BMAT, ELAT, PAT, HAT, MLAT, UCAT, cat sat on the MAT. Admissions Tests are a confusing business. We’ve broken them down simple to show you which tests your students will need to take, depending upon which subject they’re applying for at which university.
A cyclist averages 7.5 miles an hour on level ground but only 4.5 miles an hour when going uphill. If the ratio between flat ground and hills were 1:3, what was the cyclist’s average mph over 60 miles?
a) 6mph
b) 5mph
c) 5.25 mph
d) 4.75 mph
e) 6.3 mph
…could you answer 48 more like this in 90 mins? The trick with the TSA is always timing, and the only way to get timing right is to practise. Try our mini mock next…
Speed = Distance/Time
Time = Distance/Speed
Time 1 = Distance 1/Speed 1
Time 2 = Distance 2/Speed 2
Put in an example distance of 8 miles (could be any distance)
Level ground = 1
Distance 1 = 2 miles (1/4 of 8)
Speed 1 = 7.5 mph
Time 1 = 2/7.5 (and then times by 60 to put in minutes form) = 16 minutes
Uphill = 2
Distance 2 = 6 miles (3/4 of 8)
Speed 2 = 4.5 mph
Time 2 = 6/4.5 (and then times by 60 to put in minutes form) = 80 minutes
Total time = 96 minutes
Speed = Distance/Time
Speed = 8/96 (then times by 60 to get from hours to minutes)
(8/96) x 60 = 5mph
A daisy wheel printer prints 20 characters a second and is 4 times as fast as the average printer. If the average printer is 5 times as fast as an electric typwriter, how many characters can an electric typewriter print?
a) 3.5
b) 4
c) 5
d) 1
e) 2.5
Daisy wheel printer = 20 = 4 x average printer
-> Average printer = 20/4 = 5
Average printer = 5 = 5 x electric type writer
-> Electric type writer = 5/5 = 1
All Staphylococci are Bacteria and all Bacteria are Prokaryotes. No Staphylococci are Archaea. Which of the following much be true?
a) some Bacteria are Archaea
b) Every Staphyloccos is a Prokaryote
c) All Prokaryotes are Archaea
d) No Archaea are Staphylococci
…and could you answer 26 more quetsions in just 30 minutes? A big part of the BMAT is timing, and the key to timing is practice. Try our mini-mock next…
[showhide type=”answer3″ more_text=”Answer »” less_text=”Hide answer «”]
Think of it like a hierarchy:
“All Staphylococci are Bacteria”. Therefore
Bacteria
|
Staphylococci
“All Bacteria are Prokaryotes”. Therefore
Prokaryotes
|
Bacteria
|
Staphyloccoci
“No Staphylococci are Archaea”
This doesn’t give us enough information to place Archaea in our hierarchy, except that it guarantees that it cannot follow the hierarchy the way the other elements do.
a) ‘some bacteria are Archaea’ – we do not have enough information for this. They may be, but all we know is what Archaea are not.
b) ‘Every Staphyloccos is a Prokaryote’ – if you look at our hierarchy, this must be true, because the question says ‘All’. If all Staphyloccoci are a subset of bacteria, and all Bacteria are a subset of Prokaryotes, all Staphyloccoci must be a subset of Prokaryotes, once removed (at least).
c) ‘All Prokayotes are Archaea’ – again, we do not have enough information for this.
d) ‘No Archaea are Staphylococci’ – this is the tricky one because we know that no Staphylococci are Archaea, so our instinct is to think this is the case the other way round too. However, we do not have enough information to prove this.
Five students sit a biology test. Oliver gains a lower score than Connor, who gains a lower score than Natalie. Emma gains a higher score than Connor, but a lower score than Wendy. Wendy’s score must be higher than:
a) Connor, but not necessarily higher than Oliver or Natalie
b) Natalie, but not necessarily higher than Connor or Oliver
c) Connor and Oliver, but not necessarily higher than Natlie
d) Oliver and Natalie, but not necessarily higher than Connor
e) Connor only
Perhaps the easiest way to handle this question is to place the characters in order as you read each sentence, from highest marks to lowest marks:
“Oliver gains a lower score than Connor”, therefore:
Connor – Oliver
“…who gains a lower score than Natalie”, therefore:
Natalie – Connor – Oliver.
“Emma gains a higher score than Connor”. In this case we do not have enough information to see whether Emma gains a higher or lower score than Natalie, so we must be aware that there is a gap in our information there:
Natalie – – – Emma
Connor
Oliver
“…but a lower score than Wendy”, therefore
– – – Wendy
Natalie – – – Emma (remembering here that we don’t know how Emma or Wendy’s score compare to Natalie’s)
Connor
Oliver
Thus, obviously discounting Emma as we know this, Wendy’s score must be higher than Connor and Oliver, but not necessarily Natalie, as Natalie may have scored higher than everyone else.
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