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MTEL General Curriculum Mathematics Practice
Question 1 |
Use the problem below to answer the question that follows:
T shirts are on sale for 20% off. Tasha paid $8.73 for a shirt. What is the regular price of the shirt? There is no tax on clothing purchases under $175.
Let p represent the regular price of these t-shirt. Which of the following equations is correct?
\( \large 0.8p=\$8.73\) Hint: 80% of the regular price = $8.73. | |
\( \large \$8.73+0.2*\$8.73=p\) Hint: The 20% off was off of the ORIGINAL price, not off the $8.73 (a lot of people make this mistake). Plus this is the same equation as in choice c. | |
\( \large 1.2*\$8.73=p\) Hint: The 20% off was off of the ORIGINAL price, not off the $8.73 (a lot of people make this mistake). Plus this is the same equation as in choice b. | |
\( \large p-0.2*\$8.73=p\) Hint: Subtract p from both sides of this equation, and you have -.2 x 8.73 =0. |
Question 2 |
Use the expression below to answer the question that follows.
\( \large 3\times {{10}^{4}}+2.2\times {{10}^{2}}\)
Which of the following is closest to the expression above?
Five millionHint: Pay attention to the exponents. Adding 3 and 2 doesn't work because they have different place values. | |
Fifty thousandHint: Pay attention to the exponents. Adding 3 and 2 doesn't work because they have different place values. | |
Three millionHint: Don't add the exponents. | |
Thirty thousandHint: \( 3\times {{10}^{4}} = 30,000;\) the other term is much smaller and doesn't change the estimate. |
Question 3 |
Which of the numbers below is the decimal equivalent of \( \dfrac{3}{8}?\)
0.38Hint: If you are just writing the numerator next to the denominator then your technique is way off, but by coincidence your answer is close; try with 2/3 and 0.23 is nowhere near correct. | |
0.125Hint: This is 1/8, not 3/8. | |
0.375 | |
0.83Hint: 3/8 is less than a half, and 0.83 is more than a half, so they can't be equal. |
Question 4 |
The expression \( \large{{8}^{3}}\cdot {{2}^{-10}}\) is equal to which of the following?
\( \large 2\) Hint: Write \(8^3\) as a power of 2. | |
\( \large \dfrac{1}{2}\) Hint: \(8^3 \cdot {2}^{-10}={(2^3)}^3 \cdot {2}^{-10}\) =\(2^9 \cdot {2}^{-10} =2^{-1}\) | |
\( \large 16\) Hint: Write \(8^3\) as a power of 2. | |
\( \large \dfrac{1}{16}\) Hint: Write \(8^3\) as a power of 2. |
Question 5 |
Solve for x: \(\large 4-\dfrac{2}{3}x=2x\)
\( \large x=3\) Hint: Try plugging x=3 into the equation. | |
\( \large x=-3\) Hint: Left side is positive, right side is negative when you plug this in for x. | |
\( \large x=\dfrac{3}{2}\) Hint: One way to solve: \(4=\dfrac{2}{3}x+2x\) \(=\dfrac{8}{3}x\).\(x=\dfrac{3 \times 4}{8}=\dfrac{3}{2}\). Another way is to just plug x=3/2 into the equation and see that each side equals 3 -- on a multiple choice test, you almost never have to actually solve for x. | |
\( \large x=-\dfrac{3}{2}\) Hint: Left side is positive, right side is negative when you plug this in for x. |
Question 6 |
The polygon depicted below is drawn on dot paper, with the dots spaced 1 unit apart. What is the perimeter of the polygon?

\( \large 18+\sqrt{2} \text{ units}\) Hint: Be careful with the Pythagorean Theorem. | |
\( \large 18+2\sqrt{2}\text{ units}\) Hint: There are 13 horizontal or vertical 1 unit segments. The longer diagonal is the hypotenuse of a 3-4-5 right triangle, so its length is 5 units. The shorter diagonal is the hypotenuse of a 45-45-90 right triangle with side 2, so its hypotenuse has length \(2 \sqrt{2}\). | |
\( \large 18 \text{ units}
\) Hint: Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the lengths of the diagonal segments. | |
\( \large 20 \text{ units}\) Hint: Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the lengths of the diagonal segments. |
Question 7 |
Which of the lines depicted below is a graph of \( \large y=2x-5\)?

aHint: The slope of line a is negative. | |
bHint: Wrong slope and wrong intercept. | |
cHint: The intercept of line c is positive. | |
dHint: Slope is 2 -- for every increase of 1 in x, y increases by 2. Intercept is -5 -- the point (0,-5) is on the line. |
Question 8 |
A publisher prints a series of books with covers made of identical material and using the same thickness of paper for each page. The covers of the book together are 0.4 cm thick, and 125 pieces of the paper used together are 1 cm thick.
The publisher uses a linear function to determine the total thickness, T(n) of a book made with n sheets of paper. What are the slope and intercept of T(n)?
Intercept = 0.4 cm, Slope = 125 cm/pageHint: This would mean that each page of the book was 125 cm thick. | |
Intercept =0.4 cm, Slope = \(\dfrac{1}{125}\)cm/pageHint: The intercept is how thick the book would be with no pages in it. The slope is how much 1 extra page adds to the thickness of the book. | |
Intercept = 125 cm, Slope = 0.4 cmHint: This would mean that with no pages in the book, it would be 125 cm thick. | |
Intercept = \(\dfrac{1}{125}\)cm, Slope = 0.4 pages/cmHint: This would mean that each new page of the book made it 0.4 cm thicker. |
Question 9 |
What set of transformations will transform the leftmost image into the rightmost image?
A 90 degree clockwise rotation about (2,1) followed by a translation of two units to the right.Hint: Part of the figure would move below the x-axis with these transformations. | |
A translation 3 units up, followed by a reflection about the line y=x.Hint: See what happens to the point (5,1) under this set of transformations. | |
A 90 degree clockwise rotation about (5,1), followed by a translation of 2 units up. | |
A 90 degree clockwise rotation about (2,1) followed by a translation of 2 units to the right.Hint: See what happens to the point (3,3) under this set of transformations. |
Question 10 |
Below is a pictorial representation of \(2\dfrac{1}{2}\div \dfrac{2}{3}\):
Which of the following is the best description of how to find the quotient from the picture?
The quotient is \(3\dfrac{3}{4}\). There are 3 whole blocks each representing \(\dfrac{2}{3}\) and a partial block composed of 3 small rectangles. The 3 small rectangles represent \(\dfrac{3}{4}\) of \(\dfrac{2}{3}\). | |
The quotient is \(3\dfrac{1}{2}\). There are 3 whole blocks each representing \(\dfrac{2}{3}\) and a partial block composed of 3 small rectangles. The 3 small rectangles represent \(\dfrac{3}{6}\) of a whole, or \(\dfrac{1}{2}\).Hint: We are counting how many 2/3's are in 2 1/2: the unit becomes 2/3, not 1. | |
The quotient is \(\dfrac{4}{15}\). There are four whole blocks separated into a total of 15 small rectangles.Hint: This explanation doesn't make much sense. Probably you are doing "invert and multiply," but inverting the wrong thing. | |
This picture cannot be used to find the quotient because it does not show how to separate \(2\dfrac{1}{2}\) into equal sized groups.Hint: Study the measurement/quotative model of division. It's often very useful with fractions. |
Question 11 |
A solution requires 4 ml of saline for every 7 ml of medicine. How much saline would be required for 50 ml of medicine?
\( \large 28 \dfrac{4}{7}\) ml Hint: 49 ml of medicine requires 28 ml of saline. The extra ml of saline requires 4 ml saline/ 7 ml medicine = 4/7 ml saline per 1 ml medicine. | |
\( \large 28 \dfrac{1}{4}\) ml Hint: 49 ml of medicine requires 28 ml of saline. How much saline does the extra ml require? | |
\( \large 28 \dfrac{1}{7}\) ml Hint: 49 ml of medicine requires 28 ml of saline. How much saline does the extra ml require? | |
\( \large 87.5\) ml Hint: 49 ml of medicine requires 28 ml of saline. How much saline does the extra ml require? |
Question 12 |
A teacher has a list of all the countries in the world and their populations in March 2012. She is going to have her students use technology to compute the mean and median of the numbers on the list. Which of the following statements is true?
The teacher can be sure that the mean and median will be the same without doing any computation.Hint: Does this make sense? How likely is it that the mean and median of any large data set will be the same? | |
The teacher can be sure that the mean is bigger than the median without doing any computation.Hint: This is a skewed distribution, and very large countries like China and India contribute huge numbers to the mean, but are counted the same as small countries like Luxembourg in the median (the same thing happens w/data on salaries, where a few very high income people tilt the mean -- that's why such data is usually reported as medians). | |
The teacher can be sure that the median is bigger than the mean without doing any computation.Hint: Think about a set of numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4, 10,000 -- how do the mean/median compare? How might that relate to countries of the world? | |
There is no way for the teacher to know the relative size of the mean and median without computing them.Hint: Knowing the shape of the distribution of populations does give us enough info to know the relative size of the mean and median, even without computing them. |
Question 13 |
The picture below shows identical circles drawn on a piece of paper. The rectangle represents an index card that is blocking your view of \( \dfrac{3}{5}\) of the circles on the paper. How many circles are covered by the rectangle?

4Hint: The card blocks more than half of the circles, so this number is too small. | |
5Hint: The card blocks more than half of the circles, so this number is too small. | |
8Hint: The card blocks more than half of the circles, so this number is too small. | |
12Hint: 2/5 of the circles or 8 circles are showing. Thus 4 circles represent 1/5 of the circles, and \(4 \times 5=20\) circles represent 5/5 or all the circles. Thus 12 circles are hidden. |
Question 14 |
The histogram below shows the number of pairs of footware owned by a group of college students.
Which of the following statements can be inferred from the graph above?
The median number of pairs of footware owned is between 50 and 60 pairs.Hint: The same number of data points are less than the median as are greater than the median -- but on this histogram, clearly more than half the students own less than 50 pairs of shoes, so the median is less than 50. | |
The mode of the number of pairs of footware owned is 20.Hint: The mode is the most common number of pairs of footwear owned. We can't tell it from this histogram because each bar represents 10 different numbers-- perhaps 8 students each own each number from 10 to 19, but 40 students own exactly 6 pairs of shoes.... or perhaps not.... | |
The mean number of pairs of footware owned is less than the median number of pairs of footware owned.Hint: This is a right skewed distribution, and so the mean is bigger than the median -- the few large values on the right pull up the mean, but have little effect on the median. | |
The median number of pairs of footware owned is between 10 and 20.Hint: There are approximately 230 students represented in this survey, and the 41st through 120th lowest values are between 10 and 20 -- thus the middle value is in that range. |
Question 15 |
Which of the lists below is in order from least to greatest value?
\( \large -0.044,\quad -0.04,\quad 0.04,\quad 0.044\) Hint: These are easier to compare if you add trailing zeroes (this is finding a common denominator) -- all in thousandths, -0.044, -0.040,0 .040, 0.044. The middle two numbers, -0.040 and 0.040 can be modeled as owing 4 cents and having 4 cents. The outer two numbers are owing or having a bit more. | |
\( \large -0.04,\quad -0.044,\quad 0.044,\quad 0.04\) Hint: 0.04=0.040, which is less than 0.044. | |
\( \large -0.04,\quad -0.044,\quad 0.04,\quad 0.044\) Hint: -0.04=-0.040, which is greater than \(-0.044\). | |
\( \large -0.044,\quad -0.04,\quad 0.044,\quad 0.04\) Hint: 0.04=0.040, which is less than 0.044. |
Question 16 |
What is the length of side \(\overline{BD}\) in the triangle below, where \(\angle DBA\) is a right angle?

\( \large 1\) Hint: Use the Pythagorean Theorem. | |
\( \large \sqrt{5}\) Hint: \(2^2+e^2=3^2\) or \(4+e^2=9;e^2=5; e=\sqrt{5}\). | |
\( \large \sqrt{13}\) Hint: e is not the hypotenuse. | |
\( \large 5\) Hint: Use the Pythagorean Theorem. |
Question 17 |
Cell phone plan A charges $3 per month plus $0.10 per minute. Cell phone plan B charges $29.99 per month, with no fee for the first 400 minutes and then $0.20 for each additional minute.
Which equation can be used to solve for the number of minutes, m (with m>400) that a person would have to spend on the phone each month in order for the bills for plan A and plan B to be equal?
\( \large 3.10m=400+0.2m\) Hint: These are the numbers in the problem, but this equation doesn't make sense. If you don't know how to make an equation, try plugging in an easy number like m=500 minutes to see if each side equals what it should. | |
\( \large 3+0.1m=29.99+.20m\) Hint: Doesn't account for the 400 free minutes. | |
\( \large 3+0.1m=400+29.99+.20(m-400)\) Hint: Why would you add 400 minutes and $29.99? If you don't know how to make an equation, try plugging in an easy number like m=500 minutes to see if each side equals what it should. | |
\( \large 3+0.1m=29.99+.20(m-400)\) Hint: The left side is $3 plus $0.10 times the number of minutes. The right is $29.99 plus $0.20 times the number of minutes over 400. |
Question 18 |
The prime factorization of n can be written as n=pqr, where p, q, and r are distinct prime numbers. How many factors does n have, including 1 and itself?
\( \large3\) Hint: 1, p, q, r, and pqr are already 5, so this isn't enough. You might try plugging in p=2, q=3, and r=5 to help with this problem. | |
\( \large5\) Hint: Don't forget pq, etc. You might try plugging in p=2, q=3, and r=5 to help with this problem. | |
\( \large6\) Hint: You might try plugging in p=2, q=3, and r=5 to help with this problem. | |
\( \large8\) Hint: 1, p, q, r, pq, pr, qr, pqr. |
Question 19 |
A family went on a long car trip. Below is a graph of how far they had driven at each hour.
Which of the following is closest to their average speed driving on the trip?
\( \large d=20t\) Hint: Try plugging t=7 into the equation, and see how it matches the graph. | |
\( \large d=30t\) Hint: Try plugging t=7 into the equation, and see how it matches the graph. | |
\( \large d=40t\) | |
\( \large d=50t\) Hint: Try plugging t=7 into the equation, and see how it matches the graph. |
Question 20 |
On a map the distance from Boston to Detroit is 6 cm, and these two cities are 702 miles away from each other. Assuming the scale of the map is the same throughout, which answer below is closest to the distance between Boston and San Francisco on the map, given that they are 2,708 miles away from each other?
21 cmHint: How many miles would correspond to 24 cm on the map? Try adjusting from there. | |
22 cmHint: How many miles would correspond to 24 cm on the map? Try adjusting from there. | |
23 cmHint: One way to solve this without a calculator is to note that 4 groups of 6 cm is 2808 miles, which is 100 miles too much. Then 100 miles would be about 1/7 th of 6 cm, or about 1 cm less than 24 cm. | |
24 cmHint: 4 groups of 6 cm is over 2800 miles on the map, which is too much. |
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