TSI Practice Test: Video 1 Answers (25 Questions) — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 3/4 + 1/8?
- 7/8 (Correct answer)
- 4/12
- 1
- 5/8
Correct answer: 7/8
Convert 3/4 to 6/8, then add 1/8 to get 7/8. Adding the numerators and denominators directly (4/12) is the common mistake.
Question 2: What is 20% of 150?
- 35
- 40
- 30 (Correct answer)
- 25
Correct answer: 30
One fifth of 150 is 30. 25 would be about 16.7 percent.
Question 3: What is 0.6 × 0.5?
- 0.3 (Correct answer)
- 3.0
- 0.11
- 0.03
Correct answer: 0.3
6 × 5 = 30, with two decimal places gives 0.30. 0.11 comes from adding instead of multiplying.
Question 4: A car travels 180 miles in 3 hours. At the same rate, how far in 5 hours?
- 360 miles
- 240 miles
- 270 miles
- 300 miles (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 300 miles
The rate is 60 mph, so 5 hours gives 300 miles. 360 would be 6 hours.
Question 5: A jacket costs $80 and is discounted 25%. What is the sale price?
- $55
- $70
- $60 (Correct answer)
- $65
Correct answer: $60
25% of 80 is 20, so the price is $60. $55 subtracts 25 dollars instead of 25 percent.
Question 6: Solve for x: 3x + 5 = 20
Correct answer: 5
3x = 15, so x = 5. Answer 15 forgets to divide by 3.
Question 7: What is the slope of the line through (1, 2) and (3, 8)?
Correct answer: 3
Rise is 6 and run is 2, so slope is 3. 6 uses rise only.
Question 8: Factor: x² − 9
- (x − 3)(x − 3)
- (x + 9)(x − 1)
- (x − 3)(x + 3) (Correct answer)
- (x − 9)(x + 1)
Correct answer: (x − 3)(x + 3)
x² − 9 = (x − 3)(x + 3). (x − 3)(x − 3) expands to x² − 6x + 9.
Question 9: If 2x − y = 7 and y = 3, what is x?
Correct answer: 5
2x − 3 = 7, so 2x = 10 and x = 5. 10 is the value of 2x, not x.
Question 10: What are the solutions of x² − 5x + 6 = 0?
- −2 and −3
- 1 and 6
- 2 and 3 (Correct answer)
- −1 and 6
Correct answer: 2 and 3
Factor as (x − 2)(x − 3) = 0, so x = 2 or 3. Negative pairs would make the middle term +5x.
Question 11: What is the mean of 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12?
Correct answer: 8
The sum is 40, and 40 / 5 = 8. 10 is not the center of the data.
Question 12: What is the median of 3, 9, 5, 7, 1?
Correct answer: 5
Sorted: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, so the middle is 5. 7 is the third value in the unsorted list.
Question 13: A fair die is rolled once. What is the probability of an even number?
- 1/3
- 1/6
- 1/2 (Correct answer)
- 2/3
Correct answer: 1/2
Faces 2, 4, 6 are even, so 3/6 = 1/2. 1/3 counts only two faces.
Question 14: A bag has 3 red and 5 blue marbles. What is P(red) on one draw?
- 3/5
- 1/3
- 3/8 (Correct answer)
- 5/8
Correct answer: 3/8
There are 8 marbles in total, so P(red) = 3/8. 3/5 compares red to blue, not to total.
Question 15: What is the mode of 2, 3, 3, 5, 7, 3, 8?
Correct answer: 3
The value 3 appears three times. 5 is closer to the mean but appears once.
Question 16: "The committee delayed the vote, citing insufficient data." What does insufficient mean?
- Not enough (Correct answer)
- Excessive
- Outdated
- Confusing
Correct answer: Not enough
A vote is delayed when information is lacking, so insufficient means not enough. Excessive is the opposite.
Question 17: Sleep helps the brain store memories, so well-rested students recall more. What is the main idea?
- Memory causes sleep
- Students avoid sleep
- Recall is unrelated
- Sleep supports memory (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Sleep supports memory
The passage links sleep to better recall. The other choices reverse or deny that link.
Question 18: "Despite heavy rain, the game continued." What relationship does Despite signal?
- Example
- Sequence
- Contrast (Correct answer)
- Cause
Correct answer: Contrast
Despite introduces something that happens in spite of another fact, which is contrast. It does not show cause.
Question 19: "Her tone was sardonic, mocking the plan with bitter humor." The tone is best described as
- Scornful (Correct answer)
- Neutral
- Joyful
- Admiring
Correct answer: Scornful
Mocking with bitter humor is scornful. Admiring would not involve mockery.
Question 20: Maria checked the forecast, then packed an umbrella. What is the best inference?
- Rain was expected (Correct answer)
- She is traveling abroad
- The forecast was wrong
- She dislikes sun
Correct answer: Rain was expected
Checking the forecast before packing an umbrella suggests rain was predicted. The text gives no evidence for the others.
Question 21: Choose the correct word: Neither of the students ___ ready.
- be
- is (Correct answer)
- are
- were
Correct answer: is
Neither is singular, so is is correct. Were and are are plural forms.
Question 22: Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
- Its raining, so bring it's umbrella.
- It's raining, so bring you're umbrella.
- It's raining, so bring your umbrella. (Correct answer)
- Its raining, so bring you're umbrella.
Correct answer: It's raining, so bring your umbrella.
Option B uses it's (it is) and your (possessive) correctly. You're means you are.
Question 23: Which is the best revision of the comma splice: "She studied hard, she passed."
- She studied hard she passed.
- She studied hard, passed she.
- She studied hard, so she passed. (Correct answer)
- She, studied hard she passed.
Correct answer: She studied hard, so she passed.
Adding a coordinating conjunction after the comma fixes the splice. The others stay run-on or add errors.
Question 24: Choose the correct word: The dogs wagged ___ tails.
- there
- them
- their (Correct answer)
- they're
Correct answer: their
Their shows ownership of the tails. They're means they are; there means a place.
Question 25: Choose the parallel form: She likes hiking, swimming, and ___.
- to bike
- to biking
- biking (Correct answer)
- bikes
Correct answer: biking
Biking matches hiking and swimming. To bike breaks the parallel pattern.
