time, you can try to use guess and check as a last
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resort.
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Introduction Questions
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1. I live on a country estate. Every six months, my friend Eva comes to stay. John comes
every nine months and Allan comes every two years. All three came in June 2014.
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In what month and what year will this happen again?

a. June 2020
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b. June 2018
c. June 2022
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d. September 2017
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2. Jack and Jill live 6kms apart. Jack sets off on his motorbike to meet Jill, travelling at an
average speed of 20km/hr. At the same time, Jill sets off on foot to meet Jack, walking
4km/hr. How long will it be before they meet?
a. 10 minutes
b. 15 minutes
c. 18 minutes
d. 20 minutes

3. I have 20 coins worth $1.35, and I only have 5 cent and 10 cent coins. How many 5 cent

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coins do I have?
a. 11
b. 12

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c. 13

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d. 14

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4. With $100, I can buy one atlas and two textbooks. With $275, I can buy two atlases and
seven textbooks. Which of the following statements is false?

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a. Two atlases and three textbooks cost $175.
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b. Three atlases and two textbooks cost $250.
c. $40 is not sufficient to buy an atlas.
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d. An atlas costs twice as much as a textbook.
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5. The diagram shows the dimensions of an office and entry lobby. Both are to be carpeted.
Each must have a single piece of carpet with no joins, although two separate pieces for
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the two rooms can be used. Pieces of carpet cost $10 per square metre.
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a
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Which of the following offcut pieces will be suited to the job and work out cheapest?
a. 8.6 x 5.5m
b. 6.7 x 8.8m
c. 6.7 x 9.6m
d. 5.2 x 10.3m
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Practice Questions [20 minutes]

6. 32 teams participate in a football tournament. The teams are divided into four groups of
eight teams. Within each group, each team plays each other team once. The top two
teams in each group play in quarter-finals, with the winning team progressing to semi-
finals, and the winning team of the semi-finals progressing to the final.
How many matches are there in total?
a. 81
b. 65

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c. 119
d. 126

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7. Three years ago, Tom and Mary bought a house for $400,000. The house has gone up by

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10% each year. How much is the house now worth?
a. $430,000

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b. $445,400
c. $520,000

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d. $532,400 in
8. In a certain wine-producing region, the number of vines planted out in a vineyard is
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directly proportional to its area. A 100m by 40m vineyard counts 1,440 vines.
How many vines are there in a 300m x 80m vineyard?
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a. 6,400
b. 6,820
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c. 7,600
d. 8,640
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9. In order to destroy a ballistic missile, a fighter jet must be next to. A jet travelling at
720km/h is chasing a missile travelling at 500km/h over the Arctic Ocean. The jet and
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the missile are 110km apart. How long will it take the jet to catch up with the missile?
a. 15 minutes
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b. 30 minutes
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c. 60 minutes
d. 130 minutes
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10. A taxi driver charges a fixed fare plus an amount that varies according to the time of
day. Between 6pm and 10pm, that variable amount doubles, and between 10pm and
6am it quadruples.
Which one of the following price scales would fit his pricing scheme?
a. $3.50, $5.00, $7.50
b. $5.00, $7.00, $9.00
c. $5.00, $7.00, $11.00
d. $4.50, $7.00, $12.00
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11. A purse contains the same number of 10 cent coins, 5 cent coins, and 10 cent coins. The
coins add up to $1.92. How many of each type of coin does the purse contain?
a. 9
b. 10
c. 11
d. 12

12. Robert is driving to Hobart from his home in Melbourne. He drives onto a ferry. The
ferry has a deck area of 3,600m2 for parking cars. Every car takes up 40m2. The ticket

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for each car on the ferry costs $50. Each car carries an average of 2 passengers. Each
passenger spends an average of $15 on board the ferry.
Assuming the deck is full of cars, how much money did the ferry operator take in?

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a. $6,300

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b. $7,200
c. $8,000

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d. $8,100

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13. I have some 20 cent stamps and three times as many 50 cent stamps. The total value of
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the stamps is $10.20. How many stamps do I have in total?
a. 16
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b. 20
c. 24
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d. 28
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14. Every month, a salesman makes $1,200 plus 2% on sales for that month. Last month, he
made $4,600. What was the value of his sales?
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a. $3,400
b. $17,000
c. $34,000
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d. $170,000
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15. In 4 minutes, Andrew can walk 560 metres. In 6 minutes, Tony can walk 600 metres. If
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they started walking at the same time, how far apart from each other will they be after 5
minutes?
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a. 0 metres
b. 100 metres
c. 200 metres
d. 350 metres
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Challenge Questions

16. 12 teams participate in a football tournament. The teams are divided into two groups of
six teams. Each team plays every other team in its group twice, and every other team
once. How many matches are there in total?
a. 67
b. 91
c. 96
d. 97

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17. The clock on Tom Tower is broken. It does tell the correct time, but only once every
hour on the hour. The minute hand travels four times as fast down to 6 as it does back

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up to 12. What is the correct time when the clock on Tom Tower shows half past one?

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a. 8 minutes past one
b. 10 minutes past one.

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c. 11 minutes past one
d. 12 minutes past one.

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18. Eloise is on a skiing holiday. One morning, she takes a ski lift to the top of a slope and
then skis all the way back to the bottom of the ski lift. These two distances are the same.
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The ski lift travels at a constant speed of 5km/hr. Eloise skis down the slope at an
average speed of 20km/hr. If it takes her 30 minutes in total to take the ski lift and then
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go down the slope. How long is the ski run?

a. 2.0km
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b. 2.4km
c. 3.2 km
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d. 3.6km
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a
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Questions 19 and 20 relate to the following information.

Chrissie is running a one-day course for 20 students. She charges each student $200 to attend
the course. She must pay:
• $250 for advertising the course
• $1,400 to rent the venue for the course
• $150 to rent the laptop, projector, and screen
• $2 per student for coffee in the morning break
• $20 per student for lunch
• $4 per student for tea and cakes in the afternoon break

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She must also print a 220-page hand-out for each student. The cost of printing is 20 cents per
page plus $5 for binding (per hand-out).

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19. How much does it cost Christie in total?

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a. $2,100
b. $2,700

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c. $3,300
d. $3,900

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20. How much profit does she make from running the course?
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a. $1,900
b. $1,300
c. $700
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d. $100
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Homework Questions [20 minutes]

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21. I have 15 coins worth $5.10, and I only have 20 cent and 50 cent coins. How many 20
cent coins do I have?
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a. 7
b. 8
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c. 9
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d. 10
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22. Stephen and I were standing in a line. There were five people in front of me in the line
and Stephen was 4th from the back. If there were 25 people in the line, how many people
are between Stephen and I?
a. 16
b. 14
c. 15
d. 25
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23. If it takes 11 men 18 days to renovate a house, how many weeks does it take 9 men to
renovate a house?
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a. 3"
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b. 3#
c. 22
d. 25

24. In a corn field, the number of corns planted out in a field is directly proportional to its

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area. A 20m by 100m field can plant 3,100 corn. How many corns are there in an 80m x
300m field?
a. 32,800

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b. 33,100

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c. 35,200
d. 37,200

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25. I used one quarter of my money in the morning, then spent three fifths of the remaining

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money. Finally, I spent $5.75. If I have $2.65 remaining, how much did I start off with?
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a. $10
b. $15
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c. $25
d. $28
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26. Kelvin and Josh are running a marathon. Josh is 320m ahead of Kelvin. If Kelvin is now
running at an average speed of 100m/min and Josh is running at 80m/min. How many
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minutes are there until Kelvin catches up to Josh?

a. 16
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b. 18
c. 20
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d. Kelvin never catches up.

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27. I bought three mugs and one plate for $53 and my friend Susan bought 2 mugs and 2
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plates for $58. How much does one plate cost?

a. $12
b. $14
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c. $15
d. $17
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28. If Sam goes to the bowling alley once every 2 months, his friend Nancy goes once every
5 months while Bobby goes once 3 months. If all three friends were at the bowling alley
at February 2020, in what month and year will they both be at the bowling alley
together again?
a. July 2020
b. February 2021
c. June 2022
d. August 2022

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29. A theatre can seat 300 people in total. A ticket costs $20 and on average each person
spends $5 on snacks from the theatre shop. Assuming the theatre is half full, how much
money did the theatre operator make?

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a. $3,200

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b. $3,750
c. $4,000

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d. $4,100

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30. I have 18 coins worth $6.00, and I only have 20 cents coins and $1 coins. How many $1
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coins do I have?
a. 6
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b. 5
c. 4
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d. 3
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Week 2- Thinking Skills [Finding Procedures] Answers

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. B
5. D
6. C
7. D
8. D
9. B
10. C
11. D
12. B
13. C
14. D
15. C
16. D
17. D
18. A
19. C
20. C
21. B
22. C
23. A
24. D
25. D
26. A
27. D
28. D
29. B
30. D