Maths Sample Questions
Maths Sample Questions
Practice Questions
Mathematics
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General Guidelines:
The mathematics questions in PISA aim at assessing the capacity of students on wide range
of subjects like:
(a) Comprehension
(b) Analyzing data from tables, charts and graphs
(c) Understanding time zones
(d) Working with money transactions
(e) Solving and interpreting mathematical problems in a variety of situations including
quantitative, spacial, probabilistic or other mathematical concepts.
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Unit 1: Farms (2 questions)
Here you see a photograph of a farmhouse with a roof in the shape of a pyramid.
Below is a student’s mathematical model of the farmhouse roof with measurements added.
The attic floor, ABCD in the model, is a square. The beams that support the roof are the
edges of a block (rectangular prism) EFGHKLMN. E is the middle of AT, F is the middle of
BT, G is the middle of CT and H is the middle of DT. All the edges of the pyramid in the
model have length 12 m.
2. Calculate the length of EF, one of the horizontal edges of the block.
Length of EF = ________________ m
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Unit 2: Walking (2 questions)
The picture shows the footprints of a man walking. The pacelength P is the distance
between the rear of two consecutive footprints.
For men, the formula, , gives an approximate relationship between n and P where,
n = number of steps per minute, and
P = pacelength in metres.
1. If the formula applies to Harish’s walking and Heiko takes 70 steps per minute, what
is Harish’s pacelength? Show your work.
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2. Babu knows his pacelength is 0.80 metres. The formula applies to Babu’s walking.
Calculate Babu’s walking speed in metres per minute and in kilometres per hour.
Show your working out.
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Unit 3: Apples (3 questions)
A farmer plants apple trees in a square pattern. In order to protect the apple trees against
the wind he plants conifer trees all around the orchard.
Here you see a diagram of this situation where you can see the pattern of apple trees and
pine trees for any number (n) of rows of apple trees:
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1. Complete the table:
2. There are two formulae you can use to calculate the number of apple trees and the
number of pine trees for the pattern described above:
There is a value of n for which the number of apple trees equals the number of pine
trees. Find the value of n and show your method of calculating this.
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3. Suppose the farmer wants to make a much larger orchard with many rows of trees.
As the farmer makes the orchard bigger, which will increase more quickly: the
number of apple trees or the number of pine trees? Explain how you found your
answer.
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Unit 4: Cubes (1 question)
In this photograph you see six dice, labelled (a) to (f). For all dice there is a rule: The total
number of dots on two opposite faces of each die is always seven.
Write in each box the number of dots on the bottom face of the dice corresponding to the
photograph.
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Unit 5: Continent Area (1 question)