Hey job-seekers! Check out our free pre-employment non-calculator questions and answers in the following sections.
Number Sequences
Example Questions:
Give the next two numbers in each sequence:
- 14, 31, 65, 133 …..
- -7, 3, -28, 10, -84, 17……
- 2, 6, 38, 1446….
Explained Answers:
- Sequence a shows a linear progression whose rule is 2x+3. The next two numbers in the sequence are 269 and 541.
- This is actually a sequence that alternates between two different patterns. There is one rule linking the odd numbers in the sequence and another one linking the even terms. Each odd element is multiplied by three to get to the next number, and seven is added to each even term to arrive at the subsequent. The next two numbers in the sequence are -252 and 24.
- In sequence c, you need to square the first number and add two to find the next number. The next terms in the sequence are 2,090,918 and 4,371,938,082,726.
Word Problems
Example Question:
At the concert in the park, Muzzy’s food truck sold slices of pizza for $4.50 a slice and scoops of ice cream for $2.30 a cone. They made a total of $1012.90 at the end of the day. If there were a total of 273 items purchased, meaning slices of pizza and ice cream cones combined, how many slices of pizza were sold?
Explained Answer:
In this equation, there are two unknown variables, the number of slices of pizza sold and the number of ice cream cones sold. In algebra, we can only solve for one variable at a time. So, we know that we are going to need two different equations, or a system of equations. Using the information we have, we can set up an equation using the number of items sold and then another with the amount of money paid for each.
p=pizza slices
i=ice cream cones
p+i=273→ i=273-p
4.5p+2.3i=$1012.90
4.5p+2.3(273-p)=1012.9
4.5p+627.9-2.3p=1012.9
2.2p=385
p=175
If we solve for i in the first equation, we can plug that value in for i in the second equation and solve for p.
Mental Arithmetic
Example Questions:
- 173+624=
- 25% decrease from 850=
- ⅔ +⅘ =
Explained Answer:
- 797
- 637.5
- 22/15