SCAT Problem Solving: Word Problems 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A shirt originally costs $80 and is on sale for 25% off. What is the sale price?
- $55
- $60 (Correct answer)
- $65
- $70
Correct answer: $60
Discount = 0.25 × $80 = $20, so sale price = $80 − $20 = $60.
Question 2: A store buys items for $40 and sells them for $56. What is the percent markup?
- 25%
- 30%
- 35%
- 40% (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 40%
Markup = (56 − 40) / 40 × 100 = 16/40 × 100 = 40%.
Question 3: Tap A fills 1/3 of a pool per hour, Tap B fills 1/4 per hour, and a drain removes 1/12 per hour. How long to fill the pool with all three open?
- 1.5 hours
- 2 hours (Correct answer)
- 2.5 hours
- 3 hours
Correct answer: 2 hours
Net rate = 1/3 + 1/4 − 1/12 = 4/12 + 3/12 − 1/12 = 6/12 = 1/2 per hour, so time = 2 hours.
Question 4: A rectangular garden is 12 ft long and 8 ft wide. A 2-ft-wide path surrounds the garden. What is the area of the path alone?
- 72 sq ft
- 80 sq ft
- 96 sq ft (Correct answer)
- 112 sq ft
Correct answer: 96 sq ft
Outer rectangle = 16 × 12 = 192 sq ft; garden = 96 sq ft; path area = 192 − 96 = 96 sq ft.
Question 5: A bag contains balls that are 1/3 red, 1/4 blue, and the rest green. What fraction of the balls are green?
- 1/4
- 5/12 (Correct answer)
- 7/12
- 1/2
Correct answer: 5/12
Green = 1 − 1/3 − 1/4 = 12/12 − 4/12 − 3/12 = 5/12.
Question 6: Maria types 60 words per minute on a 3,600-word report. She takes a 10-minute break after every 30 minutes of typing. How long does the task take in total?
- 60 minutes
- 65 minutes
- 70 minutes (Correct answer)
- 75 minutes
Correct answer: 70 minutes
Typing time = 60 minutes, split into two 30-minute sessions with one 10-minute break in between, totaling 70 minutes.
Question 7: The average of 5 numbers is 18. After removing one number, the average of the remaining 4 is 20. What is the removed number?
- 8
- 10 (Correct answer)
- 12
- 14
Correct answer: 10
Sum of 5 = 90; sum of 4 = 80; removed number = 90 − 80 = 10.
SCAT Problem Solving: Word Problems 3
A shirt originally costs $80 and is on sale for 25% off.
What is the sale price?