Practice Module 4
Question 1
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A recent study by a drugs company found that the amount of money spent on a specific pill
used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease in the UK showed wide regional variation.
Alzheimer's is a condition associated with the ageing process. In some areas the expenditure
was as low as £1 per head of the population over 65 whereas in others it was as high as £10
per head. These pills are the most effective treatment for this condition that is currently
available. Therefore, this is another example of 'post-code lottery' where the effectiveness of
treatment for a health condition will depend upon where you live.
1. Which one of the following is an assumption underlying the above argument?
The pills are very successful in halting the progress of Alzheimer's disease.
The drugs company that did the research doesn't have a vested interest in selling
the pills.
There are no regional variations in the incidence of Alzheimer's in the 65+ age
group.
There are no regional variations in the number of people in the 65+ age group.
It is not possible to develop Alzheimer's disease below the age of 65.
1. Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
The argument discusses how different areas of the country spend different amounts per head
of the population over 65 on a certain treatment for Alzheimer’s, and then concluded that this
means that different areas of the country will have differing levels of treatment for
Alzheimer’s no point is it stated that different areas of the country experience the same
incidence of Alzheimer’s per head of the population over 65. If this does differ in different
areas, then it may well be that different areas spend the same amount per case of Alzheimer’s
on the treatment, making the argument’s conclusion invalid. Thus, C correctly identifies an
assumption in the argument.
Option A → is incorrect as the argument states that the pills are the most effective treatment
available. Thus, how they are used is a significant factor in how effective treatment can be.
Whether or not they are significantly effective is relevant, and thus A is not an assumption.
Option B → is a completely irrelevant point, which does not affect the argument’s
conclusion.
Option D → is irrelevant because the argument refers to the expenditure on the treatment per
head of population over 65, so has already taken into account regional variations in numbers
of people over 65.
,Option E → is not an assumption because it is not needed to be true for the argument’s
conclusion to be valid.
Question 2
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All the teams in a local football league have now played each other once this season. Below
is the current league table:
2. What was the result of the match between United and County?
United 0 - County 0
United 1 - County 0
United 0 - County 1
United 1 - County 1
United 2 - County 1
Correct Answer: A
Explanation:
To answer this question, we must work out what we can tell from the table, and then deduce
other results as we move along.
Immediately, we can tell several things:
Rovers have won all their games and United and
County have both lost only one game each. Thus, both
teams have lost to United.
, United have won 2 games, and have only scored 2
goals. Thus, both those games must have been won 1-0
by United.
Similarly, United have lost one game, and have only
conceded 1 goal. So, they must have lost that game, 1-
0.
This accounts for all of United’s scored and conceded
goals. Thus, we know United’s other game must have
been a 0-0 draw.
Thus, at this point, we know the following:
Neither team can have lost the game, as each team has
only lost 1 game each, both against Rovers.
The score must be either 1-0 or 0-0, because these are
the only scores which have occurred in any on United’s
games.
Question 3
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When my father ran a pizza shop he sold pizzas for a fixed amount plus an amount
proportional to the ingredients used. A regular pizza uses twice the ingredients of a mini one
and a large pizza twice those of a regular one.
3. Which one of the following price scales could he have used for mini, regular and large
pizzas?
£0.49, £1.00, £1.96
£1.00, £2.00, £3.00
£1.10, £2.20, £3.30
£1.70, £2.00, £2.40
£2.00, £3.00, £5.00
Correct Answer: E
Explanation:
Each Pizza has a fixed charge. Let the fixed charge be termed X.
, Each pizza also has a variable charge, proportional to the amount of ingredients used. Let the
variable charge for a small pizza be termed Y.
A small pizza will have 1Y as its variable charge.
A regular pizza will have 2Y as its variable charge, as
it uses twice the ingredients of a small pizza.
A large pizza will have 4Y as its variable charge, as it
uses twice the ingredients of a regular pizza.
Thus, we are looking for a set of prices which can be described as (X+Y), (X+2Y) and
(X+4Y), where both X and Y are constants. Only the prices inOption E follow this pattern,
with X and Y both being £1.
Question 4
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John wishes to have 500 copies of a brochure printed and is offered a choice of two price
structures:
1. An equal cost for each brochure printed, regardless of
number.
2. An initial fixed cost followed by a lower cost than
structure 1 for each brochure.
4. Which one of the following sets of information would be sufficient for him to be able to
decide which of the two price structures would be least expensive?
The number of brochures for which the total bill would be the same by both structure
1 and structure 2.
An example showing the cost of 500 brochures for structure 1 and 200 brochures
using structure 2.
The cost per brochure using structure 1 and the initial cost using structure 2.
An example showing the cost of 200 brochures using structure 1 and 200 brochures
using structure 2.
The cost of 1 brochure using structure 1 and 2 brochures using structure 2.
Correct Answer: A
Explanation:
