Chapter 10

Math Practice Test 1

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ACT MATHEMATICS TEST
60 Minutes—60 Questions
DIRECTIONS: Solve each problem, choose the correct an- Note: Unless otherwise stated, all of the following should be
swer, and then darken the corresponding oval on your answer assumed:
document. 1. Illustrative figures are NOT necessarily drawn to scale.
Do not linger over problems that take too much time. Solve 2. Geometric figures lie in a plane.
as many as you can; then return to the others in the time you
have left for this test. 3. The word line indicates a straight line.

You are permitted to use a calculator on this test. You 4. The word average indicates arithmetic mean.
may use your calculator for any problems you choose,
but some of the problems may best be done without using a
calculator.

1. Bob’s Burgers charges $8 dollars for a hamburger and $5 DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
for an order of French fries. Last month, h hamburgers and
f orders of fries were purchased. Which of the following
expressions gives the total amount of money, in dollars,
Bob’s Burgers earned on hamburgers and fries last month?
A. 5h + 8f
B. 8h + 5f
C. 13(h + f)
D. 40(h + f)
E. 8(h + f) + 5f

2. If a = 8, b = −2, and c = 3, what does (a − b + c)(b + c) equal?

F. −65
G. −13
H. 9
J. 13
K. 65

3. An artist at the State Fair paints 40 portraits per day. A second

artist paints 50 portraits per day. The second artist opens for
business three days after the first. Both remain open until
the Fair closes, which is 11 days after the first artist began.
Together, the two artists have painted how many portraits?
A. 400
B. 440
C. 720
D. 840
E. 900

4. Josh has been a professional baseball player for four years.

His home run totals each year have been 30, 39, 51, and 44,
respectively. In order to maintain his current average number
of home runs per season, how many home runs must Josh hit
next year?
F. 31
G. 39
H. 41
J. 44
H. 51 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
16 8 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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5. A craftswoman is paid $9.00 per necklace for making up to DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
30 necklaces per week. For each necklace over 30 that she is
asked to make in a week, she is paid 1.5 times her regular pay.
How much does she earn in a week in which she is asked to
make 34 necklaces?
A. $162
B. $270
C. $306
D. $324
E. $459

6. Which of the following mathematical expressions is equivalent

to the verbal expression “The square root of a number, n, is
19 less than the value of 5 divided by n” ?
5
F. n2 = − 19
n
n
G. n2 = − 19
5
n
H. n = 19 −
5
y
J. n = −19
n
5
K. n = − 19
n

7. If 12(y − 3) = −7, then y = ?

43
A. −
12
10
B. −
12
7
C. −
12
29
D.
12
43
E.
12

8. At a department store, purses sell for $12 each during a one-

day sale. Rita spent $84 on purses during the sale, $38.50 less
than if she had bought the purses at the regular price. How
much do purses cost at the regular price?
F. $ 5.50
G. $15.50
H. $16.00
J. $17.50
K. $20.00 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Math Practice Test 1 | 16 9
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9. (2a − 5b2)(2a + 5b2) = DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
A. 4a2 − 25b4
B. 4a2 − 10b4
C. 4a2 + 25b4
D. 2a2 − 25b4
E. 2a2 − 10b4

10. A rectangle’s perimeter is 18 feet, and its area is 18 square

feet. What is the length of the longest side of the rectangle?
F. 10
G. 8
H. 6
J. 3
K. 2

11. In DXYZ, ∠X is 64�. What is the sum of ∠Y and ∠Z ?

A. 26�
B. 64�
C. 116�
D. 126�
E. 128�

12. Each morning, a glee club member chooses her outfit among
4 plaid skirts, 5 pairs of argyle socks, 3 sweaters, and 4
headbands. How many different outfits are possible for her
to put together on any given morning consisting of one skirt,
one pair of socks, one sweater, and one headband?
F. 4
G. 15
H. 16
J. 120
K. 240

13. Positive integers x, y, and z are consecutive such that x < y < z.
z
The sum of x, 2y, and is 59. What are the values of x, y,
2
and z, respectively?
A. 10, 11, 12
B. 11, 12, 13
C. 14, 15, 16
D. 16, 17, 18
E. 18, 19, 20

14. A function h(x) is defined as h(x) = −5x3. What is h(−2) ?

F. −1,000
G. −40
H. 30
J. 40
K. 1,000 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
17 0 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
15. If z = 4 97 , then which of the following must be true?
A. 2<z<3
B. 3<z<4
C. 4<z<5
D. 5<z<6
E. 6<z

16. What is the greatest common factor of 96, 108, and 144 ?
F. 12
G. 18
H. 24
J. 36
K. 48

17. Cowan Cola is holding a contest to develop a new, more

environmentally efficient can for its soft drink. The winning
can is a cylinder ten inches tall, with a volume of 40π in3.
What is the radius, in inches, of the can?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 4
D. 5
E. 8

18. A clock has 12 numbered points. Four points W, X, Y, Z lie

on the clock representing certain numbers. W represents 3:00.
X is 4 units clockwise from W. Y is 9 units counterclockwise
from W. Z is 5 units counterclockwise from W and 7 units
clockwise from W. What is the order of points, starting with
W and working clockwise around the circle?
F. W, X, Y, Z
G. W, X, Z, Y
H. W, Y, X, Z
J. W, Y, Z, X
K. W, Z, Y, X

19. Tribbles reproduce at a rate described by the function

f(a) = 12(3)a, where a represents the number of days and f(a)
represents the number of tribbles. At this rate, how many
tribbles will there be at the end of Day Four?
A. 48
B. 96
C. 240
D. 972
E. 1,296 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Math Practice Test 1 | 17 1
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20. The height of a triangle is half the height of a larger triangle. DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
The two triangles have the same base. The area of the larger
triangle is Y square feet. The area of the smaller triangle is
xY square units. Which of the following is the value of x ?
1
F.
4
G. 1
2
H. 1

J. 2

K. 4

21. (2 x + 3 y + 4 z ) − (6 x − 7 y + 8z ) is equivalent to:

A. −4 x + 10 y − 4 z
B. −4 x + 10 y + 12 z
C. −4 x − 4 y − 4 z
D. −8 x + 10 y + 12 z
E. −8 x − 4 y + 12 z

22. The right triangle shown below has lengths measured in

inches. What is cos θ ?

y z

x
F.
y
x
G.
z
y
H.
x
y
J.
z
z
K.
y
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
17 2 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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23. On a dead-end street, 8 houses are evenly spaced around a DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
circular cul-de-sac. A newspaper delivery person bikes around
the cul-de-sac and tosses the newspapers onto the driveway
of each house. The delivery person bikes rapidly enough that
the person can only toss to every third house. On which lap
around the cul-de-sac will the delivery person have delivered
newspapers to all 8 houses on the street?
A. 2nd
B. 3rd
C. 4th
D. 8th
E. 11th

24. Lines q and m are in the standard (x,y) coordinate plane. The
equation for line q is y = 23x + 500. The y-intercept of line m
is 10 less than the y-intercept of line q. What is the y-intercept
of line m ?
F. 2.3
G. 13
H. 50
J. 490
K. 510

25. The expression −9a 5 (8a 7 − 4 a3 ) is equivalent to:

A. −36 a9
B. −72 a12 + 36 a8
C. −72 a12 − 36 a8
D. −72 a35 + 36 a15
E. −72 a35 − 36 a15

26. −4 −9 + 2 = ?
F. -44
G. -28
H. 3
J. 28
K. 44 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Math Practice Test 1 | 17 3
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27. In right triangle DWYZ shown below, XV is perpendicular to DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
WZ at point V and is parallel to YZ . Line segments WY, XV,
and WV measure 30 inches, 6 inches, and 8 inches, respectively.
What is the measurement, in inches, of YZ ?
W

30 X V
6

Y Z

A. 15
B. 18
C. 20
D. 24
E. 27

28. As an experiment in botany class, students tracked a plant

growing at a constant rate upward, perpendicular to the
ground. As shown in the table below, they measured the height,
h inches, of the plant at 1-week intervals from w = 0 weeks
to w = 4 weeks.

w 0 1 2 3 4
h 7 10 13 16 19

Which of the following equations expresses this data?

F. h=w+7
G. h = 3w + 4
H. h = 3w + 7
J. h = 7w + 3
K. h = 10 w

29. The inequality 4(n − 3) < 5(n + 2 ) is equivalent to which of

the following inequalities?
A. n > −22
B. n > −14
C. n > −13
D. n > −2
E. n>2
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
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30. The sides of an equilateral triangle are 4 inches long. One DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
vertex of the triangle is at (1,1) on a coordinate graph labeled in
inch units. Which of the following could give the coordinates
of another vertex of the triangle?
F. (-4, 1)
G. ( 0, 1)
H. ( 2, 3)
J. ( 1,-3)
K. ( 5,-3)

31. For DLMN, shown below, which of the following expresses

the value of m in terms of n ?
M

6 feet
n feet

L N
m feet

A. 6−n
B. 6−n
C. 12 + n2
D. 36 − n2
E. 36 + n2

32. A jar holds 10 pear jellybeans, 16 cherry jellybeans, and 19

watermelon jellybeans. How many extra pear jellybeans must
be added to the 45 jellybeans currently in the jar so that the
3
probability of randomly selecting a pear jellybean is ?
8
F. 9
G. 11
H. 21
J. 35
K. 45
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Math Practice Test 1 | 17 5
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33. The graph of the equation 6x + 3y = 12 is found in which DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
quadrants of the standard (x,y) coordinate plane below?
y

II I

0
x

III IV

A. II and IV only
B. I, II, and III only
C. I, II, and IV only
D. I, III, and IV only
E. II, III, and IV only

34. The graph of y = −2 x 2 + 10 contains the point (3,4n) in the

standard (x,y) coordinate plane. What is the value of n ?
F. 7
G. 1
H. -2
J. -4
K. -8

35. Jennifer, Kelly, and Meredith split their apartment rent.

2 1
Jennifer paid of the rent, Kelly paid of the rent,
3 4
and Meredith paid the rest. What is the ratio of Jennifer’s
contribution to Kelly’s contribution to Meredith’s
contribution?
A. 1:3:8
B. 3:8:1
C. 3:1:8
D. 8:3:1
E. 8:1:3 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
17 6 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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36. In the standard (x,y) coordinate plane, a circle has an equation DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
of x + ( y + 4 ) = 28. Which of the following gives the center
2 2

and radius of the circle, in coordinate units?

center radius
F. (0,-4) 28
G. (0,-4) 14
H. (0,-4) 28
J. (0, 4) 28
K. (0, 4) 14

37. An equilateral triangle and 2 semicircles have dimensions as

shown in the figure below. What is the perimeter, in inches,
of the figure?

6 in

A. 3 + 3π
B. 6 + 6π
C. 6 + 12 π
D. 18 + 6 π
E. 18 + 12 π

38. In the figure below, points H, J, K, and L bisect the sides of

rhombus DEFG, and point M is the intersection of HK and
JL. The area enclosed by DEFG except the area enclosed by
HEFM is shaded. What is the ratio of the area of HEFM to
the area of the shaded area?
E

H J

D M F

L K

F. 1:2
G. 3:4
H. 3:5
J. 3:8
K. Cannot be determined from the given information GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Math Practice Test 1 | 17 7
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39. In the standard (x,y) coordinate plane, the endpoints of FG lie DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
on the coordinates (-6,10) and (8,-2). What is the y-coordinate
of the midpoint of FG ?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 4
D. 6
E. 8

40. What is the volume, in cubic feet, of a cube with a side of

length 9 feet?
F. 729
G. 486
J. 243
H. 81
K. 27

41. The system below has linear equations, in which r, s, t, and v

are positive integers.

rx + sy = t
rx + sy = v

Which of the following best describes a possible graph of such

a system of equations in the standard (x,y) coordinate plane?
I. 2 lines intersecting at only 1 point
II. 1 single line
III. 2 parallel lines
A. I only
B. III only
C. I and II only
D. II and III only
E. I and III only
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
17 8 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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42. Given the dimensions in the figure below, which of the following DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
expresses the distance, in feet, from the tree to the house?

house

40 feet

tree 34º mailbox

F. 40 sin 34º

G. 40 cos 34º

H. 40 tan 34º
40
J.
sin 34°
40
K.
cos 34°

43. The chart below shows the percentage of students, by grade,

enrolled in a school. A student is picked randomly in a
lottery to win a new graphing calculator. What are the odds
(in the grade:not in the grade) that the winning student is in
Grade 6 ?

Grade 5 6 7 8 9
Percentage of
total number 12 22 25 27 14
of students

A. 1:4
B. 1:5
C. 7:25
D. 11:39
E. 11:50
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Math Practice Test 1 | 17 9
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DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
Use the following information to answer
questions 44–46.

The figure below shows the pattern of a square tile mosaic to

decorate the wall of Chelsea’s Mexican Café. Grout fills the small
spaces between individual tile pieces. All white triangular tiles are
equilateral and share a vertex with each adjacent triangular piece.
A green square piece is at the center of the mosaic. The length of
the mosaic is 3 meters.

44. How many lines of symmetry in the plane does the pattern
of the tile mosaic have?
F. 2
G. 3
H. 4
J. 8
K. Infinitely many

45. What is the length of the diagonal of the mosaic, to the nearest
0.1 meters?
A. 2.4
B. 3.0
C. 3.4
D. 4.2
E. 5.7

46. Joe wants to put a tile mosaic on the wall of his office. The
pattern of the mosaic will be identical to that in the restaurant.
The length of the office wall is 20% shorter than the length
of the mosaic. The office wall is how many meters long?
F. 0.6
G. 2.4
H. 2.8
J. 3.6
K. 6.0

GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.

18 0 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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47. In the figure below, DE || FG, DG bisects ∠HDE , and HG DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
bisects ∠FGD . If the measure of ∠EDG is 68�, what is the
measure of ∠DHG ?
D E
68º

F G

A. 68�
B. 78�
C. 80�
D. 82�
E. Cannot be determined from the given information

48. In the figure shown below, points A, B, and C lie on the circle
with an area of 16π square meters and center O (not shown).
AC is the longest chord in the circle, and the measure of AB
is 4 meters. What is the degree measure of minor arc BC ?

B
C

F. 60�
G. 90�
H. 120�
J. 145�
K. Cannot be determined from the given information

49. For which of the following values of b would the system of

equations below have no solutions?

12 x + 8 y = 16
3 x + by = 2

A. 2
B. 4
C. 8
D. 16
E. 32
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
Math Practice Test 1 | 181
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DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
Use the following information to answer
questions 50–52.

Rebecca and Scott make and sell pies and cookies for school bake
sales. It takes them 1 hour to make a dozen cookies and 3 hours
to make a pie. The shaded triangular region shown below is the
graph of a system of inequalities representing weekly constraints
Rebecca and Scott have on their baking. For making and selling d
dozen cookies and p pies, they make a profit of 12d + 25p dollars.
They sell all the goods they bake.
6
number of pies

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
dozens of cookies

50. The constraint represented by the horizontal line segment

containing (9,1) means that each school-week, Rebecca and
Scott make a minimum of:
F. 1 pie
G. 9 pies
H. 1 dozen cookies
J. 9 dozen cookies
K. 10 dozen cookies

51. What is the maximum profit Rebecca and Scott can earn from
the baking they do in 1 school-week?
A. $100
B. $109
C. $122
D. $133
E. $237

52. During the third week of October each year, school is closed
for Fall Break, and Rebecca and Scott have more time than
usual to bake. During that week, for every hour that they spend
baking, they donate $2 to the school’s fund for after-school
reading programs. This year, they baked 5 pies and 3 dozen
cookies during Fall Break. Which of the following is closest
to the percent of that week’s profit they donated to the reading
program fund?
F. 5%
G. 9%
H. 15%
J. 18%
K. 22%

GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.

18 2 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.




53. The determinant of a matrix a c equals ad − bc. What
b d




must be the value of w for the matrix w w to have a
w 10
determinant of 25 ?
A. 5

10
B.
3
5
C.
2
5
D. −
3

E. −5

54. Henry discovers that the population of the bacterial colony in

his lab can be calculated using the equation x = B(1 + .2g)n,
where x is the current population, B is the original number
of bacteria, g is a growth rate constant for that species, and
n is the number of days elapsed. Which of the following is
an expression for B in terms of g, n, and x ?
F. x − .2gn

G. x + .2gn
n
x




H. 1 + .2g

x
J.
(1 − .2 g )
n

x
K.
(1 + .2 g )
n

55. If m and n are real numbers such that m < −1 and n > 1, then
which of the following inequalities must be true?

n
A. >1
m
2
B. n > m

n m
C. +2 > +2
7 7

D. n2 + 1 > m2 + 1

E. n−2 > m−2 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.

Math Practice Test 1 | 18 3
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56. Triangles TVW and XYZ are shown below. The given side DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
lengths are in inches. The area of ∆TVW is 45 square inches.
What is the area of ∆XYZ in square inches?
V
Y
a b 55º
125º a b
X Z

T W

F. 22.5
G. 27
H. 30
J. 45
K. 50

57. Triangle JKL is shown in the figure below. The measure of

∠K is 50�, JK = 9 cm, and KL = 6 cm. Which of the following
is the lengths, in centimeters, of LJ ?

(Note: For a triangle with sides of length a, b, and c opposite

angles ∠A, ∠B, and ∠C, respectively, the law of sines states
sin ∠A sin ∠B sin ∠C
= = , and the law of cosines states
a b c
c 2 = a2 + b2 − 2 ab cos ∠C .)

6 cm 50º

9 cm
L

J
A. 9 sin 50�
B. 6 sin 50�
C. 92 − 62
D. 92 + 6
E. 92 + 62 − 2(9)(6)cos 50 °

58. What is the sum of the first 3 terms of the arithmetic sequence
in which the 7th term is 13.5, and the 11th term is 18.3 ?
F. 15.9
G. 22.5
H. 25.5
J. 32.4
K. 43.5 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
18 4 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT
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59. In the equation w2 − pw + q = 0 , p and q are integers. The DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.
only possible value for w is 8. What is the value of p ?
A. 8
B. −8
C. 16
D. −16
E. 64

60. The solution set of which of the following equations is the set
of real numbers that are 4 units from −1 ?

F. x +1 = 4
G. x −1 = 4
H. x + 4 =1
J. x − 4 =1
K. x + 4 = −1

END OF TEST.
STOP! DO NOT TURN THE PAGE UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO.
Math Practice Test 1 | 18 5
 MATH SCORING DIRECTIONS
Score Your Practice Test
Step Step A
Count the number of correct answers: __________. This is your raw score.
A

Step Step B
Use the score conversion table below to look up your raw score. The number to the
B left is your scale score: __________.

Math Scale Conversion Table

Scale Raw Scale Raw Scale Raw

Score Score Score Score Score Score
36 60 27 45–47 18 24–25
35 59 26 42–44 17 21–23
34 58 25 40–41 16 17–20
33 56–57 24 37–39 15 14–16
32 55 23 35–36 14 11–13
31 54 22 33–34 13 9–10
30 52–53 21 31–32 12 7–8
29 50–51 20 29–30 11 6
28 48–49 19 26–28 10 5

18 8 | Math and Science Workout for the ACT