Civil Service Numerical Word Problem Solving Questions and Answers 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A government office has a supply of 840 pens and 680 pencils. If the items are to be distributed into identical packages with no items left over, what is the greatest number of packages the office can prepare?
- 20
- 40 (Correct answer)
- 60
- 80
Correct answer: 40
To find the greatest number of identical packages, you need to find the Greatest Common Divisor (GCD) of 840 and 680. Find the prime factors of each number: 840 = 2^3 * 3 * 5 * 7 and 680 = 2^3 * 5 * 17. The common prime factors are 2^3 and 5. The GCD is 2^3 * 5 = 8 * 5 = 40. Therefore, the greatest number of packages that can be prepared is 40.
Question 2: Clerk A can process 120 documents in 8 hours, while Clerk B can process the same number of documents in 6 hours. If they work together, approximately how many hours will it take them to process 210 documents?
- 3 hours (Correct answer)
- 4 hours
- 5 hours
- 6 hours
Correct answer: 3 hours
First, find their individual rates. Clerk A's rate is 120 documents / 8 hours = 15 documents/hour. Clerk B's rate is 120 documents / 6 hours = 20 documents/hour. Their combined rate is 15 + 20 = 35 documents/hour. To find the time to process 210 documents together, divide the total documents by their combined rate: Time = 210 documents / 35 documents/hour = 6 hours.
Question 3: The sum of three consecutive odd integers is 147. Which of the following is the largest of the three integers?
- 47
- 49
- 51 (Correct answer)
- 53
Correct answer: 51
Let the three consecutive odd integers be x, x+2, and x+4. Their sum is x + (x+2) + (x+4) = 147. Simplify the equation: 3x + 6 = 147. Subtract 6 from both sides: 3x = 141. Divide by 3: x = 47. The three integers are 47, 49, and 51. The largest integer is 51.
Question 4: A provincial office's budget increased by 15% in the first year and then decreased by 10% in the second year. If the initial budget was P2,000,000, what was the final budget after the two years?
- P2,050,000
- P2,070,000 (Correct answer)
- P2,100,000
- P2,300,000
Correct answer: P2,070,000
Year 1 increase: 15% of P2,000,000 = 0.15 * 2,000,000 = P300,000. The budget after Year 1 is P2,000,000 + P300,000 = P2,300,000. Year 2 decrease: 10% of P2,300,000 = 0.10 * 2,300,000 = P230,000. The final budget is P2,300,000 - P230,000 = P2,070,000.
Question 5: The ratio of male employees to female employees in a bureau is 5:3. If there are a total of 1,200 employees, how many female employees are there?
- 400
- 450 (Correct answer)
- 750
- 800
Correct answer: 450
The ratio 5:3 means there are 5+3=8 total parts. To find the value of one part, divide the total number of employees by the total number of parts: 1200 / 8 = 150. Since the ratio for female employees is 3, multiply this value by 3: 150 * 3 = 450. There are 450 female employees.
Question 6: A government vehicle travels from Town A to Town B at a speed of 60 km/h and returns to Town A at a speed of 40 km/h. If the total travel time was 5 hours, what is the distance between Town A and Town B?
- 100 km
- 120 km (Correct answer)
- 150 km
- 240 km
Correct answer: 120 km
Let 'd' be the distance and 't1' and 't2' be the times for the two trips. We know that distance = speed × time. So, t1 = d/60 and t2 = d/40. The total time is t1 + t2 = 5 hours. So, d/60 + d/40 = 5. Find a common denominator (120): (2d + 3d) / 120 = 5. This simplifies to 5d/120 = 5. Multiply both sides by 120: 5d = 600. Divide by 5: d = 120 km.
