Question 1

A survey of favourite crisp flavours bought at Gramsci’s Grocery in various age groups has been
conducted. The results are as follows:

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ Total

Plain 42 28 45 39 72 236
Cheese & Onion 94 81 54 43 60 332
Salt & Vinegar 49 43 37 26 31 186
Smoky Bacon 62 70 53 65 63 313
Roast Chicken 53 38 61 57 54 263
Total 300 270 250 230 280 1330

One of the individual numbers in the table has been typed incorrectly, although the totals are
correct.

Which number is wrong?

A 62
B 28
C 53
D 43
E 72

Question 2

In a survey conducted to reveal TV viewers’ attitudes to continuity announcers beginning their

patter before a programme has ended…
….20% of respondents said this practice really annoyed them
….25% said it slightly annoyed them
….35% said they found the announcements helpful

Of the remaining respondents, 12 said they weren’t bothered by the practice, and 32 did not
return the questionnaire. How many people were contacted?

A 60
B 120
C 180
D 220
E 250

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Question 3

I need to buy sweets and balloons for a party.

I do not want to spend more money on balloons than I do on sweets.

I want to spend between £10 and £30 in total.
I want to spend at least £5 on balloons.

Which area of the graph represents these conditions?

30

Balloons

A B

10 C

5
D
5 10 Sweets 30

Question 4

A group of people were asked to give their opinions about a new flavour of ice-cream. The
responses are shown in the pie chart below.

Against In favour

Don’t mind

Which of the following shows the possible responses received?

In favour Against Don’t mind

A 1000 450 550
B 500 250 250
C 525 250 225
D 1050 450 500
E 500 275 225

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Question 5

The table shows the distribution of grades in A-level examinations for a group of students in
Physics and Economics.

Subject A B C Below C
Physics 40% 30% 10% 20%
Economics 45% 20% 10% 25%

Which of the following graphs could represent these data?

A B
50 45

45 40

40
35

35
30
30
25
25
20
20
15
15

10
10

5 5

0 0

A B C Below C A B C Below C

C D
50 50

45 45

40 40

35 35

30 30

25 25

20 20

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0

A B C Below C A B C Below C

Question 6

Fred, Joe, Sarah, and Val are all resitting their philosophy exam. In their previous attempt, they got
60, 75, 70, and 68 respectively. The resit was not a very successful experience; all changed their
marks by at least 4; Sarah lost more marks than either Joe or Fred. Val was the only one to increase
her mark.

Which of the following is NOT a possible increasing order of the marks after the resit:

A Fred, Joe, Sarah, Val

B Sarah, Fred, Joe, Val
C Sarah, Joe, Fred, Val
D Fred, Sarah, Joe, Val

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Question 7

Which two of these statements are equivalent?

A Leerkopfstadt is not larger than Meersuckle

B Meersuckle is smaller than Leerkopfstadt
C Meersuckle is at least as big as Leerkopftstadt
D Leerkopfstadt is not smaller than Meersuckle

Question 8

Tom and his girlfriend Kirsty have had a row at their flat; she leapt into her car and is now driving
up the M11 to get as far away from him as possible. However, he is chasing her in his car. Kirsty’s
car has a top speed of 90 mph; Tom’s can do a maximum of 130 mph. Assuming that they are both
driving at their cars’ maximum speeds on a straight stretch of road, and that Kirsty is 1000 yards
ahead, how long will it take Tom to catch up with her? NB 1 mile = 1760 yards.

A 47 seconds
B 51 seconds
C 55 seconds
D 1 minute
E 80 seconds

Question 9

Nowadays more and more people desire and believe they should be successful in life. This upward
mobility in our society, however, comes at an extremely high price. Evidence of this is the
psychological pressures and emotional traumas of the rat race. Schoolchildren in some countries
may suffer from sleep deprivation because they spend their evenings at school to help them pass
their exams. Otherwise they will not get into the prestige university of their choice, and thus get a
good job. In many different parts of the world, schools are becoming viciously competitive. That
this has happened over such a short time - no more than 30 or 40 years - indicates how much the
fear of failure has already permeated modern society.

Which of the following is the expression of the conclusion of the above argument?

A Pressures on schoolchildren have increased greatly owing to intensified competition.

B People in today’s society suffer negative consequences in wanting to become more

successful.

C People in today’s society are far more afraid of failure than those who lived in past
generations.

D Psychological pressures and emotional traumas have caused a fear of failure in modern
society.

E The fear of failure has become the most common problem modern cities face today.

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Question 10

Childhood obesity is rapidly becoming a global epidemic. The US continues to lead the way, with
as many as 37% of its children and adolescents carrying around too much fat. But other countries,
including parts of Asia and Africa, are rapidly catching up. What is urgently needed is for schools,
parents and children to work together. Encouragingly, changing a family’s lifestyle in healthy ways
does not appear all that difficult: it involves regular exercise, slightly smaller portions of food and
different, healthier food.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

A Surgical operations can be performed to help obese children.

B 43% of the children and adolescents in the US are too thin.

C Families with obese children often cannot afford to buy healthier food.

D The standard of education is poor in many parts of Asia and Africa.

E Children do far more exercise in Asia and Africa than they do in the US.

Question 11

Some people fear that there may be a risk of chemical pollution from the products that must be used
on genetically modified (GM) crops, saying the food chain may be contaminated and this may
ultimately cause harm to humans. However, Monsanto, the international food biotechnology
company, has spent vast sums on a campaign to provide information about genetically modified
crops, insisting the process which kills the insects is harmless to humans and the herbicide used on
GM crops is no more toxic than table salt. Therefore, the public can be assured that there is no
danger of such chemicals having harmful effects on human health.

Which of the following is the best expression of the flaw in the above argument?

A The author has ignored the fact that consuming large quantities of table salt can be
extremely toxic.

B The author has failed to mention whether studies on the effect of these chemicals on humans
have been carried out.

C The author has forgotten that even if the food chain is contaminated, it does not necessarily
follow that this will have an adverse effect on people’s health.

D The author has failed to observe that Monsanto may be making this claim in order to protect
its own interests.

E The author has only included the claims of one biotechnology company, and therefore, has
not provided enough evidence to support the reasoning.

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Question 12

When addressing the issue of global access to information technology, there are many who claim
that the world’s poor are more concerned about having enough to eat than about using e-mail or
surfing the World Wide Web. Indeed there seems little point in providing starving people with
information and communication technology. It would surely be more beneficial to use funds to
enable such people to gain better access to the food they so desperately need.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the above argument relies?

A Information and communication technology cannot be used to help those in need gain access
to food.

B Starving people do not know how to use information and communication technology.

C There is no point in using technology to try to improve the lives of the poor.

D It is necessary to provide more aid to people in places where there is famine.

E There are sufficient funds to help starving people in the world gain access to the food they
need.

Question 13

For almost a century, scientists have presumed that fatigue (or exhaustion) in athletes originates in
the muscles. Precise explanations have varied, but all have been based on the ‘limitations theory’. In
other words, muscles tire because they hit a physical limit: they either run out of fuel or oxygen or
they drown in toxic by-products. In recent years, however, scientists have examined this standard
theory and have become increasingly convinced that fatigue is caused not by distress signals
springing from overtaxed muscles, but is an emotional response. The brain creates distressing
sensations which we then interpret as unbearable muscle fatigue. Thus trainers of athletes need to
pay more attention to the emotional welfare of their athletes in order to maximise success in
performance.

Which of the following is most in need of clarification before accepting the argument and its
conclusion?

A Exactly what causes ‘an emotional response’.

B What effect ‘distressing sensations’ have on athletes.

C Exactly how ‘recent’ this scientific discovery is.

D Exactly what is meant by ‘limitations theory’.

E How often ‘unbearable muscle fatigue’ occurs in athletes.

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Question 14

The table below shows the result of a survey of 1500 commuters on their preferred means of
transport between Cambridge and Ely, compared with the previous year.

If this represents the feelings of people who intend to change their mode of transport for this
journey next year, what percentage of people would you expect to change to a faster average
journey time?

Current Journey
Train Car Bus Total
Train 150 180 30 360
Previous Car 120 300 120 540
Journey Bus 60 240 300 600
Total 330 720 450 1500

Average journey times between Cambridge and Ely (16 miles):

Train 16 minutes
Car 45 minutes
Bus 85 minutes

A 70%
B 28%
C 24%
D 22%
E 12%

Question 15

Cards can be bought with one of three designs – 1, 2 or 3. This design could be in one of three
colours – red, blue or green. The cards can also contain one of three messages – A, B or C. If the
following statements are all true, how many different cards can I buy?

 I do not want a card with design 1 in red.

 I do not want a card with a blue design to contain message A.
 I do not want a card with design 1 to contain message A.

A 18
B 19
C 20
D 21
E 22

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Question 16

John has three large parcels to send, but he must know the weight of each before the courier will
accept them. He goes to a coin-operated weighing machine, but he has only one coin. He puts parcel
A and parcel B on the scale, and the reading is 40kg. Parcel B is removed and parcel C is put on; the
machine reads 50kg. He now takes off parcel A and puts B back on; the reading is now 55Kg.

How much does parcel A weigh?

A 15kg
B 17.5kg
C 20kg
D 22.5kg
E 25kg

Question 17

Ed has a very mixed DVD collection: of his 100 DVDs…

….70 are DVD5 and 30 are DVD9
….80 are region 2, 15 are region 1, and 5 are region 4
….85 are in English, 5 are in French, and 10 are in German

What is the smallest number of DVD5 region 2 English language disks that there could be in
his collection?

A 35
B 40
C 50
D 55
E 70

Question 18

Marty’s favourite movie was on TV last Sunday afternoon, but as he couldn’t be at home, he set his
video timer. However, on the previous evening British Summer Time ended, and he set all his
clocks back one hour, as he should have – but he forgot the clock on the video. Moreover, because a
live sports event overran earlier on Sunday morning, the transmission of the film was an hour late.

So, when did the timer on Marty’s video start the recording?

A One hour after the movie started

B One hour before the movie started
C Exactly when the movie started
D Two hours before the movie started
E Two hours after the movie started

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Question 19

I want to put a fence across the front of my garden. I need to place a post at each end of the garden,
and the posts must be either 1.4m or 1.7m apart. The width of my garden is 20m and I do not want
to leave any gaps. How many fence posts do I need if I want to use as few posts as possible?

A 12
B 13
C 14
D 15
E 16

Question 20

Jonathan sells insurance. His salary is determined by the number of sales that he makes. If his total
sales are less than £10000 in a month, then he is paid 1% of the sales. If his total sales are £10000
or more in a month, then he is paid 2% of the sales.
Which of the graphs could show the amount that Jonathan is paid in a month against the total sales?

A B
Salary Salary

Sales Sales
C D
Salary Salary

Sales Sales

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Question 21

Many museum exhibits today are under threat owing to the existence of dust, which is extremely
difficult to remove from delicate objects. Researchers have shown that the most serious threat
actually comes from large numbers of visitors to museums or exhibitions. It was found that a
significant component of the dust on the Viking ships in one Danish museum consisted of fibres
from visitors’ jeans. Therefore, barriers of at least two metres in distance between the exhibit and
the visitors must be constructed in order to protect museums and their contents for future
generations to enjoy.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the above argument relies?

A People will continue to wear jeans when they are visiting museums.

B Constructing barriers will prevent any dust whatsoever from settling on delicate exhibits.

C Barriers of three or more metres in distance would not be more successful.

D There is no other better method of solving this problem than constructing barriers.

E Future generations will not cause so much of a problem with dust as visitors today.

Question 22

If you show up a bit late for a meeting in Brazil, no one will be too worried. But if you keep
someone in New York waiting for ten or fifteen minutes, you may have some explaining to do.
Time is seen as relatively flexible in some cultures but is viewed more rigidly in others. Indeed, the
way in which members of a culture perceive and use time tells us about their society’s priorities,
and even their own personal view of the world.

Which of the following is the best expression of the conclusion that can be drawn from the above
passage?

A The way in which a culture perceives and uses time can develop our general knowledge.

B There is little point expecting Brazilians to be on time, while the opposite is true when
dealing with people from New York.

C It is useful for those dealing with international cultures to understand their perceptions of
time.

D Some cultures are relaxed about time while others have fixed expectations regarding time.

E The importance of punctuality is viewed differently in every culture

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Question 23

Teachers may be ignoring a valuable means of tapping into memory reinforcement by not setting
their lessons to music. In an experiment undertaken at Georgetown University in Washington DC,
students who heard a history text set as the lyrics to a catchy song remembered the words better
than those who simply read them. This sort of memory enhancement may even explain the origin of
music. Before the written word could be used to record history, people memorised it in songs,
thus………………………………......................... Therefore teachers should be encouraged to use
music in order to help their students remember what they have taught.

Which of the following, if inserted in the space (…), most logically completes the passage?

A singing can undoubtedly improve memory.

B revealing that history is best remembered through song.

C learning music has been an integral part of human culture and development.

D demonstrating that reproduction of facts occurs best when music is played .

E revealing the undeniable link between learning and music.

Question 24

For a growing number of environmentalists, the humble plastic bag has become public enemy
number one - an unnecessary evil that must be stopped. The only people who have a good word to
say about plastic bags are the plastic-bag industry. While this may be unsurprising, their view has as
much right as anyone else’s to be heard. They claim the reason plastic bags are under attack is
because they are an easy and emotive target that reflects individuals’ guilt about general
environmental responsibility. In fact plastic bags are nowhere near the world’s worst environmental
problem . Could it be that they are right and the growing hate for plastic bags a mere case of
projected blame?

Which of the following is a conclusion that can be drawn from the above passage?

A Retail outlets are not doing severe damage to the environment by providing plastic bags.

B Damage done to the environment by individual members of the public needs to be

investigated further.

C There are hundreds of worse environmental problems than plastic bags.

D The plastic-bag industry can be trusted to tell the truth about plastic bags.

E Individuals are not bearing any responsibility for damage done to the environment.

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Question 25

There is a growing awareness that it won’t be long before both corporate adventurers and space
tourists reach the Moon and Mars. This is likely to have disastrous effects on the valuable research
that has already been and would otherwise be conducted in years to come. A wealth of important
archaeological sites from the history of space exploration on the Moon and Mars lie unprotected
from the threat of profit-seeking corporations and destructive forces such as souvenir hunting and
unmonitored scientific sampling, as has already occurred in explorations of remote polar regions, is
bound to take place. This evidence provides more than enough reason for such space adventures and
tourism to be discouraged and, indeed, halted.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

A Laws have been introduced which aim to protect archaeological sites in space.

B Corporations and tourists will be charged excessive prices to travel into space.

C Resources brought back from the Moon and Mars could benefit the future of human life on
Earth.

D Our understanding of polar regions has greatly improved thanks to the so-called
unmonitored scientific sampling.

E Samples of rock and other samples from the Moon and Mars will fetch extremely high
prices.

Question 26

Distance learning, such as e-learning, is seen by the unwary as a cheap option and as a way of
curbing costs. This is an error of judgement. Set up on a wave of innovation and excitement, the
initial wave of enthusiasm soon wanes. Few take on board the warning: any self-access material that
needs to be developed requires huge amounts of input time. It has been estimated that, for every
student hour, materials writers have to put in 70 hours of preparation. These hours all need to be
paid for, meaning that distance learning, in this form, can be even more costly than conventional
classroom-based learning.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the above argument?

A Students are able to reuse self-access materials as many times as they wish.

B Teachers of a 10-week classroom-based course of 2 hours per week have claimed to put in at
least 4 hours of preparation for every lesson they teach.

C Once in place, self- access material requires constant updating and research.

D Self-access material has to be more carefully checked by the user than material used in
classroom -based learning.

E Few students know how to use self- access materials appropriately and generally do not
perform as well as those who attend classes.

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Question 27

In today’s business world there are many who say that ‘brainstorming’ workshops help to
encourage the creative force needed to develop more successful innovations. In fact, workshops
where employees sit around ‘brainstorming’ and ‘being creative’ are now mushrooming. However,
they do not work. There are recorded instances of outside consultants setting up brainstorming
sessions for companies where the chairperson or director gives his or her ideas first. In doing so,
they set the parameters as no one wants to contradict or overrule the boss. This goes to show that in
‘brainstorming’ workshops, creativity is stifled, and these workshops are, in effect, a complete
waste of time.

Which one of the following is the best statement of the flaw in the above argument?

A The author’s conclusion contradicts the initial claim about the popularity of ‘brainstorming’
workshops.

B The author draws a general conclusion about ‘brainstorming’ workshops from evidence of
only a partial problem with such workshops.

C The author doesn’t give evidence of the number of brainstorming sessions that consultants
set up.

D The author fails to explain the exact outcome of the brainstorming sessions that the
consultants set up.

E The author fails to give evidence on the number of people who attend ‘brainstorming’
workshops.

Question 28

20 teams will compete in the International Star Trek Quiz. These teams will be divided into four
groups of five. Each team will compete once against each of the other teams in the group. The
winners of each group will contest the semi-finals; the consequent final will be played over two legs
– the team with the higher aggregate will be champions. The defeated semi-finalists will complete
with each other once for third place.

Questions per round:

Group Rounds 20
Semi-finals 25
3rd place final 25
Final 30

In all matches except the finals, a draw will result in one extra session of five questions. Each
question can be used only once in the entire contest.

How many questions will have to be set?

A 950
B 825
C 1150
D 2150
E 1160

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Questions 29 and 30 relate to the following data:

The table below shows information about visits to careers advisors at the University of Grungeville
in 2000 and 2005. The university has a student body of about 10,000, and there are five careers
advisors (these figures have remained the same between the surveyed years). Careers advisors work
only during the academic year (36 weeks at Grungeville)

2000 2005
Average number of sessions for consultation a week for each advisor 13 12
Average length of a session for consultation (minutes) 120 135
Average length of an individual appointment (minutes:seconds) 12:30 14:20
Average number of students seen per week (total) 624 565
Average time spent on careers lectures per academic year by each advisor 54 54
(hours)

Question 29

How much time per week did each careers advisor spend, on average, being available for individual
consultations and giving lectures in 2000?

A 26 hours
B 27 hours 30 minutes
C 28 hours 30 minutes
D 29 hours
E 30 hours

Question 30

What amount of time (in minutes) was theoretically available for individual careers advice for each
student in 2005 (to the nearest minute)?

A 25 minutes
B 26 minutes
C 27 minutes
D 28 minutes
E 29 minutes

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