PRACTICE EXERCISES FOR PROBLEM SOLVING TEST

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 uestions similar to the actual test.

FEATURES OF PROBLEM SOLVING TEST

There are three types of uestions which re uire critical thin!ing and analytical s!ills: $nderstanding data presented in tables or graphs $nderstanding written paragraphs Solving math problems "umber of #uestions 23 1% 11 &' Total

(ou will have %& minutes to answer the &' uestions. (ou are allowed to use a calculator) although one is not re uired. (ou should use a pencil so you can erase to change an answer. *very uestion has five possible answers from which you must choose the most correct answer. (ou will not have to write any essays. (ou will simply mar! +"* of the five answers which will be labeled ,) -) .) /) *. /uring the actual test) you will mar! your answers on a special answer sheet separate from the uestions. 0f you mar! more than one answer to a uestion) it will "+T be counted as correct. 0f you change an answer) it is important to erase your first answer so it does not appear that you have mar!ed more than one answer.

SCORING
*ach correct answer adds one point to your score. Points are "+T ta!en off if you mar! an incorrect answer. (ou should try to score as many points as you can.

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SUGGESTIONS TO GET BEST RESULTS

2ecent research has indicated that the following practices can lead to better 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: : /etermine clearly the nature of the uestion before loo!ing at the answer choices. : ;or! as fast as possible with reasonable assurance of accuracy: do not lose time on a uestion you do not understand. : *liminate answers from consideration that you !now are incorrect and choose from among the remaining answers. : 3ar! an answer to every uestion) even if you have to guess. : $se time remaining after completion of the test to reconsider answers.

Things you should not do in answering a Problem Solving Test: : /o not read slowly and carefully through the entire test before you start wor!ing. : /o not spend time verifying uestions you have already answered until you have answered every uestion. : /o not spend time considering an answer that is not one of the five answer choices.

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PRACTICE QUESTIONS
<ere is an e=ample uestion with the correct answer mar!ed as it should be on the answer sheet: EXAMPLE QUESTION ANSWER SHEET 1.
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1. , truc! travels at the rate of 7' !ilometers per hour. <ow much distance will it travel in 3' minutes@ ,. -. .. /. *. 7' !ilometers 2A' !ilometers A' !ilometers 3' !ilometers "one of the above

EXAMPLE EXPLANATION 3' minutes is one half of an hour) so a truc! going 7' !ilometers per hour will travel A' !ilometers in half an hour. ,nswer . is colored in to indicate the correct answer.

(ou will now have 2& uestions to do as practice. Try to answer all of the uestions in 3' minutes. Try to get the best score you can by practicing the suggestions to s!ip a uestion) or to guess) to save time. ;hen you are ready) go to the ne=t page and answer the practice uestions as uic!ly as you can. ;rite the time when you start below. ;hen you are finished) write the time below and determine the total amount of time used. This will give you an idea of whether you are wor!ing as uic!ly as you will need to do on the actual test.

Time when you started: Time when you finished: Total time ta!en: .ompare to 3' minutes

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PRACTICE QUESTIONS
3ar! your answers on the attached ,"S;*2 S<**T. TABLE 1

AMOUNT OF INCOME IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES (in billions o !oll"#s$

INDUSTR% ,griculture .ommunication .onstruction 1inance and 2eal *state 3anufacturing Transportation %EAR 1 22 1A 3% 97 213 29 %EAR & 2% 19 A3 8' 217 3' %EAR ' 2% 17 A9 1'' 22% 33 %EAR ( 3' 2' &2 1'7 2&3 3% %EAR ) &1 21 &9 117 279 A'

A. ;hich industry e=perienced the least percent change from (ear 1 to (ear A@ 1. ;hich industry had the largest increase in the dollar amount of income from (ear 1 to (ear 2@ ,. -. .. /. *. ,griculture .onstruction 1inance and 2eal *state 3anufacturing Transportation ,. -. .. /. *. ,griculture .ommunication .onstruction 3anufacturing Transportation

&. 1or which industry was there the least consistent increase in income over the period of time covered by the table@ ,. -. .. /. *. ,griculture .onstruction 1inance and 2eal *state 3anufacturing Transportation

2. ;hich industry had the smallest increase in the dollar amount of income from (ear 1 to (ear &@ ,. -. .. /. *. ,griculture .onstruction 1inance and 2eal *state 3anufacturing Transportation

3. ;hich industry e=perienced the largest percentage increase from (ear 3 to (ear A@ ,. -. .. /. *. ,griculture .ommunication .onstruction 1inance and 2eal *state 3anufacturing

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TABLE 1 (REPEATED$

AMOUNT OF INCOME IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES (in billions o !oll"#s$

INDUSTR% ,griculture .ommunication .onstruction 1inance and 2eal *state 3anufacturing Transportation %EAR 1 22 1A 3% 97 213 29 %EAR & 2% 19 A3 8' 217 3' ,. -. .. /. %EAR ' 2% 17 A9 1'' 22% 33 %EAR ( 3' 2' &2 1'7 2&3 3% %EAR ) &1 21 &9 117 279 A'

%. 0f the trend in the Transportation industry were to continue) its income for (ear % would most li!ely be about ,. -. .. /. *. A2 billion dollars AA billion dollars A% billion dollars A7 billion dollars &' billion dollars

,gricultureB .ommunicationB Transportation ,gricultureB .ommunicationB .onstruction .ommunicationB .onstructionB Transportation .onstructionB 1inance and 2eal *state) Transportation *. .ommunicationB .onstructionB 1inance and 2eal *state 11. <ow many industries had a growth rate of at least 2'C from (ear 1 to (ear 3@

9. 0n which of the following instances has the first type of industry named consistently had an income about half that of the second@ ,. -. .. /. *. ,gricultureB 1inance and 2eal *state .ommunicationB ,griculture .onstructionB 1inance and 2eal *state 1inance and 2eal *stateB 3anufacturing TransportationB .ommunication

,. -. .. /. *.

1 2 3 A &

12. ,mong the following) the greatest percentage increase in income occurred for ,. -. .. /. ,griculture between (ear 3 and (ear A .ommunication between (ear 2 and (ear 3 .onstruction between (ear 1 and (ear 2 1inance and 2eal *state between (ear A and (ear & *. 3anufacturing between (ear 3 and (ear A

7. 0n how many instances did a type of industry ma!e a gain of 1'C or more over the previous year listed@ ,. -. .. /. *. 16A &67 8 6 12 13 6 1% 19 6 2'

8. The type of industry showing the steadiest rate of growth in income during this period was ,. -. .. /. *. .ommunication .onstruction 1inance and 2eal *state 3anufacturing Transportation GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE*

1'. 0n which one of the following groups did all three types of industry increase their respective incomes by most nearly one6third from (ear 1 to (ear 3@

2ead this page and then answer the uestions on the ne=t page. (ou may read any part of this again while you are answering the uestions. 1 2 3 A & % 9 7 8 1' 11 12 13 1A 1& 1% 19 17 18 2' 21 22 23 2A 2& 2% 29 27 28 3' 31 32 33 3A 3& 3% 39 37 38 A' A1 A2 A3 AA A& , personnel department should first of all thin! of itself as a research group. The research 0 am thin!ing of is a uestioning of personnel techni ues) a re6 e=amining of accepted procedures. 0t is searching for facts and anticipating future developments. 0t is thin!ing about your Dob and e=ploring new ways of carrying it out. Secondly) a personnel depart6 ment should e uip itself with the !nowledge and e=perience which will enable it to advise top management on personnel policies and) when appropriate) to draw managementEs attention to the employee relations implications of contemplated courses of action. Third) personnel people should wor! closely with line management in developing guidelines and proce6 dures which will help the operating people carry out their responsibil6 ities in the employee relations area. Such guides will put the specialiFed s!ills which personnel people have at the disposal of the line managers without removing the essential day6to6day contact they should have with their own people. 1inally) the personnel depart6 ment should perform a review or survey function. ,re personnel policies and programs being admin6 istered correctly@ ,re there particular problems which ma!e modifications necessary@ ,re the programs accomplishing what they were intended to accomplish@ Should changes be made to strength6 en them@ These are some important uestions that a review function can help answer.

19. 0n line 29) the function of the sentence beginning GSuch guides...G is that of 13. ;hich two personnel functions described in the passage appear to have the most in common@ ,. -. .. /. *. 2esearch and advisory 2esearch and review ,dvisory and review Procedure and review 2esearch and procedure ,. -. .. /. *. providing a rationale. emphasiFing a point. indicating an analogy. adding details. presenting evidence.

1A. GtheyG in line 31 refers most clearly to ,. -. .. /. *. Gpersonnel departmentG in lines 12613 Gtop managementG in line 1& Gguidelines and proceduresG in lines 2362A Gpersonnel peopleG in lines 27628 Gline managersG in line 3'

17. ,ll of the following are clearly indicated by the author as important for a personnel department to be effective e=cept ,. loo!ing ahead to see what will be needed in the future. -. see!ing to find new and better ways for handling personnel matters. .. giving counsel to high6level managers on matters of personnel policy. /. having day6to6day contacts with people in the various line departments. *. loo!ing for new ways to ma!e oneEs Dob more effective.

1&. The uestions posed in the last paragraph are ones which are to be answered primarily through ,. -. .. /. *. foreseeing possible developments effective communication with employees critical evaluation conscientious application of policies provision of fle=ibility in approaches

18. The main point of the first paragraph is that members of a personnel department should ,. thin! about their Dobs so they become as productive as possible. -. have a certain !ind of orientation in their wor!. .. produce facts rather than rely on hunches. /. re6e=amine accepted personnel techni ues and procedures. *. emphasiFe anticipation of future developments.

1%. ;hy does the author regard the day6to6day contact referred to in line 31 as GessentialG@ ,. This is needed to search for facts and anticipate developments. -. This is important for advising top management. .. This forms the basis for developing guidelines and procedures. /. This is basic for !nowing that policies and programs are administered properly. *. The author does not clearly say why.

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2'. The normal selling price of a case of soap is H1'.''. /uring a special sale) the price was reduced by 1'C. I"ote: 1'C means 1' percent.J This sale price was 2'C greater than the cost to produce a case of soap. <ow much did it cost to produce a case of soap@ ,. -. .. /. *. H8.'' H7.'' H9.&' H9.'' H%.&'

2A. , certain preparation consists of li uids =) y) and F in the proportion &:2:1. <ow many gallons of the preparation can be made from a stoc! of materials consisting of 2& gallons of =) 2' gallons of y) and 7 gallons of F@ ,. -. .. /. *. 2& A' 7' &3 &'

21. , picture on a page was reduced on a copier to %'C of its original siFe) and this copy was then reduced by 2'C. ;hat percent of the siFe of the original picture was the final copy@ ,. -. .. /. *. 12 2' A' A7 &2

2&. , product costing %' cents per unit to produce had been selling at the average rate of 1)2'')''' units per month. ,fter the product was improved) sales increased to an average of 2)''')''' units per month. <owever) the new product cost five percent more to produce. 0f the manufacturerEs selling price in each instance was 9& cents per unit) what was the manufacturerEs added profit per month with the newer product@ ,. -. .. /. *. H2')''' H%')''' H2'')''' H2A')''' +ne cannot tell from the information given.

22. 0n a certain department) 1&C of the females and 2&C of the males are wor!ing on a proDect. %'C of the department is female. ;hat percent of the department is wor!ing on the proDect@ ,. -. .. /. *. 12 18 A' A7 +ne cannot tell from the information given.

23. The total cost for five items of repair wor! on a car was H18&. +verhaul of the carburetor cost twice as much as the tune6up) bra!e pads cost one6third as much as the carburetor overhaul) and alignment and wheel balancing each cost one6third as much as the tune6up. ;hat did the tune6up cost@ ,. -. .. /. *. H3' HA& H%' H8' +ne cannot tell from the information given.