Opportunity Class Placement Test

Thinking Skills
Explained answers for the sample test

© UCLES
1 From the departure and arrival times, we can work out that the slow train took
6 hours to reach Braxton.

Since the express train was four times as fast as the slow train, it must have
taken 1 hour 30 minutes to reach Braxton, and so it departed from Lode at
5:30 pm (7:00 pm minus 1 hour 30 minutes), which is option D.

2 The statement should provide a reason to support the suggestion that dance
lessons should be an important part of school life. An example of a school-
related benefit that is brought by dancing would do this, so option A is correct.

3 Working through the list of pets that Alex keeps:

Snakes are not kept by either of the others.

Fish are also kept by Carlos.
Lizards are not kept by either of the others.
Rats and frogs are both also kept by Ben and Carlos.

The correct answer is therefore option D.

4 Of the three subjects that I want to study, English and science are contained
in two of the lists and history is only contained in List 1. I can therefore choose
my final subject from any that appear in List 2, List 3 or List 4, but not any
subject which only appears in List 1.

Arts appears in List 1 and nowhere else.

Geography appears in List 1 and also List 3.
Health appears in List 2.
PE appears in List 1 and also List 4.

The only subject that I cannot choose as my final subject is arts. The correct
answer is therefore option A.

5 We know that only students who attend the meeting at lunchtime will be
allowed to go on the excursion, but there may be other reasons why some of
these students are not able to go. So Mia’s reasoning is incorrect.

Noah won’t be able to go to the meeting at lunchtime today as he will be at

cricket practice, so it is certain that he won’t be allowed to go on the
excursion. So Tyler’s reasoning is correct. The correct answer is option B.
6 We are told that Archie is to the right of Beau, and if Carter is to the left of
Archie, Archie must be to the right of Carter. Archie is therefore to the right of
both of the others and so must be furthest to the right. The correct answer is
option D.

7 There will be 18 evenings on which the show will be performed. There will be
6 days on which an afternoon performance will also take place. So there will
be 24 performances in total, which is option D.

8 Jim has found a jacket that matches the description from Darryl and has
assumed that it must be Jane’s. It might not be Jane’s because there might be
other blue jackets that have hoods, which is option C.

9 The statement should provide a reason to support the claim that anyone riding
a motorcycle should wear a helmet. One such reason is that wearing a helmet
reduces the risk of serious injury, which is option B.

10 Identify the pairs of numbers that will be on opposite sides when each net is
folded into the dice.

For net A, the pairs will be 1-4, 3-6 and 5-2, which do not all add up to 7.
For net B, the pairs will be 5-3, 2-1 and 6-4, which do not all add up to 7.
For net C, the pairs will be 6-1, 5-2 and 3-4, all of which add up to 7.
For net D, the pairs will be 4-2, 3-5 and 6-1, which do not all add up to 7.
The correct answer is therefore option C.

11 The instructor’s statement says that anyone with less than 20 hours of driving
practice does not have any chance of passing their test. Therefore, there
cannot be any learner drivers who have had less than 20 hours of practice but
will pass their test. Option B is therefore correct.

12 The fact that an emu’s egg is dark green and large does not mean that any
egg that is dark green and large must be an emu’s egg, so Charlotte’s
reasoning is incorrect.

The fact that an emu’s egg can measure up to 13 cm long does not mean that
it is not possible for the egg to measure just 10 cm, so Oliver’s reasoning is
incorrect. Option D is therefore correct.
13 There is one mark placed on the string initially. After it has been folded once,
two more marks will have been placed on the string. After it has been folded a
second time, four more marks will have been placed on the string.

The string therefore has seven marks equally spaced along it, creating eight
sections along the string, each of which is 4 cm long. The total length of the
piece of string will be 32 cm (4 cm multiplied by 8 sections), which is option D.

14 Mrs Hughes has concluded that some of the class must have been wearing
contact lenses because she knows that ten of the children are short-sighted
and she only saw seven wearing glasses. Therefore, she must think that the
short-sighted children will either wear glasses or contact lenses. This is only
true if all short-sighted people always wear either one or the other, which is
not the case. Option C shows the mistake that she has made.

15 Since Kamilla and Jess are next to each other, Max and Lucy must also be
next to each other. Jess is sitting diagonally opposite Lucy, so she must be
sitting opposite Max. Therefore, option D is correct.

16 The same shapes were used in option D, as shown below:

original option D

17 The statement should provide a reason to support the claim that plastic
pollution in our oceans affects us too. One such reason is that the pollution
affects the food that we eat, which is option D.

18 The only time that the fire alarm could go off when there is not a real fire
would be for a drill and therefore would be in the afternoon. Yuri’s reasoning is
therefore correct.

The fire alarm might not go off when there is a real fire, so Bindi’s reasoning is
also correct. The correct answer is therefore C.
19 The changes in the marks were as follows:

Uma 84  79, a drop of 5.

Finn 82  88, an increase of 6.
Lily 75  86, an increase of 11.
Arlo 73  78, an increase of 5.
Leon 73  73, no change.
Sophie 69  78, an increase of 9.

The biggest improvement was made by Lily, which is option B.

20 If Bilal does not play tomorrow, then Arthur must be playing. Since Arthur is
playing, Conor must be playing and David must not be playing. So Arthur and
Conor will be in the team, which is option C.

21 Faisal’s statement describes the minimum amount of practice that is needed

to have any chance of passing the exam. Sajid has assumed that any amount
of practice that is more than this will guarantee that the exam is passed, so
option D is correct.

22 Consider each of the pairs listed as the answer options.

Option A (dominoes 1 and 3): domino 1 could be placed in either position, but
domino 3 can only be placed top right. This two-domino combination will
complete the square.

Option B (dominoes 2 and 5): domino 2 can only be placed top right, domino
5 can be placed bottom right. This two-domino combination will complete the
square.

Option C (dominoes 3 and 4): domino 3 can only be placed top right, domino
4 can also only be placed top right. This two-domino combination will not
complete the square.

Option D (dominoes 4 and 5): domino 4 can only be placed top right, domino
5 can be placed bottom right. This two-domino combination will complete the
square.

Option C is correct.
23 Since Town B is north of Town C, and Town C is north of Town D, Town B
must be north of Town D. Town B is northeast of Town A, which means that
Town A must be further to the west than Town B and so is further to the west
than Town D.

Towns E and F are both further to the east than Town B, so must be further to
the east than Town D.

So Town A is the only one that could be northwest of Town D, which is option
A. The positions of the towns would be as shown below:

24 The statement should provide a reason to support the claim. If the fact that
countries are doing more trade with each other means that they are less likely
to go to war with each other, then this is better for everyone and supports the
claim. The correct answer is therefore option C.

25 For each ingredient we can work out the number of sets of 8 cupcakes that
could be made (if there was enough of all other ingredients).

Flour 6 sets
Sugar 5 sets
Butter 3 sets
Eggs 2.5 sets

The eggs are therefore the ingredient that limits the number of sets that can
be made and 2.5 × 8 = 20 cupcakes can be made. The correct answer is
option C.

26 If the team loses this week, then Mr Rudd will be in a bad mood and therefore
will set extra homework, so Dylan’s reasoning is correct.

We know that the class gets extra homework when Mr Rudd’s team has lost,
but there might be other reasons why they could get extra homework, so
Wei’s reasoning is incorrect. Option B is therefore correct.
27 If the middle ball is red then the collisions are red  red, followed by
red  yellow.

If the middle ball is yellow then the collisions are red  yellow, followed by
yellow  yellow.

In either case, there is a point where a red ball hits a yellow ball, so option B
is correct.

28 The view shows that there are four separate rooms. The easiest ones to
identify in the plan are the two rectangular ones that are adjacent to each
other. Option D is the only one that has these two rooms shown and adjacent,
so must be the correct answer.

29 Since the white chest is two places away from the black chest, and the black
chest is on the far right, the white chest must be the middle one of the line.
The purple chest cannot be next to the white chest, so it must be on the far
left. The yellow chest is next left to the white one, so the order of the chests
must be:

Purple Yellow White Red Black

The white chest is two places away from the chest with the key, and the red
chest is not next to the chest with the key, so the key must be in the purple
chest, which is option D.

30 Since everyone had to vote for two out of the three colours, knowing that no
student voted for both red and green tells us that all students voted for yellow.
Yellow must also be the only colour that all students voted for, since each
colour got at least one vote. The outcome will therefore be to paint the
classroom yellow, and option A is correct.
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