I know what I am going to write about will not go well with a lot of people, especially if your children are in any of schools with affiliation. Well my kids are also in one of these schools, however, I feel that it’s time for the MOE to step in to regulate the cutting off point (COP) between the affiliated students and non-affiliates as I felt that the current COP is too huge a disparity for students, especially if they are from the non-affiliated schools. Let me cite an example: Student A from a non-affiliated school scored 240 in T-score and yet he/she is unable to get admitted into the school of his/her choice that happen to be a school with affiliation while Student B of 220 T-score can easily get admitted to his/her affiliaed school. The 20 points difference in T-score will mean greater than 20 points in actual papers. How would Student A feel? Worse if Student A didn’t manage to get into the affiliated primary school during the Primary One balloting exercise. This is a double blow to him/ her. How about Student B? Because of the affiliated scheme, Student B might be complacent and not work hard.


I just feel that this is a very bias system, not a fair system as what MOE or any of the ministers have advocated. It’s fine to keep the affiliation if you want to satisfy the good deed or contribution by the communities, however do you need to have such a huge disparity in the COP? Most of these schools have COP as great as 20-50 basis points different!

I sincerely hope that MOE will step in to regulate the COP to one that is more palatable so that more students from non-affiliates can gain access to school of their choice and not be a victim of current system.

As parents, I should be happy since my kids are in these affiliated schools. However, I am advocating for a fairer education system for all kids.

MathIzzzFun:

Superbugs:

I have another question, appreciate your help:

Jovi has 2 strings, string A and string B. Initially, string A was thrice the length of string B. Jovi then cut 9.1m from string A and 140cm from string B. The length of string B became 1.5 times of string A. What is the length of string A at first? Express your answer in cm?

Hi

Hope this helps :lol:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62167097@N02/5709910478/in/photostream

cheers.

Dear MathIzzzFun,
You are really good. Tks a lot!

Dharma:

CoffeeCat:

[quote=\"Superbugs\"]

Hi Coffeecat,

Tks for your prompt reply but why add 4 where the total no. of chairs is only 108? This is something which I do not understand.

The sec question was correctly listed but ans is only 131...

Ar, this is a bit hard to explain.
Why do u choose to minus 4?
From your working, I think u kinda understand what u r supposed to do.
To find the total number of chairs along the length + total number of chairs along the breadth
Minus-ing the 4 corners isnt going to be correct.... We add the four corners because ...

maybe you wana draw a diagram
X X X X X X X X X
X X
X X X X X X X X X
(please imagine the 2nd X in the 2nd row as to the far right...)
In this diagram, there are 9 X along the length, 3 along the breadth.
What's the total?
7 + 7 + 1 + 1 + 4 (corners) = 20
But length = 9 breadth =3.
2 length + 2 breadth = 24
There is a shortage of 4 because the 4 corners are only counted once in the first scenario when they are in fact double counted in the second scenario.

Hi Superbugs,

Think there is a typo error in the Qn ... should be 9 stacks of chairs instead of 8.
Total number of chairs = 12 x 9 = 108
Number of chairs in the corners = 4
Balance number of chairs to be placed at equal spacing between the corners = 108 – 4 = 104
L + B = 104/2 = 52
(L + 2)/ (B + 2) = 3/1
L + 2 = 3B + 6
L – 3B = 4
4B = 48
B = 12
L = 52 – 12 = 40
Number of chairs placed along one of the length = 40 + 2 = 42[/quote]Tks for the explanation. The latter might be too difficult for my DD to understand.

I have another question, appreciate your help:

Jovi has 2 strings, string A and string B. Initially, string A was thrice the length of string B. Jovi then cut 9.1m from string A and 140cm from string B. The length of string B became 1.5 times of string A. What is the length of string A at first? Express your answer in cm?

hypergatak:

Thanks for prompt response. My son is so dissappointed as he got a different answer. He is perstering me to ask another question:-


Mr Lim has some sweets and packets. When he packs the 4 sweets per packet, there would be 15 sweets left. When he packs 6 sweets per packet, there would be 3 sweets left. How many sweets does he have?

Thanks.

This is a P4 question?
Using Lowest Common Multiple

Multiple of 4 plus excess of 15
19,23,27,31,35,39
Multiple of 6 plus excess of 3
9,15,21,27,33

So the answer is 27.

CoffeeCat:

Superbugs:

Hi there, appreciate it that someone can assist me on the following questions:


Q1) There are 8 stacks of chairs and 12 chairs in each stack. Each chair is equally spaced apart to form the perimeter of a rectangle. If the no. of chairs placed along its length is thrice the no. of chairs placed along its breadth, how many chairs are placed equally along one of the length of the rectangle.

12x9 = 108
108-4 (4 corners) = 104
108/8 = 13
13x3=39
39+2 (2 corners) = 41

But the answer is 42 and instead of minusing the 4 corners, they add the 4 corners
108+4=112
112/8=42
Why is that so?

Q2) J bought some strawberries and wanted to put them in boxes. If she put 4 strawberries into each box, there would be 3 strawberries left. If she put 6 strawberries into eah box, she would have 5 strawberries left.

If the no. of strawberries was between 100 and 150, how many strawberries did J buy?

I used the common multiple method but got many answers:

Common Multiple of 4, starting with 100 plus 3 excess:
103, 107, 111, 114, 119, 123, 127, 131, 135 etc

Common Multiple of 6, starting with 102 plus 5 excess:
107, 113, 119, 125, 131, 137

Why the answer is not 107 or 119 but 131? If this is not the correct method to apply, any other method?

Qns 1)
\"If the no. of chairs placed along its length is thrice the no. of chairs placed along its breadth\".
The 4 corners....the 4 chairs are only counted once. So you have to add 4 so that you really get the total no. of chairs for length + breadth. If you minus the 4, then the above sentence is no longer true.
Qns 2)
Maybe there is a typo with the question. Your method is correct. Although the fastest direct method is to notice that any number which is 1 less than a multiple of 12 will satisfies the 2 conditions.
(let the ans be x. Notice x+1 will be a common multiple of 4 and 6, implying x+1 must be a multiple of 12)

Hi Coffeecat,

Tks for your prompt reply but why add 4 where the total no. of chairs is only 108? This is something which I do not understand.

The sec question was correctly listed but ans is only 131...

My toddler daughter has a very obvious lymph gland (not sure if that’s the term) after one of her jab. According to pediatrician, it could be caused by her BCG. She has asked us to monitor her gland --if it grows bigger or move to another location. If serious, she might need to go an op to remove it.


Anyone has such experience with their children?

Hi I have another question, kindly assist:


Four containers A,B,C & D contained a total of 230 buttons at first. Then the no. of buttons in A was increased by 55, the no. in B was decreased by 15, the no. in C was doubled and the no. in D was halved. As a result, the no. of buttons in each container was the same. Find the no. of buttons in D at first?

If the no. of buttons in each container was the same at the end, why can’t I use 230/4=57.5 (not a whole no???)

I used the model method but not sure if this is correct understanding:

At first
A=>2U-55
B=>2U+15
C=>U
D=>4U

9U=230-15+55
9U=270
1U=30
4U=120

MathIzzzFun:

Superbugs:

Hi there, someone pls help me with the following questions:


Mdm Lek had 57 apples and oranges altogether. There were 3 fewer oranges than apples. Sh egave away half as many oranges as apples and was left with twice as many oranges as apples. How many apples did she give away?

I can only do up to here:
2U+3 => 57
1U=>27
Oranges =>27
Apples => 27+3 => 30

Hi

Hope this helps :lol:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62167097@N02/5705956596/in/photostream

cheers.

Wow impressive. I got it. Tks a lot.
Can anyone help with my earlier two questions pls. Tks

Dharma:

Total No. of Ducks = D

Total No. of Cows = C
Total no. of legs = 2D + 4C

Ratio of the no. of legs of ducks : no. of legs of cows = 2D : 4C = 5 : 9
18D = 20C
D : C = 20 : 18

Total no. of ducks and cows = 20 + 18 = 38

How did you derive at 18D:20C? You mean cross multiply 2D with 9 and 4C with 5? If yes, why?

Pls help with this question too with other method other than guess and check:


Farmer Tan has ducsk and cows on his farm. The total number of ducks and cows is between 20 and 40. The ratio of the total no. of duck’s legs to the total no. of cow’s legs is 5:9. What is the total no. of ducks and cows on the farm?

Duck=> 2 legs
Cow=> 4 legs
Ratio of duck’s legs to cow’s leg
5:9
Since cow has 4 legs, I multiply the duck ratio by 2 to be on par with the cow legs, I get 10:9 => 19
Then guess and check method:
20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40
Since only 38 can be divisible by 19, the ans is 38.
Is this method correct?

Any other method?