Digital PSAT Math Practie Test 3: Problem-Solving and Data Analysis

1

A marine biologist has conducted research into the population of blue whales over the past few decades. The estimated global blue whale population is plotted against the given year in the graph below:

Another scientist is reviewing the results of the marine biologist's observations and assessing the impact of measurement error on such an ambitious project. The scientist is considering two possible sources of measurement error: (1) random error from any factor that would affect the scientist's measurements and (2) systematic error from a problem in the overall setup of the data-gathering project. Which of the following would be the best way that the marine biologist's measurement error could have been minimized?

2

The graph below gives the current GPA of every one of the 389 students at County High School.

Which of these values of the GPA for the students portrayed in the graph is between 2 and 3?

I. Mean

II. Median

III. Mode

3

The graph below gives the current GPA of every one of the 389 students at County High School.

The school administrators have decided that too much grade inflation occurs at the school. They believe the average GPA is skewed too high by teachers giving too many A's and B's and by not enough students receiving C's, D's, and F's. If the administrators want to ensure that grade inflation is minimized, which of these quantities would be important to bring close to 2.0?

4

In a recent election in a European country, the political parties divided the vote among the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, the Socialists, and the Green Party.

If women provided 60% of the total votes for the Green, Socialist, and Christian Democrat parties and if males and females each represent 50% of the country's voters, what percent of the Social Democrat vote was from men?

5

In a recent election in a European country, the political parties divided the vote among the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, the Socialists, and the Green Party.

The country's constitution states that in order for a party to come to power, it must have a majority of the votes. The constitution also states that the seats in the parliament are allocated proportionally to each party based on the percentage of votes each party received. So if no one political party receives a majority of the vote, a coalition party will have to be formed from 2 or more parties to give a governing majority. Which of the following combinations of political parties from this election would NOT result in a governing coalition?

6

300 patients at a hospital were categorized based on whether they had high or low cholesterol and on whether they had high or low blood pressure. The results are tabulated in the table below.

What is the probability that one of the 230 low blood pressure patients has high cholesterol?

A.

B.

C.

D.

7

300 patients at a hospital were categorized based on whether they had high or low cholesterol and on whether they had high or low blood pressure. The results are tabulated in the table below.

What is the percent chance that one of the 300 patients will have at least one of the conditions—high cholesterol or high blood pressure?

8

A researcher surveyed several residents in a town about the types of vehicles the residents own. The results are shown in the table below.

Jennifer and Bill were members of the group surveyed. They have a car and a van in their garage. What is the probability that both of the vehicles in their garage are hybrids?

A.

B.

C.

D.

9

A researcher surveyed several residents in a town about the types of vehicles the residents own. The results are shown in the table below.

What are the values of m and n in the table above?