ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS: PROBLEM SET 3

Easy
1. B

The question asks for the value of x. There are numbers in the answer choices, so use
PITA. Start with (C), 6 = x. That gives you 6 + 12 = 36. No good. At this point, don’t stare
at the other choices, waiting for divine inspiration—just pick another one and try it. It’s
okay if the next answer you try isn’t right either. If you plug in 4 for x, you get 4 + 12 = 16.
The equation is true, so the correct answer is (B).

2. B

The question asks for the highest number in a list of three numbers. There are numbers
in the answer choices, so use PITA. Start with (C). If the highest number is 6, the other
two are 5 and 4. 5 and 4 don’t add up to 3—cross out (C). Try (B). If the highest number is
3, the other two numbers are 1 and 2. (They have to be consecutive.) The sum of 3 + 2 + 1
= 6, and twice the sum of 6 = 12. If you picked (A), you didn’t pay attention to what the
question asked for. Be sure to reread the question so you know which number they want.
The correct answer is (B).

3. B

The question asks for the value of x. There are numbers in the answer choices, so use
PITA. Try (C) first. Does 28 = 84? Nope. (Use your calculator.) Try something lower, like
(B). Does 26 = 82? Yes. The correct answer is (B).

Medium
4. C

The question asks for the amount that Jane has to spend. There are numbers in the
answer choices, so use PITA. Try (C) first. If Jane has $47 to spend, 47 ÷ 3 = 15 with 2 left
over. (The shirts cost $15 apiece.) Now try 47 ÷ 10 = 4, with 7 left over. (Socks are $4 a
pair.) It works, so the correct answer is (C).

5. B

The question asks how much Josh spent. There are numbers in the answer choices, so use
PITA. Try (C) first. If Josh spent $120, Bob spent $240 and Ralph spent $40. That means
Bob and Ralph together spent $280, not $180 as the problem states. Choice (C) is no
good. Since (C) was way too big, try something smaller. If Josh spent $80, Bob spent
$160 and Ralph spent $20. So Bob and Ralph together spent $180. The correct answer is
(B).

6. C

The question asks how many marbles Tina has. There are numbers in the answer choices,
so use PITA. Start with (B). If Tina has 5 marbles, then Louise has 10. If Louise gives
away 3, then she has 7. If she loses 2 more, she’s down to 5. You’re supposed to end up
with Louise having 1 more than Tina, but they both have 5. Cross out (B)—and you know
you’re close to the right answer. Try (C). If Tina has 6, Louise has 12. If Louise gives away
and loses 5, she’s got 7, which is 1 more than Tina has. The correct answer is (C).
7. D

The question asks for the number of jelly beans in the bag. There are numbers in the

answer choices, so use PITA. Try (B) first. Oops— of 32 is a fraction. Forget (B). Try

(C): of 36 = 12 and of 36 = 9. Does 12 + 9 + 20 = 36? No. Try (D). of 48 = 16 and

of 48 = 12. Does 16 + 12 + 20 = 48? Yes!

Making a simple chart will help you keep track of your work:

C D

cherry 12 16

licorice 9 12

orange 22 20

TOTAL 41 48

The correct answer is (D).

8. D

The question asks for the solution set to the equation. There are numbers in the answer

choices, so use PITA. Try numbers given in the answer choices. The easiest number to

plug in is 0, so start with that. Plug y = 0 into the equation to get ,

which simplifies to . Since is not an integer, this equation can’t be true.

Eliminate (A). The next easiest number is 2, so plug in y = 2 to get .

This simplifies to or 0 = 6 – 6. Since this is true, eliminate (C), which does not

include 2. Finally, try –6. Plug y = –6 into the equation to get ,

which simplifies to or –8 = 2 – 6. This is false, so eliminate (B). The correct

answer is (D).

Hard
9. A

The question asks for the value that is equal to the area of the circle. There are numbers
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in the answer choices, so use PITA. Try (B) first. If the area is 2π, then the radius becomes
a fraction. That’s probably not going to be the answer, so you should move on. Try (A). If
 the area is π, then the radius is 1 (πr2 = π, r2 = 1, r = 1). If r = 1, the circumference is 2π(1)
= 2π. So the circumference is twice the area. The correct answer is (A).

10. B

The question asks for the least possible value of y. Solve this problem with a combination
of factoring and Plugging In. The question looks like this: 2 × 2 × 3y = x3. Now factor the
answer choices, starting with the smallest one, as the question asks for the least possible
value of y. Choice (A) is 3 • 2. If you plug that in for y, does it give you a cube? Nope.
Choice (B) is 2 × 3 × 3—now you have (2 × 3)(2 × 3)(2 × 3) = x3. It works, so the correct
answer is (B).

Strike Won!
When you plug in, start with the easier of the two middle choices. The
first one you do is likely to be the slowest, as you’re still working your
way through the problem, so don’t complicate it. Subsequent tries
should be faster, and are likely to be more straightforward than writing
out equations.

11. B

The question asks for the value of x. There are numbers in the answer choices, so use

PITA. Choice (C) is particularly nasty here, so try (B) first. This gives you . When

these fractions are added together, the sum is , which matches what the question is

looking for. You could also solve by plugging in—choose a positive integer for y, plug it

into the equation, and see what happens. You end up with x = . The correct answer is

(B).
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