Entry Level 3: Numbers, Fractions & Decimals

A warehouse manager is comparing pallet counts: 452, 425, 542 and 245. Which number is the largest?

• A452
• B245
• C425
• D542✓

Answer: 542 has the highest hundreds digit of the four numbers, since 5 is greater than 4 and 2. Comparing numbers up to 1,000 starts with the hundreds digit before looking at the tens and units. The other three numbers all have a lower hundreds digit, so none of them can be the largest.

A community hall records its evening attendance as six hundred and thirty-four people. Which number is this?

• A346
• B634✓
• C643
• D364

Answer: Six hundred and thirty-four is written as 634, with 6 in the hundreds place, 3 in the tens place and 4 in the units place. Reading the words in order and matching each part to its place value gives the correct number. The other options rearrange the same digits into a different value.

A charity shop sold 236 items in March and 318 items in April. How many items did it sell in total over the two months?

• A624
• B554✓
• C544
• D514

Answer: Adding 236 and 318 gives 554, once the units, tens and hundreds columns are each added with any carrying applied correctly. Working through the columns from right to left keeps a three-digit addition accurate. The other totals come from small slips when carrying between columns.

A delivery van starts the day with 480 parcels and drops off 265 of them by lunchtime. How many parcels are left on the van?

• A215✓
• B205
• C225
• D245

Answer: Subtracting 265 from 480 leaves 215 parcels still on the van. Working through the subtraction column by column, borrowing where needed, gives this result. The other totals come from small borrowing errors in one of the columns.

A garden centre had 175 rose bushes in stock and received a delivery of 348 more. How many rose bushes does it have now?

• A523✓
• B423
• C513
• D533

Answer: Adding 175 and 348 gives 523 rose bushes in total. Adding the units first, then the tens and hundreds, and carrying where needed produces this figure. The other totals come from a carrying mistake in one of the columns.

A library owns 900 books and 376 of them are currently out on loan. How many books remain on the shelves?

• A524✓
• B514
• C624
• D534

Answer: Subtracting 376 from 900 leaves 524 books on the shelves. Borrowing across the zeros in 900 and working through each column carefully gives this answer. The other totals come from borrowing mistakes when crossing the zeros.

A caretaker has 137 chairs to arrange into rows of 8 for a meeting. How many full rows of 8 can be made, and how many chairs are left over?

• A17 rows, 1 left over✓
• B17 rows, 2 left over
• C16 rows, 9 left over
• D18 rows, 1 left over

Answer: Dividing 137 by 8 gives 17 with a remainder of 1, since 17 times 8 is 136 and one chair remains. Multiplying the whole number of rows back up and comparing it to 137 checks the remainder. The other options do not match when multiplied back and checked against 137.

A cafe owner shares 156 teabags equally between 6 storage tins. How many teabags go in each tin?

• A24
• B27
• C25
• D26✓

Answer: Dividing 156 by 6 gives exactly 26 teabags in each tin, with nothing left over. Splitting 156 into 6 equal groups and checking that 26 times 6 equals 156 confirms the answer. The other numbers do not multiply back to 156 when checked.

A plumber has 245 metres of pipe to cut into lengths of 12 metres. How many full 12-metre lengths can be cut, and how much pipe is left over?

• A19 lengths, 17 metres left over
• B20 lengths, 4 metres left over
• C21 lengths, 5 metres left over
• D20 lengths, 5 metres left over✓

Answer: Dividing 245 by 12 gives 20 with a remainder of 5, since 20 times 12 is 240 and 5 metres remain. Multiplying the whole number of lengths back up and comparing it to 245 checks the remainder. The other options fail this check against 245.

A minibus can carry 34 passengers. How many passengers can 7 identical minibuses carry altogether?

• A248
• B234
• C228
• D238✓

Answer: Multiplying 34 by 7 gives 238 passengers across the 7 minibuses. Multiplying the tens and units separately and adding the two parts together confirms this total. The other numbers come from small errors in the multiplication.

A market trader arranges apples into 23 boxes with 16 apples in each box. How many apples are there in total?

• A336
• B378
• C358
• D368✓

Answer: Multiplying 23 by 16 gives 368 apples in total. Breaking the calculation into 23 times 10 and 23 times 6, then adding the two parts together, confirms this figure. The other totals come from errors in adding the two parts.

A cleaner takes 15 minutes to clean one office. How many minutes does it take to clean 9 identical offices?

• A115
• B125
• C145
• D135✓

Answer: Multiplying 15 by 9 gives 135 minutes to clean all 9 offices. Repeated addition of 15 nine times, or multiplying 15 by 9 directly, both give this total. The other totals come from a small multiplication slip.

A stock count shows 486 tins of paint in a warehouse. What is 486 rounded to the nearest 10?

• A500
• B490✓
• C486
• D480

Answer: 486 rounds to 490 because the units digit, 6, is 5 or more, so the tens digit rounds up. Looking only at the units digit decides whether a number rounds up or down to the nearest 10. The other options either round down incorrectly or fail to round the number at all.

A football stadium reports a crowd of 738 spectators. What is 738 rounded to the nearest 100?

• A750
• B740
• C800
• D700✓

Answer: 738 rounds to 700 because the tens digit, 3, is less than 5, so the hundreds digit stays the same and the rest becomes zero. Looking at the tens digit decides whether a number rounds up or down to the nearest 100. The other options round to the nearest 10 instead, or round in the wrong direction.

A savings pattern goes 8, 15, 22, 29. What is the next number in this sequence?

• A37
• B36✓
• C35
• D30

Answer: Each number in this sequence increases by 7, so the next term after 29 is 36. Finding the gap between consecutive terms and applying it again gives the next number in a linear sequence. The other options do not follow the same constant gap of 7.

A count of raffle tickets remaining goes 96, 84, 72, 60. What is the next number in this sequence?

• A50
• B58
• C46
• D48✓

Answer: Each number in this sequence decreases by 12, so the next term after 60 is 48. Spotting that the sequence falls by the same amount each time, here 12, allows the next term to be worked out. The other options do not fall by 12 from 60.

Which fraction is equivalent to two fifths?

• ATwo tenths
• BFour tenths✓
• CFive tenths
• DThree tenths

Answer: Two fifths is equivalent to four tenths, because multiplying both the top and bottom of two fifths by 2 gives four tenths. Equivalent fractions keep the same value even though the numbers used to write them are different. The other options do not represent the same value as two fifths.

A recipe for a work lunch needs a quarter of an 800g bag of rice. How many grams of rice is that?

• A400g
• B200g✓
• C250g
• D150g

Answer: A quarter of 800g is 200g, found by dividing 800 by 4. Dividing the whole amount by 4 gives one quarter of it directly. The other amounts do not divide evenly into 800g by 4.

A parcel weighs three kilograms and forty-five hundredths of a kilogram. Which decimal shows this weight?

• A34.05kg
• B3.045kg
• C3.45kg✓
• D30.45kg

Answer: Three kilograms and forty-five hundredths is written as 3.45kg, with 4 in the tenths place and 5 in the hundredths place. Matching each part of the words to its correct decimal place gives the right figure. The other options insert an extra decimal place or move the decimal point to the wrong position, changing the value completely.

A nurse records a patient's temperature check pattern as 36.20, 36.45, 36.70, 36.95. What is the next reading in this sequence?

• A36.99
• B37.15
• C37.20✓
• D37.00

Answer: Each reading in this sequence increases by 0.25, so the next term after 36.95 is 37.20. Finding the constant gap between the decimal terms and adding it again gives the next reading. The other options do not follow the same gap of 0.25.

A recipe card says to use one fifth of a litre of milk. The measuring jug is marked in decimals of a litre. Which decimal is the same as one fifth?

• A0.2 of a litre✓
• B0.05 of a litre
• C0.5 of a litre
• D0.15 of a litre

Answer: One fifth means one whole split into 5 equal parts. Two tenths make one fifth, because 5 lots of 2 tenths make 10 tenths, which is one whole. Two tenths is written as 0.2, so one fifth of a litre is 0.2 of a litre on the jug.

A pharmacy label says a dose is 0.1 of a bottle of medicine. Which fraction is the same as 0.1?

• Aone tenth✓
• Bone hundredth
• Cone fifth
• Done third

Answer: The first digit after the decimal point shows tenths, so 0.1 means one tenth. It is one whole split into 10 equal parts. One hundredth would be written as 0.01, and one fifth is the same as 0.2.