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Are you Ready to Solve Problems? (Quiz 1, General Knowledge)

© Nick E. Nolfi

  The purpose of Mr. Nolfi's introductory series of quizzes is to help you determine how well prepared you are to undertake the challenges of his computer science and mathematics courses.  This particular quiz (quiz 1) is designed to test your ability to solve basic problems, all of which are at a grade 7 level or lower.  If you encounter difficulties with this quiz, you should seriously question your decision to take any of Mr. Nolfi's computer science or math courses.  Good luck!  (Note that you will also be given a paper copy of this quiz so that you can show the steps that you used to obtain your answers.)

1. What is 20% of 100?

5
20
80
120

2. What is 20% of 20?

1
400
40
4

3. A portable MP3 audio player has a retail price of $199.99. How much would it cost to purchase this item once sales taxes are applied? (Recall that GST and PST are charged respectively at 7% and 8% of the retail price.)

$214.99
$3199.99
$229.99
$200.29

4. Mr. Nolfi drives 36 km each day to get to work. If this trip takes 30 minutes, what is his average speed?

66 km/h
18 km/h
72 km/h
1080 km/h

5. Due to improvements in computer technology, the price of a computer system has been reduced by 25% of its original price. If the original price was $1500, what is the new price?

$1475
$1250
$1525
$1125

6. Light travels at a speed of 300000 km/s. The circumference of the earth at the equator is approximately 40000 km. If you could travel at the speed of light, how many times could you circumnavigate the earth (travel around the equator) in one second?

7.5 times
0.13 times
12000000000 times
340000 times

7. Express 12345 seconds in the form "hours:minutes:seconds."

12 hours, 34 minutes, 5 seconds
1 hour, 23 minutes, 45 seconds
3 hours, 25 minutes, 45 seconds
123 hours, 45 minutes, 0 seconds

8. Express 157.3 minutes in the form "hours:minutes:seconds."


1 hour, 57 minutes, 3 seconds
15 hours, 7 minutes, 3 seconds
2 hours, 37 minutes, 18 seconds
2 hours, 37 minutes, 3 seconds

9. Express 3.56 hours in the form "hours:minutes:seconds."


3 hours, 56 minutes, 0 seconds
3 hours, 33 minutes, 36 seconds
3 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds
3 hours, 0 minutes,6 seconds

10. One day corresponds to

one complete rotation of the earth about its axis.
one complete revolution of the earth about the sun.
one complete revolution of the moon about the earth.
one complete rotation of the moon about its axis.

11. One year corresponds to

one complete rotation of the earth about its axis.
one complete revolution of the earth about the sun.
one complete revolution of the moon about the earth.
one complete rotation of the moon about its axis.

12. One month roughly corresponds to

one complete rotation of the earth about its axis.
one complete revolution of the earth about the sun.
one complete revolution of the moon about the earth.
one complete rotation of the moon about its axis.

13. The number of days in one year is

364
365
365.25
365.24219

14. A given year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4 and not divisible by 100, unless it is also divisible by 400. Which of the following years was a leap year?


1900
1800
1700
1600

15. Leap years exist

because an extra day is needed for the Olympic Games, which take place during leap years.
because the number of days in a year is not a whole number.
to allow Julius Caesar an extra day every four years to contemplate which land he would conquer next.
to prevent the earth from "leaping" out of its orbit.

16. The area of a small pizza is 400 square centimetres. An extra large pizza has a diameter that is double that of a small pizza. What is the area of an extra large pizza?

800 square centimetres
200 square centimetres
100 square centimetres
1600 square centimetres

17. A machine that fills soft drink bottles can fill each bottle at a rate of 250 mL/s. How long would it take to fill a 1.5 L bottle?

6 s
375 s
166.6 s
0.006 s

18. What is 1/3 (one-third) of 1/2 (one-half)?

6
1/6
3/2
2/3

19. A video card that sells regularly for $74.63 is on sale. It is being offered at 2/3 (two-thirds) off the regular price. What is the sale price of the video card?


$49.75333333
$49.75
$24.88
$24.87666666

20. On August 27, 2003, the planet Mars came within 55.76 million kilometres of the Earth, the closest it has come in nearly 60000 years. Given that radio signals travel at the speed of light (300000 km/s), how long would it have taken to send a radio signal to Mars on August 27, 2003?

3 minutes, 3 seconds
183.3 minutes
5380.2 seconds
1076 seconds

21. You need to paint the walls and the ceiling of a rectangular room whose dimensions are 5 m (length) by 4 m (width) by 3 m (height). The brand of paint to be used has a coverage of 8 square metres per litre. If each can contains 3.79 L of paint, how many cans would you need to buy to apply two coats of paint to the walls and ceiling.


4.88
3.96
4
5

22. A room has a rectangular floor with dimensions 3.8 m by 4.8 m. You need to install square ceramic tiles that are 30 cm by 30 cm. If the tiles come in boxes of 30, how many boxes would you need to buy?

6
6.75
7
5

23. Canada's federal government has a debt of approximately 600 billion dollars. If that debt were to be divided equally among all residents of Canada, how much would each Canadian owe? (Canada's population is approximately 30 million.)


$2
$200
$20000
$2000

24. Canada's federal government has a debt of approximately 600 billion dollars. If, on average, the federal government must pay interest at a rate of 4% per annum (per year), how much tax must the federal government collect each year just to pay the interest on the debt?


240 billion dollars
24 billion dollars
2.4 billion dollars
2.4 trillion dollars

25. Approximately 2.3 million students attend public elementary and secondary schools in Ontario. The average cost to the taxpayer is about $6750 per student (per year). What is the yearly cost of the public education system?


155 billion dollars
15.5 billion dollars
1.55 billion dollars
15.5 million dollars