PRACTICE EXERCISES FOR PROBLEM SOLVING TEST PURPOSE This is provided to help you understand the rules for answering the Problem Solving Test by: 1. Telling you about important features of the test. 2. Giving you suggestions and strategies that can help when you answer it. 3. Giving you practice on questions similar to the actual test. FEATURES OF PROBLEM SOLVING TEST There are three types of questions which require critical thinking and analytical skills: Number of Questions Understanding data presented in tables or graphs 23 Understanding written paragraphs 16 Solving math problems 11 50 Total You will have 65 minutes to answer the 50 questions. You are allowed to use a calculator, although one is not required. You should use a pencil so you can erase to change an answer. Every question has five possible answers from which you must choose the most correct answer. You will not have to write any essays. You will simply mark ONE of the five answers which will be labeled A, B, C, D, E. During the actual test, you will mark your answers on a special answer sheet separate from the questions. If you mark more than one answer to a question, it will NOT be counted as correct. If you change an answer, it is important to erase your first answer so it does not appear that you have marked more than one answer. SCORING Each correct answer adds one point to your score. Points are NOT taken off if you mark an incorrect answer. You should try to score as many points as you can. SUGGESTIONS TO GET BEST RESULTS Recent research has indicated that the following practices can lead to better scores on Problem Solving Tests, including some you should do, and some you should not do. Things you should do to score well on a Problem Solving Test: Determine clearly the nature of the question before looking at the answer choices. Work as fast as possible with reasonable assurance of accuracy: do not lose time on a question you do not understand. Eliminate answers from consideration that you know are incorrect and choose from among the remaining answers. Mark an answer to every question, even if you have to guess. Use time remaining after completion of the test to reconsider answers. Things you should not do in answering a Problem Solving Test: Do not read slowly and carefully through the entire test before you start working. Do not spend time verifying questions you have already answered until you have answered every question. Do not spend time considering an answer that is not one of the five answer choices. PRACTICE QUESTIONS Here is an example question with the correct answer marked as it should be on the answer sheet: EXAMPLE QUESTION ANSWER SHEET 1. 1. A truck travels at the rate of 80 kilometers per hour. How much distance will it travel in 30 minutes? A. 80 kilometers B. 240 kilometers C. 40 kilometers D. 30 kilometers E. None of the above EXAMPLE EXPLANATION 30 minutes is one half of an hour, so a truck going 80 kilometers per hour will travel 40 kilometers in half an hour. Answer C is colored in to indicate the correct answer. You will now have 25 questions to do as practice. Try to answer all of the questions in 30 minutes. Try to get the best score you can by practicing the suggestions to skip a question, or to guess, to save time. When you are ready, go to the next page and answer the practice questions as quickly as you can. Write the time when you start below. When you are finished, write the time below and determine the total amount of time used. This will give you an idea of whether you are working as quickly as you will need to do on the actual test. Time when you started: Time when you finished: Total time taken: Compare to 30 minutes PRACTICE QUESTIONS Mark your answers on the attached ANSWER SHEET. TABLE 1 AMOUNT OF INCOME IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES (in billions of dollars) INDUSTRY YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 Agriculture 22 26 26 30 51 Communication 14 17 18 20 21 Construction 36 43 47 52 57 Finance and Real Estate 78 90 100 108 118 Manufacturing 213 218 226 253 287 Transportation 27 30 33 36 40 1. Which industry had the largest increase in the dollar amount of income from Year 1 to Year 2? A. Agriculture B. Construction C. Finance and Real Estate D. Manufacturing E. Transportation 2. Which industry had the smallest increase in the dollar amount of income from Year 1 to Year 5? A. Agriculture B. Construction C. Finance and Real Estate D. Manufacturing E. Transportation 3. Which industry experienced the largest percentage increase from Year 3 to Year 4? A. Agriculture B. Communication C. Construction D. Finance and Real Estate E. Manufacturing 4. Which industry experienced the least percent change from Year 1 to Year 4? A. Agriculture B. Communication C. Construction D. Manufacturing E. Transportation 5. For which industry was there the least consistent increase in income over the period of time covered by the table? A. Agriculture B. Construction C. Finance and Real Estate D. Manufacturing E. Transportation GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. TABLE 1 (REPEATED) AMOUNT OF INCOME IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES (in billions of dollars) INDUSTRY YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 Agriculture 22 26 26 30 51 Communication 14 17 18 20 21 Construction 36 43 47 52 57 Finance and Real Estate 78 90 100 108 118 Manufacturing 213 218 226 253 287 Transportation 27 30 33 36 40 6. If the trend in the Transportation industry were to continue, its income for Year 6 would most likely be about A. 42 billion dollars B. 44 billion dollars C. 46 billion dollars D. 48 billion dollars E. 50 billion dollars 7. In which of the following instances has the first type of industry named consistently had an income about half that of the second? A. Agriculture; Finance and Real Estate B. Communication; Agriculture C. Construction; Finance and Real Estate D. Finance and Real Estate; Manufacturing E. Transportation; Communication 8. In how many instances did a type of industry make a gain of 10% or more over the previous year listed? A. 1 - 4 B. 5 - 8 C. 9 - 12 D. 13 - 16 E. 17 - 20 9. The type of industry showing the steadiest rate of growth in income during this period was A. Communication B. Construction C. Finance and Real Estate D. Manufacturing E. Transportation 10. In which one of the following groups did all three types of industry increase their respective incomes by most nearly one-third from Year 1 to Year 3? A. Agriculture; Communication; Transportation B. Agriculture; Communication; Construction C. Communication; Construction; Transportation D. Construction; Finance and Real Estate, Transportation E. Communication; Construction; Finance and Real Estate 11. How many industries had a growth rate of at least 20% from Year 1 to Year 3? A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. 5 12. Among the following, the greatest percentage increase in income occurred for A. Agriculture between Year 3 and Year 4 B. Communication between Year 2 and Year 3 C. Construction between Year 1 and Year 2 D. Finance and Real Estate between Year 4 and Year 5 E. Manufacturing between Year 3 and Year 4 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. Read this page and then answer the questions on the next page. You may read any part of this again while you are answering the questions. 1 A personnel department should 2 first of all think of itself as a 3 research group. The research I am 4 thinking of is a questioning of 5 personnel techniques, a re- 6 examining of accepted procedures. 7 It is searching for facts and 8 anticipating future developments. 9 It is thinking about your job and 10 exploring new ways of carrying it 11 out. 12 Secondly, a personnel depart- 13 ment should equip itself with the 14 knowledge and experience which will 15 enable it to advise top management 16 on personnel policies and, when 17 appropriate, to draw management's 18 attention to the employee relations 19 implications of contemplated 20 courses of action.