Download Guessing on Problem Solving

Guessing on Problem Solving
For questions that you do not know the solution to and questions near the end
that you do not have the time to solve, you need to eliminate as many answer
choices as possible and make an educated guess.
 Word Problems



Do not guess “Cannot be determined”
Eliminate impossible answers
Eliminate the obvious
 Figures
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Estimate lengths, angles, or areas
(CAUTION)
Eliminate negative, too high, or too low
answer choices
Directions: Eliminate, then guess.
The average of 5, 10, 15, and z is 20. What is z?
A) 0
B) 20
C) 25
D) 45
E) 50
A jackpot of $39,000 is to be divided in some
ratio among three people. What is the value of
the largest share?
A) $23,400
B) $18,500
C) $11,700
D) $7800
E) $3900
A merchant increased the original price of an
item by 10 percent. If she then reduces the new
price by 10 percent, the final result in terms of
the original price is
A) a decrease of 11 percent
B) a decrease of 1 percent
C) no net change
D) an increase of 1 percent
E) an increase of 11 percent
Peter walked from point P to point Q and back
again, a total distance of 2 miles. If he averaged
4 miles per hour on the trip from P to Q and 5
miles per hour on the return trip, what was his
average walking speed for the entire trip?
A) 2 2/9
B) 4
C) 4 4/9
D) 4 1/2
E) 5
A
In the figure at the
right, diagonal BD of
square ABCD is 3.
What is the perimeter
of the square?
A) 4.5
B) 12
B
3
D
C
3 2
D) 6 2
E) 12 2
C)
A
In ∆ABC, what is the
value of x?
A) 75
B) 60
C) 45
D) 30
E) 15
A
8
x
B
B
D
C
In the figure above, four
semicircles are drawn, each one
centered at the midpoint of one
of the sides of square ABCD.
Each of the four shaded "petals"
is the intersection of two of the
semicircles. If AB = 4, what is
the total area of the shaded
region?
A) 8Π
B) 32 - 8Π
C) 16 - 8Π
D) 8Π - 32
E) 8Π – 16
4
C
The average of three number is 24. If two of the
numbers are 21 and 23, what is the third number?
A) 20
B) 24
C) 26
D) 28
E) 30
If a certain fundraising project has raised $12,000,
which is 20 percent of its goal, how much money will
have been raised when 50 percent of the goal has
been reached?
A) $60,000
B) $30,000
C) $18,000
D) $15,000
E) $4,800
A swimming pool is filled by either of two pipes.
Pipe A supplies water at the rate of 200 gallons per
hour and takes eight hours to fill the pool. If Pipe B
can fill the pool in five hours, what is the rate (in
gallons per hour) at which Pipe B supplies water?
A) 125
B) 320
C) 360
D) 480
E) 575
Doreen can wash her car in 15 minutes, while her
younger brother Dave takes twice as long to do the
same job. If they work together, how many minutes
will the job take them?
A) 5
B) 7 1/2
C) 10
D) 22 1/2
E) 30
After a 20-percent decrease in price, the cost of an
item is D dollars. What was the price of the item
before the decrease?
A) 0.75D
B) 0.80D
C) 1.20D
D) 1.25D
E) 1.50D
The average of 8 numbers is 6; the average of 6 other
numbers is 8. What is the average of all 14 numbers?
A) 6
B) 6 6/7
C) 7
D) 7 2/7
E) 8 1/7
In the figure above, PQRS is a square and PTS is an
equilateral triangle. How many degrees are there in
angle TRS?
A) 60
B) 75
C) 80
D) 90
E) It cannot be determined from the
information given.
In the figure above, AD = DC, ABC and ADC are
right angles. What is AD + DC?
A) 18 2
B) 18
C) 10 2
D) 10
E) 6 2
In the figure above, O is the center of the circle with
radius 1. What is the area of the shaded region?
A) 3  1
4 2
3
B)   1
4 2

1
C)

4 2

1
D)

4 2
E) π - 1