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Section 2 (Math)
1. D Category: Exponents Difficulty: Low Strategic Advice: Plug b = 3 into the equation. Then, you can either square both sides and solve for a, or Backsolve. Getting to the Answer: a + 5 = 4(3) 3 = a + 5 = 32 = 9 a=95=4 2. D 12 3 = 9=3

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Category: Triangles Difficulty: Low Strategic Advice: Questions on Test Day will only give you some of the information you need to solve each problem. Its your job to fill in the missing pieces based on what you know about math. Here, knowing that the sum of the angles in a straight line is 180, and that the interior angles of a triangle add up to 180, will come in handy. Getting to the Answer: y + 50 = 180 y = 130 35 + 130 + x = 180 165 + x = 180 x = 15 Category: Non-Linear Graphs Difficulty: Low Strategic Advice: To find the point at which two curves intersect, set the curves equations equal to each other and solve for x. Plug this value of x back into either equation to find the value of y at that point. Getting to the Answer: x 2 + 7 = x2 x + 3 7 = x + 3 x = 4 y = (4)2 + 7 = 16 + 7 = 23 The point where these curves intersect is (4, 23). Category: Averages Difficulty: Low Strategic Advice: Backsolving is a great strategy to use for almost any question, like this one, containing unknown values in the question stem and numbers as answer choices. You can also solve the problem algebraically. In either case, remember that the average of a set of numbers is equal to the sum of the numbers divided by the number of numbers in the set. Getting to the Answer: To Backsolve, start with choice (C). (C) 60 + 61 + 80 + 83 + 65 60 + 61 + 80 + 83 + 65 = 65? No: = 69.8, 5 5

3.

4.

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which is bigger than 65. Move to (D).

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(D) Is it true that

60 + 61 + 80 + 83 + 70 = 70? No: 5

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60 + 61 + 80 + 83 + 70 = 70.8. Move to (E). 5 (E) Is it true that 60 + 61 + 80 + 83 + 71 = 71? Yes, the answer is (E). 5

To solve the problem algebraically, set up an equation and solve for y: 60 + 61 + 80 + 83 + y =y 5 284 + y = 5y 284 = 4y 71 = y 5. A Category: Angles Difficulty: Low Strategic Advice: Questions like this one are a perennial favorite on the SAT. Apply your knowledge of vertical and supplementary angles to find the solution. Getting to the Answer: Since vertical angles are equal, knowing any one angle will give you the angle opposite it. Since angles along a straight line sum to 180 degrees, knowing any two angles along one of the lines in the figure will give you the other one. The measures of all of the angles can be found from any two angles, except ones that are directly across from each other. (A) is the only choice that contains a pair of vertical angles, so it is correct. Category: Percents Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: This question asks about the percent of printed area on a page. The first thing you should do is draw a diagram of that page. Notice that there is a 1-inch margin on every side of the paper, so the printed area is 2 inches shorter and 2 inches thinner than the page. Getting to the Answer: Since all of the margins are 1 inch, the printed area of the page will be 8 inches high and 6 inches wide. The whole page will have an area of 8 10 = 80 square inches, while the printed area will have an area of 6 8 = 48 square inches. To find the percent of the page that was used for printing, just set up a part : whole ratio: 48 = 0.6 or 60%. 80 7. C Category: Equations Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: Since there are variables in the answer choices, Picking Numbers is fine here if you prefer it to algebra. Getting to the Answer: Pick two numbers that differ by 3: say 2 and 5. Their sum is 7, so n = 7. Then, simply plug this value into each of the choices and see which one equals 5, the greater of the two numbers. 7 + 3 5, so (A) is not the answer. 2

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(2 7) 3 5 , so (B) is also wrong. 2 7+3 does equal 5, so (C) is correct. 2 8. B Category: Complex Figures Difficulty: High Strategic Advice: This problem will be easier to think about if you pick a number for the radius of the circle. The probability that a randomly selected point from within the circle will fall within the triangle is the area of the triangle divided by the area of the circle. To find the area of the triangle, youll need its base and height. Knowing its interior angles will help you find these. What information in the question stem and the figure tells you about the angles of the triangle? Getting to the Answer: Since NO and OP are both radii of the circle, NO = OP. Therefore, ONP = OPN = 45. 45 + 45 + NOP = 180, so NOP = 90. This means you can use one leg of the triangle as the base and the other as the height. If the radius of the circle is 1, the area of the triangle is 1 1 (1)(1) = and the 2 2

section two

area of the circle is (12) = . Therefore, the probability that a randomly selected 1 1 point from within the circle will fall within the triangle is 2 = . 2 9. 19/2 or 9.5 Category: Equations Difficulty: Low Strategic Advice: Isolate x by performing the same operations on both sides of the equation. Getting to the Answer: 2(x 5) = 9 2x 10 = 9 2x = 19 19 x= or 9.5 2 10. 120 Category: Percents Difficulty: Low Strategic Advice: Translate carefully. Getting to the Answer: x is 50 percent of 60, so use the percent formula: part 100 percent = whole x 50 = 100 60 100x 50 = 60 3,000 = 100x x = 30
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y is 25 percent of 300: y 25 = 100 300

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100y 300 y 25 = 3 y = 75 z is 20 percent of y: z 20 = 100 75 100z 20 = 75 4z 20 = 3 60 = 4z z = 15 x + y + z = 30 + 75 + 15 = 120 25 = 11. 2 Category: Logic Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: Think about what roles the digits play in each place value. Notice that in the hundreds place, A + B equals a two-digit number (CD). Getting to the Answer: C has to equal 1, since the greatest number that two distinct digits could add up to is 17. Now we have: AAA + BBB 1DD1 Since A + B equals a two-digit number in the hundreds place, it must equal the same two-digit number in the tens and units places. A + B = 11. When you carry the 1 from the units place, D = 2.

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12.

65 Category: Polygons Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: The sum of interior angles of any quadrilateral is 360. The sum of angles along a straight line is 180. Using these two pieces of information, you can find d. Getting to the Answer: Label RSP as x.
R 80 Q 110

55 P

x d S

55 + 110 + 80 + x = 360 x = 115 115 + d = 180 d = 65

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13.

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Category: Exponents Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: Most people find negative exponents easier to work with if they are rewritten as fractions. Getting to the Answer: First, solve one equation for s in terms of t: st = 4 s= 4 t

Then plug this into the second equation: 4 2 16 2 t t2 s s 2t 2 = = = 2 = 16 t2 t4 t t2 16 Since s 2t 2 = 1, then 4 = 1. t 16 = t 4 t = 2 or t = 2 Then plug the value of t back into the first equation to find the value of s: s= 4 4 = 2 or s = =2 2 2

So either s = 2 and t = 2, or s = 2 and t = 2. In either case, s + t = 2 + 2 = 0. 14. 248 Category: Data Analysis Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: Remember not to stop too soon. Not only do you need to find the total cost of the engineering department offfice supplies from Store A and Store B, you also need to find the difference between those costs. Getting to the Answer: Store A: 1($5) + 0($30) + 5($500) = $2505 Store B: 1($7) + 0($35) + 5($450) = $2257 $2505 $2257 = $248 15. 9 Category: Complex Figures Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: The key to multiple figures is to pass information from one figure to the next. JKN is a 454590 triangle, so its side lengths are in the ratio of x : x : x 2. Notice that one of its sides, KN, is also a side of the square. Getting to the Answer:
K x 2 45 J x N 45 x

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K 3 2 3 45 J 3 N

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The area of a square is the length of a side squared, so the area of KLMN is 32 = 9. 16. 0 < x < 4/7 Category: Coordinate Planes Difficulty: High Strategic Advice: Slope = y y1 rise or 2 . Use the origin and the point (7, 4) to find the slope of line l. x2 x1 run

Because line m passes through GH , its slope must be less than the slope of line l. If you have trouble visualizing this, pick a point that line m must pass through and calculate its slope using that point and the origin. Getting to the Answer:
y (7, 4) G (7, 3) x l

Slope of line l =

y2 y1 4 0 4 = = x2 x1 7 0 7 y2 y1 3 0 3 = = x2 x1 7 0 7

Draw line m so that it intersects GH. Let point (7, 3) be on line m. Slope of line m = 17.

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7/2 or 3.5 Category: Ratios Difficulty: Medium Strategic Advice: Picking Numbers works well here. First determine if you have a part-to-part or part-to-whole ratio. Getting to the Answer: Assume that each of the parts in the original recipe of the mixture is one pound. Then the original recipe will yield 10 pounds of the mixture.

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raisins 7 lbs = = mixture 10 lbs 10x = 10x = x=

x 5 lbs 7(5) 35 3.5

18. 822 Category: Averages Difficulty: High Strategic Advice: The median is the middle number in a series of numbers. Arrange the enrollments in size order, making sure that 821 is in the middle. Use n to balance out the number of enrollments on either side of 821. Getting to the Answer: 732 795 821 874 n or 732 795 821 n 874 Since there are two numbers below the median, there must be two numbers above the median. n could be anything greater than 821. Its least possible value is 822.

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