Numerical Reasoning

Practice Test 4

Solution Booklet

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Q1 In 2006, how many more females than males scored an A-grade?

Cannot say 20,948 12,440 9,521

It is not possible to determine how many of the 805,698 entries were boys and how many
were girls.

Q2 In 2005 there were 800,640 entries. Approximately how many candidates scored a C-
grade in 2005?

186,549 184,948 112,681 602,281

Note that the percent of entrants receiving a C grade in 2006 is down 0.1% on 2005. So
in 2005 23.3% scored a C. Calculate 23.3% of 800,640.

Q3 If the ratio of Males to Females is 6:5, how many Males scored an A-grade in 2006?

99,760 105,913 52,912 134,259

Number of male entries = 805,698 x (6 ÷ 11) = 439,471.6. Percent of males scoring an A

grade we are told is 22.7%. So 22.7% of 439,471.7 = 99,760.

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Q4 In February 2006, the rainfall was 59mm. What is the normal rainfall for this month?

71.1mm 50.0mm 82.3mm 35.7mm

If in February the rainfall was 83% of normal (according to the graph), the normal rainfall
would be 59 ÷ 0.83 = 71.08mm.

Q5 Between January and July inclusive, for how many months was the rainfall less than
normal?
1 2 3 4

An easy one. Simply count the number of months where the rainfall is less than 100%.

Q6 Over the January to July period, how much rain was experienced in 2006 compared with
the same period of normal rainfall?

+185mm -72mm -58mm Cannot tell.

We are told the normal rainfall for only February. So there is no way of making a
comparison.

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Q7 If in 2006 a tax-payer’s gross annual salary was 24,000, how much tax should they have
to pay?

£2,115 £3,880 £4,380 £5,280

The amount subject to tax is 24,000 – 5,000 = £19,000. £2,500 of that is subject to 10%
tax = £250. The remaining £16,500 is subject to 22% tax = £3,630. Total = £250 + £3,630.

Q8 A person with a tax-free allowance as given in the above table has an annual salary of
£71,000. They paid £22,515 in tax for the financial year 06/07. What rebate are they
entitled to?

£705 £9,020 £2,445 They paid the correct tax

0-5000: no tax. 5000 – 7500: 10% tax = £250. 7500 – 38500: 22% tax = £6820. 38500 –
Above: 40% tax = £13000. Total = £20070.

Q9 What percentage would the 40% tax band have to be changed to in order for someone
earning £54,000 per year to pay £16,680 in tax? Assume the same tax-free allowance as
given in the table above.

42% 51% 62% 64%

0-5000: no tax. 5000 – 7500: 10% tax = £250. 7500 – 38500: 22% tax = £6820. 38500 –
54000: ?% = (£16,680 - £6820 - £250) = £9,610. And 9610 of (54000 – 38500) = 62.0%.

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Q10 To drive 215 miles in one day, how much cheaper would it be to use rental company
‘Take-A-Drive’?

£1.20 £4.80 £12.60 It would not be cheaper

Take-a-drive: £73.60 + 215 x £0.10 = £95.1. Whilst Custom-Hire: £60.00 + (115 x £0.16)
+ (215 x £0.10) = £99.9. Difference = £4.80.

Q11 The total rental cost (i.e. excluding petrol cost) for the two companies becomes equal if,
in one day, how many miles are driven?

85 100 185 215

Start with Take-a-drive. £73.60. Then work out how many miles driven at £0.16/mile
would cost (73.60-60.00). 85. Don’t forget to add the 100 inclusive miles Custom-Hire
give.

Q12 By what percent would the total cost of Take-a-Drive be cheaper than Custom-Hire for a
journey of 320 miles within one day?

22.7% 20.05% 22.0% 17.0%

The wording is deliberately not clear over whether petrol should or should not be included.
“Total cost” implies petrol should be included however. Take-a-drive: 73.60 + (320 x 0.10)
= 105.6. And Custom-Hire: 60.00 + (220 x 0.16) + (320 x 0.10) = 127.2.

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Q13 Approximately what percentage of Speedy Garage’s sales are made up from GT10
sales?

47% 41% 25% 72%

Add up all the sales: (25+25) + (150 +200) + (100 + 75) + (50 + 75) + (100 + 50) = 850.
Add up the GT10 sales: 350. Work out the percentage: 350/850 = 41.2%.

Q14 Approximately what percentage of all T22 sales in 2008 were made to males?

75 57 66 54

This one (like many real tests) requires the candidate to estimate values from the chart,
as exact values are not given. Number of T22s sold to males is 100. Number of T22s
sold to females looks like about 75. 100/(100 + 75) = 57%.

Q15 What model had the highest proportion of female customers?

T22 SUV-SX SUV-X GT10

Questions like this might be worth guessing if you’re running out of time because by eye
it is obviously not the T22 or SUV-SX. 200/350 G10 customers were female, whilst
75/125 SUV-X customers were female.

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Q16 Which region had the lowest ratio of complaints successfully dealt with to complaints
received in 2008?

Cornwall Devon Dorset Somerset

Cornwall: 1217/1899 = 64.1%. Devon: 802/1438 = 55.8%. Dorset: 695/1236 = 56.2%.

Somerset: 1192/1698 = 70.2%.

Q17 In which of the following regions, during 2007, were the most complaints resolved per
complaint received?

Cornwall Devon Dorset Somerset

Cornwall: 1448/2155 = 0.672. Devon: 839/1535 = 0.547. Dorset: 594/812 = 0.732.

Somerset: 1691/1766 = 0.958.

Q18 Which region had the largest percentage change in complaints between 2007 and 2008?

Cornwall Devon Dorset Somerset

It might be possible to spot this one without going through the calculation. Cornwall:
1899/2155 = 11.8%. Devon: 1438/1535 = 6.3%. Dorset: 1236/812 = 52.2%. Somerset:
1698/1766 = 3.9%.

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Q19 In what month was the most revenue lost per employee?

Feb Mar Apr May

Feb: 1375.00/1516 = £0.907. Mar: 1478.40/1531 = £0.966. Apr: 1543.95/1526 = £1.012.

May: 1590.04/1534 = £1.037.

Q20 In which month was the most revenue lost per man hour of staff absence?

Feb Mar Apr May

Feb: 1375.00/125 = £11.00. Mar: 1478.40/132 = £11.20. Apr: 1543.95/141 = £10.95.

May: 1590.04/127 = £12.52.

Q21 If a staff satisfaction initiative reduced the average man hours lost per month by 10%,
how many more man hours would be gained over the four month period?

468.6 51.2 52.5 472.5

For the average, just take the total number of man hours lost for the four month period
and multiply by 90%. 525 x 90% = 472.5. So the increase in man hours would be 525 –
472.5 = 52.5 man hours.

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Q22 How many more people rated free healthcare as most important than those who rated a
free mobile phone as most important?

6 12 8 22

Healthcare: 12% of 200 people = 24. Mobile: 6% of 200 people = 12. Difference = 12.

Q23 How many employees considered salary to be more important than pension?

98 72 58 Cannot tell

The graph tells us only what the staff considered was most important to them, not their
order of importance for every benefit.

Q24 The results of four additional staff were omitted from the original survey and are to be
included. If the four additional staff all vote salary to be most important, what is the new
percentage of staff who vote pension to be the most important?

12.68% 18.21% 18.63% Cannot Tell

New total staff number 204. Previous number of votes for pension was 200 x 19% = 38.
Now, 38 votes out of 204 is 18.63%.

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Q25 Which office has the largest number of non-equity partners relative to its number of
employees?

London Madrid Paris Moscow

Lon: 6/835 = 0.0072. Mad: 1/25 = 0.04. Par: 1/18 = 0.056. Mel: 4/185 = 0.022. Mos: 1/36
= 0.028.

Q26 If the ratio of equity partners to employees were the same in London as in Melbourne,
approximately how many more equity partners would there be in London?

10.6 17.5 9.1 21.1

Ratio in Melbourne: 5/185. And (5/185) x (835) = 22.568. So that’s an increase of 10.568

Q27 Within each office, 80% of the total profit is divided equally between equity partners within
that office. How much would an equity partner in the London office receive?

£399,852 £456,467 £514,050 £372,592

London office profit = (835 x £8,200) = £6,847,000. 80% of this shared between 12 is
£456,467.

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Q28 Which stock showed the largest fluctuation between the second and third quarter?

DERF GRITY SCXT HLET

DERF: = 1247.50 / 1312.00 = 95.08%. GRITY: = 721.00 / 762.50 = 94.56%. SCXT:

810.00 / 654.25 = 123.81%. HLET: 1482.00 / 1472.5 = 100.65%.

Q29 For which stocks was an end of quarter result higher than the previous quarter?

SCXT & HLET HLET & GRITY

DERF & GRITY SCXT & DERF

By inspection, SCXT and HLET experienced a rise in value both during Q3.

Q30 How many more shares of SCXT would 10 shares of DERF buy in Q1 than they would
have in Q2?

3.81 1.62 4.17 2.68

In Q1, 10 DERF shares were worth (10 x 1418 = 14180). For this, one could buy
(14180/623.75 = 22.733) SCXT shares. In Q2, 10 DERF shares were worth (10 x 1312 =
13120). For this, one could buy (13120/654.25 = 20.053) SCXT shares.

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