Answers to 1999 Written Quest

1. c
2. d
3. e
4. e
5. c
6. d
7. d
8. d
9. a
10. b
11. c
12. b
13. d
14. c
15. a
16. e
17. d
18. d
19. d
20. b
21. c
22. d
23. d
24. b
25. a
26. b
27. e
28. e
29. d
30. d
31. b
32. b
33. e
34. a
35. c
31. A region in the coordinate plane is shaded where each mark on the
axes represents one unit. Describe this region algebraically.

a) 1 ≤ y ≤ 3 and 1 ≤ x ≤ 4 b) -1 ≤ x ≤ 3 and -2 ≤ y ≤ 4
c) -1 ≤ y ≤ 3 and -2 ≤ x ≤ 4 d) 1 ≤ x ≤ 3 and 1 ≤ y ≤ 4
e) none of these

32. Given the function f(x) = x 2 + 3x, what is f(x + 1)?

a) x2 + 3x + 1 b) x2 + 5x + 4 c) x2 + 3x + 4 d) x2 + 3x e) none of these

33. If m and b are real numbers and mb > 0, then the line whose equation is y = mx + b cannot contain
the point
a) (0, 1997) b) (0, -1997) c) (19, 97) d) (19, -97) e) (1997, 0)

34. If a is 50% larger than c, and b is 25% larger than c, then a is what percent larger than b?
a) 20% b) 25% c) 50% d) 100% e) 200%

35. If the square of the sum of two numbers equals the sum of the squares of the two numbers, then one
of the numbers must be
a) positive b) negative c) zero d) a fraction e) any of these
24. The general equation of a line is y = ax + b. Which of the following is true?
a) b is the slope and a is the y-intercept b) a is the slope and b is the y-intercept
c) a is the x-intercept and b is the y-intercept d) x is the slope and y is the y-intercept
e) none of these

25. On a sunny day a building casts an 75 foot building at the same time a six foot tall person casts a
nine foot shadow, How tall is the building?
a) 50 ft b) 75 ft c) 100 ft d) 112.5 ft e) 150 ft

26. A square has a side length of "s" cm. If the area is doubled, what is the new side length?
a) 2s cm b) 2 s cm c) ( 2 - 1) s cm d) ( 2 + 1) s cm e) none of these

27. A glass is two-thirds full of pure alcohol. A second glass whose volume is three times the volume
of the first glass is half full of pure alcohol. Both glasses are then filled to the top with water and
mixed together in a third container. What fraction of the final mixture is alcohol?

a) 13 b) 6 c) 3 d) 15 e) 13
6 13 4 22 24

28. A dirt biker must circle a 5-mile track twice. His mean speed must be 60 mph. On his first lap, he
averaged 30 mph. How fast must he travel on his second lap in order to qualify?
a) 30 m.p.h. b) 60 m.p.h. c) 90 m.p.h. d) 120 m.p.h. e) none of these

29. For the past five years, the housing prices have risen 12% per year. If this trend continues, how
much will a house priced at $50000 today cost in five years?
a) $5000 b) $55000 c) $80000 d) $80525.50 e) $90248.75

30. What is the exact distance between the points (4, -7) and (-2, 5)?
a) 13.4 b) 36 5 c) 5 6 d) 6 5 e) 13.416
17. At the local high school, 30% of the students in the Math Club are in the Science Club, and 80% of
the students in the Science Club are in the Math Club. There are 15 students in the Science Club.
How many students are in the Math Club?
a) 12 b) 15 c) 36 d) 40 e) 50

18. If the ratio of 2x - y to x + y is 2 , what is the ratio of x to y?

3

a) 1 b) 4 c) 6 d) 5 e) 5
5 5 5 4 6

19. Let PQRS be a square piece of paper. P is folded onto S and Q is

folded onto R. The area of the resulting figure is 9 square inches. P Q
Find the perimeter of square PQRS.

S R
a) 9 b) 16 c) 18 d) 24 e) 36

20. A 4 × 4 × 4 cubical box contains 64 identical small cubes that exactly fill the box. How many of
these small cubes touch a side or the bottom of the box?
a) 48 b) 52 c) 60 d) 64 e) 80

21. If a square is inscribed in a circle of radius 2 cm, what is the area of the square?
a) 4 cm 2 b) 4π cm2 c) 8 cm2 d) 8π cm2 e) none of these

22. Terri produces a sequence of positive integers by following three rules. She starts with a positive
integer, then applies the appropriate rule to the result, and continues in this fashion.
Rule 1: If the integer is less than 10, multiply it by 9.
Rule 2: If the integer is even and greater than 9, divide it by 2.
Rule 3: If the integer is odd and greater than 9, subtract 5 from it.
A sample sequence: 23, 18, 9, 81, 79, …
Find the 98 th term of the sequence that begins 98, 49, …
a) 6 b) 11 c) 22 d) 27 e) 54

23. Ann chooses a two-digit number, subtracts it from 200, and doubles the result. What is the largest
number Ann can get?
a) 200 b) 202 c) 220 d) 380 e) 398
 9. Given that a is greater than 9, which of the following is smallest?

a) 5 b) 5 c) 5a d) 5 e) impossible to tell
a+4 a–2 a–9

10. Pipes A, B, and C individually fill a basin in 5, 9, and 45 hours respectively. If they were all opened
to fill the basin together, how many hours would it take?
a) 59 b) 3 c) 19.7 d) 1 e) 4

11. Harry has three sisters and five brothers. His sister Harriet has S sisters and B brothers. What is the
product of S and B?
a) 8 b) 10 c) 12 d) 15 e) 18

12. The two equal sides of an isosceles triangle are 37 inches long and the base is 24 inches. What is the
area of the triangle?
a) 888 b) 420 c) 444 d) 676 e) 338

13. What is the one's digit of 5 43?

a) 7 b) 9 c) 0 d) 5 e) 1

14. Each of the letters W, X, Y, and Z represent a different integer in the set {1, 2, 3, 4}, but not
necesarily in that order. If W – Y = 1, then the sum of W and Z is
X Z
a) 3 b) 4 c) 5 d) 6 e) 7

15. What is the probability that the ones digit is 0 in the sum of two one-digit prime numbers?

a) 3 b) 1 c) 0 d) 1 e) none of these
16 9 6

16. The number of edges on a cube is:

a) 4 b) 6 c) 8 d) 10 e) 12
 2000 Written Quest

1. What is the degree measure of the smaller angle formed by the hands of a clock at 10 o'clock??
a) 30 b) 45 c) 60 d) 75 e) 90

2. A rectangular garden 50 feet long and 10 feet wide is enclosed by a fence. To make the garden
larger, while using the same fence, its shape is changed to a square. By how many square feet does
this enlarge the garden?
a) 100 b) 200 c) 300 d) 400 e) 500

3. The third exit on a highway is located at milepost 40 and the tenth exit is at milepost 160. There is
a service center on the highway located three-fourths of the way from the third exit to the tenth exit.
At what milepost would you expect to find this service center?
a) 90 b) 100 c) 110 d) 120 e) 130

4. A complete cycle of a traffic light takes 60 seconds. During each cycle the light is green for 25
seconds, yellow for 5 seconds, and red for 30 seconds. At a randomly chosen time, what is the
probability that the light will not be green?

a) 1 b) 1 c) 5 d) 1 e) 7
4 3 12 2 12

5. The average age of the 40 members of a computer science camp is 17 years. There are 20 girls, 15
boys, and 5 adults. If the average age of the girls is 15 and the average age of the boys is 16, what
is the average age of the adults?
a) 26 b) 27 c) 28 d) 29 e) 30

6. In a far-off land three fish can be traded for two loaves of bread and aloaf of bread can be traded for
four bags of rice. How many bags of rice is one fish worth?

a) 3 b) 1 c) 3 d) 8 e) 10
8 2 4 3 3

7. When 1999 2000 is divided by 5, the remainder is

a) 4 b) 3 c) 2 d) 1 e) 0

8. For how many values of k will x 2 + kx + 12 factor?

a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 6 e) 10