Foundation Year Program

Entrance Tests

MATHEMATICS

SAMPLE QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS

For

NUFYP SET 2020

V4.0 August 2019

 Mathematics

Question 1

In statistics, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient is given by the formula:

d
2
6
r 1–
 2
n n –1 
2
Rearrange the formula to make ∑d the subject.

r(n3 – n)
d = 1 –
2
A
6
2
1 – r n3 – n
d
2
B =
6

(1 – r)(n3 – 1)
d =
2
C
6

(1 + r)(n3 – n)
d =
2
D
6

1 – r n3 – n
d =
2
E
6

© UCLES 2019 1 Standard AT Sample Material

 Explanation 1

To rearrange a formula, the ‘subject’ has to be isolated.

d
2
6
In the formula r  1
n n  1
the d 2
term has to be isolated.

There are several different ways of doing this but these all include the same steps.

In the first instance add

6 d 2

to both sides of the equation.

nn  1

This gives r 
6 d 2
1
nn  1

Then subtract r from both sides of the equation.

This gives
6  d  1 r
2

nn  1
2

Now divide both sides of the equation by 6 to give

 d  1 r
2

n n  1
2
6

1 r
2
Finally multiply both sides of the equation by n(n  1) to give d 2
 n n 2  1
6

2 3
This is not exactly the same as any of the given answers but n(n  1)  n  n

So the answer arrived at is equivalent to response E.

(1  r ) 3
Therefore the correct answer is E: d 2

6
n  n 

© UCLES 2019 2 Standard AT Sample Material

 Question 2

A solid sphere of radius r fits inside a hollow cylinder. The cylinder has the same internal
diameter and length as the diameter of the sphere.

4
The volume of a sphere is πr3 , where r is the radius of the sphere.
3

What fraction of the space inside the cylinder is taken up by the sphere?

1
A
4
1
B
3
1
C
2
2
D
3
3
E
4

© UCLES 2019 3 Standard AT Sample Material

 Explanation 2

The volume of a cylinder (a circular prism) is the base area times the height, πr 2 h.

As the cylinder’s height and internal diameter are the same as the diameter of the sphere, both
of these are equal to 2r.

This means that the volume of the cylinder is πr 2 × 2r

The volume of the cylinder is πr 2 × 2r = 2πr 3

4 3
The volume of the sphere is πr
3
4 3
r
The fraction of space inside the cylinder taken up by the sphere is 3 3
2 r
4 1 2
Simplify by cancelling the πr 3 terms to leave  
3 2 3
2
Therefore the correct answer is D,
3

© UCLES 2019 4 Standard AT Sample Material

 Question 3

The diagram shows three similar right-angled triangles.

1 cm

3 cm

[diagram not to scale]

What is the area of the largest triangle, in cm2?

5
A
3
50
B
27
C 5

D 15

50
E
3

© UCLES 2019 5 Standard AT Sample Material

 Explanation 3

Using Pythagoras’ Theorem, we can find that the length of the hypotenuse in the lowest
triangle of the spiral is 12  32  10

10
As the triangles are similar, the scale factor of the enlargement is
3

10 10
This means that the hypotenuse in the second triangle is of length 10  
3 3

1 10
Using the similarity, the other short side in the third triangle is of this, which equals
3 9

1
Area of triangle = × base × height
2

1 10 10 50
=   
2 3 9 27

The correct response is therefore B.

© UCLES 2019 6 Standard AT Sample Material

 Question 4

Two identical copies of a right-angled triangle are placed on top of each other to make a
quadrilateral ABCD, as shown below.

A D
[diagram not to scale]

The perpendicular sides of the triangles are in the ratio 1 : 3

What fraction of the area of the quadrilateral is covered by both triangles?

1
A
2
1
B
3
1
C
4
1
D
5
1
E
6
1
F
7

© UCLES 2019 7 Standard AT Sample Material

 Explanation 4

The area covered by both triangles is shown shaded in the diagram.

M
C
1

A 1 N 2 D

As the perpendicular sides are in the ratio 1 : 3, we can let the sides be of length 1 unit and
3 units which gives the lengths shown on the diagram.

The shaded area is made up of triangles CAN and ACM.

Triangles CAN and DCN both have the same height. The base of DCN, DN, is twice as long as
the base of triangle CAN, AN, and so the triangle DCN has twice the area of CAN.

Let the area of triangle CAN be x square units. The area of triangle DCN is 2x square units.

The same reasoning applies to triangles CAN and BCM.

The shaded area is 2x square units.

The area of quadrilateral BADC is 2x + x + x + 2x = 6x

2x 1
The fraction covered by both triangles is 
6x 3

The correct response is therefore B.

© UCLES 2019 8 Standard AT Sample Material

 Question 5

For what values of the non-zero real number a does the quadratic equation

ax2 + (a – 2) x = 2

have real distinct roots?

A All values of a

B a = –2

C a > –2

D a ≠ –2

© UCLES 2019 9 Standard AT Sample Material

 Explanation 5

A quadratic ax2 + bx + c = 0 has real distinct roots when the discriminant is greater than zero; in
other words, when

b2 – 4ac > 0

Recall this condition comes from considering the general formula for the solution of quadratic
equations:

2
–b b – 4ac
x = 2a

In this case, for real distinct roots this condition gives:

2
(a – 2) – 4a(– 2) > 0

This simplifies to:

a2 + 4a + 4 > 0
2
(a + 2) > 0

This last inequality is satisfied for all values of a except a = – 2

The correct answer is therefore D, a ≠ – 2

© UCLES 2019 10 Standard AT Sample Material

© UCLES 2019 11 Standard AT Sample Material
The Nazarbayev University Foundation Year Program entrance test was developed in
collaboration with Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing, part of the University of
Cambridge (2019-2020).

The Nazarbayev University Foundation Year Program entrance test (‘NUFYP test’) is owned
by Nazarbayev University and Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing; the NUFYP test
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accordance with the terms and conditions of the licence of use granted by Cambridge
Assessment Admissions Testing. Any use of the NUFYP test must be in accordance with the
instructions of Nazarbayev University

© UCLES 2019 12 Standard AT Sample Material