Thinking SkillsSpecimen Paper 1, 2007-2009

Questions 21, 22, 23, 25, 31, 34, 35, 33

Q. 21 (C)The ladder needs to be at least 8m long

Look at the ‘extended’ lengths Eliminate the first two ‘triple section’ ladders Eliminate the first three ‘double section’ ladders

It has to store in a maximum of 4.2m longLook at the ‘closed lengths

Eliminate the last three ‘double section’ ladders All the ‘double section’ ladders are now eliminated

What is the lowest price?Only two ladders are left to consider (with 3

prices)Find the cheapest of those

Q. 22 (D)Production cost of each card:

70p, because …20p for materials + 50p for labour

(one-twelfth of $6, because she can make 12 cards in one hour)

Selling price of each card:70p +35p (50% of 70p)

Q. 23 (A)Work backwards:

75 ice creams are sold each week, and delivery takes 2 weeks

So they must be ordered, at the latest, when they are down to 150 ice creams

At the moment there are 360 ice creams (10 boxes x 36)

So they can sell a maximum of 210 (360 – 150) before ordering

2 whole weeks of sales = 150 (OKAY)3 whole weeks of sales = 225 (NOT OKAY!)

Q. 25 (D)Condition 1: the area must be above the

horizontal 5 mg line (C, D, or E)

Condition 3: the area must be below the horizontal 10 mg line (so C or D)

Condition 2: the vertical progression (dose) cannot exceed the horizontal progression (weight) so the area must stay below the diagonal line (D)

Q. 31 (D)The line on the graph has two segments:

A constant salary up to a certain point of sales= “a fixed amount for sales up to a

target”

Then an increasing salary beyond that point= “plus a percentage of the sales

above his target”

Q. 34 (B)The smallest number of bottles that fulfils the

basic requirement would be 6+5+4+3+2+1 = 21

Now we need to get above the 35 she has already, so …

Another six bottles would give one more to each child: 21+6 = 27 (7+6+5+4+3+2)

Another six = 33; and six more = 39 (9+8+7+6+5+4)

So she needs to buy 4 more

Q. 35 (D)15cm x 15cm tin = 225 sq. cm. (enough for 4

people)

For 18 people, she needs 4.5 times that amount (4 x 4.5 = 18; or 18 divided by 4 = 4.5)

225 sq. cm. x 4.5 = 1012.5 sq. cm.

10cm x 15cm tin = 150 sq. cm.

1=150, 2=300, 3=450, 4=600, 5=750, 6=900, 7=1,050

Q. 33 (C)Be careful:

It’s not the actual number of seats, but the “change” from the previous election (an increase or decrease)

There are 2 small tables of figures, but the first table on the page was chronologically the second election

The order of the parties is not the same in both tables

And the order on the graph is different again!

Graph C: Able = -24 / Willing = +8 / Ready = +16