THE GED TESTS continued...

TEST FIVE: MATHEMATICS

The GED Mathematics Test measures the ability to solve--or find the best method to solve--mathematics problems typical of those studied in high school mathematics courses. Subject matter for the GED Mathematics Test questions is drawn from three areas:

• Arithmetic
  • measurement
  • numeration
  • data analysis
• Algebra
• Geometry

Directions and Sample Questions for Mathematics

Choose the one best answer to each item.

1. If 10% of a town's population of 10,000 people moved away, how many people remained in the town?

(1) 100
(2) 900
(3) 1000
(4) 9000
(5) 9900
Correct Answer:. 4

Difficulty Level: Moderately Difficult

This is an example of a question involving computations with percentages. Like most of the questions in the Mathematics Test, solving the problem involves more than one step. Here is one method you could use to solve this problem. First, you must compute 10% of 10,000. You can probably do this mentally; if not, you could divide
10,000 by 10 or multiply
10,000 by. 10.

Now you know that 1000 people moved, but notice that the question asks for the number that remained in the town. So, you must subtract 1000 from the total population of 10,000 to find the correct answer of 9000 (option 4).
Item 2 is based on the following graph.

2. The figure above shows how the tax dollar was spent in a given year. According to the figure, what percent of the tax dollar was left after direct payment to individuals and national defense expenses?

(1) 3%
(2) 11%
(3) 33%
(4) 67%
(5) 114%
Correct Answer: 3

Difficulty Level: Easy

About one-third of the questions in the Mathematics Test will refer to charts, tables, or graphic materials like this one. This question requires, first, that you understand the information presented in the pie graph and recognize that the five categories of spending described in the graph equal 100%. Next, the phrase "was left" in the question should indicate to you that the problem requires subtraction. The sum of the 42% indicated as "Direct Benefit Payments to Individuals" and the 25% indicated as "National Defense," is 67%. Subtracting 67% from 100% yields a result of 33%. Thus, option (3) is the correct answer.

3. A part-time job pays $6.75 per hour. Which of the following expressions best represents an employee's total earnings if the employee works 2 hours on Monday, 3 hours on Tuesday, 4 hours on Wednesday, 5 hours on Thursday, and 6 hours on Friday?

(1) 2+3+4+5+6
(2) 10 + 6.75
(3) 10(6.75)
(4) 20 + 6.75
(5) 20(6.75)
Correct Answer: 5

Difficulty Level: Easy

Some questions in the Mathematics Test, like this one, do not ask for a numerical solution to the problem. Instead, they ask you to select the best method for setting up the problem to arrive at a correct solution.

The first step here is to identify exactly what answer is required. In this case, it is the underlined phrase total earnings. Next, you must understand that total earnings will be the product (multiplication) of the hourly rate of $6.75 times the number of hours worked.

Understanding how total earnings is computed Will make clear to you that the solution to the problem must include the number 6.75 multiplied by some other number. The other number is the sum of 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 (the number of hours worked), or 20. So, option (5) is the correct answer.

Options (1), (2), and (4) do not indicate multiplication as a function, while option (3) uses an incorrect number of hours as a multiplier of the hourly rate.