New Awesome Website

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- The papers below are really nice, yes, but do you know what's nicer? That new site. On it, you can do practice papers and get results instantly! Here's the link:

Studying Online Rocks

 - I know you'll love it, because you have loved this blog here.

- One more thing, when you get there, you can choose to either log in with your Facebook account or Gmail account or Yahoo account, or create a new account manually (using FB/Gmail/Yahoo is better), or you can log in as a guest (*guests cannot attempt tests).

 - I as yet, haven't included any other subjects besides English, but we will. Notice that I have said 'we'.

KCPE 2004 Composition analysis

- Hi, everyone. I have been building an awesome new website - based on just how popular (and awesome) people have been finding this little blog.

- The analysis below is really nice, yes, but do you know what's nicer? That new site. On it, you can do practice papers and get results instantly! Here's the link:

Studying Online Rocks

 - I know you'll love it, because you have loved this blog here.

- One more thing, when you get there, you can choose to either log in with your Facebook account or Gmail account or Yahoo account, or create a new account manually (using FB/Gmail/Yahoo is better), or you can log in as a guest (*guests cannot attempt tests).

 - I as yet, haven't included any other subjects besides English, but we will. Notice that I have said 'we'.

This is an analysis heavily aided by what’s presented in the KCPE Newsletter 2004 as presented by the KNEC.

The examiners are quick to point out the objective of this paper; which is to test candidates’ ability to communicate in writing.

In summary, the following are among the skills tested:

-        building on the line suggested by writing an interesting and relevant story

-        grammatical accuracy

-        fluency in communication of ideas, feelings and technique

-        originality

-        creativity

They also point out that one of the major flaws exhibited by most candidates is the getting carried away so that they write pieces of writing that are too affected and incomprehensible.

They give an example of this:

Some candidates do indeed acquire a good measure of language structure, vocabulary and phrase that they use accurately and effectively but others unfortunately only go about picking words, phrases and idioms and dropping them in haphazardly and inappropriately.

E.g. in the above piece;

-          fumbled (?) off bed

-          bone chilling screeches of brakes loomed (?) the once tranquil aura

-          availing a good grief (?)

-          in no cue (?)...

-          my sense of telepathy sent it home of an impending doom as I stood aghasted (?)

Now, the topic that year was:

                I could not sleep that night. Let me explain what had happened...

Some candidates even when presented with such uncomplicated topics still end up writing compositions that touch very little on the topic presented. The examiners assert that the penalty for this needs to be heavier, and since this is from seven years ago, I fear for those who do that this year or in subsequent years.

This first composition is hard to believe to be from a person who’s gone though 8 solid years of primary school.

I do not know what to say about this one.

Just as the examiners point out, this 2^nd candidate has never heard of paragraphs; and few of his sentences bear any meaning.

I would say 03 was as much as he deserved, though you have to prefer this one to the previous one, eh?

The story presented here is one you’d expect of a Std. 1 pupil. This candidate’s spelling, like they say above, is also surprisingly consistent considering his level. Yeah, let’s move on

Even the title here is wrongly spelt. I know you don’t have to write a title, but make sure to spell it OK should you decide to [have one].

The words are over-spaced and the handwriting in my opinion is an eyesore. Outside, yesterday and myself are single words as the examiners highlight. In general, this candidate’s spelling is in the doldrums as shown by:

-        quistion

-         saing

-        wistle

-        ear [for ‘hear’]

-        adeed [for ‘indeed’] (?)

I have no idea how they even awarded this a 13. There is only one word to explain it: lenient. I have also noted something else – this candidate did not quite understand the topic (a cardinal sin as you saw at the beginning of this analysis).

                I could not sleep that night. Let me explain what had happened.

                                i.e. something had happened during the day, and not necessarily during the day but earlier. The key word here is had. This thing had occupied your mind so much that night that you found it hard to calm your brain to sleep.

OK, on to the next one...

This one has rewritten the beginning line; which is quite unnecessary. The candidate interchanges ‘there’ with ‘their’, a basic error.

There are also few pauses; at some point the story simply goes on and on and on. Always try giving the reader a breather where necessary.

The candidate communicates OK and although the examiners judge the story unconvincing, I believe it merits enough for a 23. It’s not as bad as they make it look.

Phrase-hurling they call it. I call it simply being clumsy in language. E.g. ‘my mother had been known like the back of her hand of her strict discipline...’ (?????)

‘I became huddled...’ ‘...I admired the groung to open up and swallow me...’ ‘... rubbling down food...’ ‘In a dull of a second...’

And they gave this a 32? Pffff.

The candidate also makes one very common mistake with students: ‘I had footsteps by the door.’ See if you can spot what’s wrong there.

All these mistakes can be corrected in different ways, but among these is one very simple one, but that would take perseverance to be effective – learning to speak the language everyday. Most of these awkward expressions and sentence structures can be easily noticed when speaking and be corrected.

The grammatical accuracy on show here is top-drawer and the candidate’s command of English is better than his predecessors. They say this – the examiners. However, in addition to the errors they’ve pointed out, why did this one begin by rewriting part of the opening line?

Moreover, we don’t ‘represent’ speeches, we make or give them. Anyway, the mistakes made here are minor, e.g. deer life, unifed, etc., are not worth dwelling too much on.

This simply goes to show that although minor errors are quite unavoidable, it is possible to impress the examiners sufficiently despite them and earn marks such as this one did.

There is even a nice simple twist at the end just for good measure – the one about the bees? Not bad. The handwriting is also pretty.

 

‘...I dared not flinch on the lights...’ should be ‘flick’ on, not ‘flinch’. They also mention a lot about ‘old block’ – and I totally agree with everything they say.

‘I once saw a white colour but hastily snatched...’ – what does this sentence mean?

‘Probably the thieves were in a lust of our fat cows...’ should be ‘...the thieves lusted after our fat cows...’

Anyway, these top guys’ minor mistakes are easily made up for by the sheer brilliance of their language and presentation. This candidate’s communication is first rate, and the story is well told and simple. I love it.

Although they do point out errors in this one, I only have praise for this one. It is impeccable – and I’m not  saying this just because they’ve put it at Number 1, no.

The way this candidate describes events, complete with instances of speech and description of the physical appearance of characters, is simply superb.

Analyse this composition thoroughly, it is masterful.

answers to math practice test paper 1

Update:

- Hi, everyone. I have been building an awesome new website - based on just how popular (and awesome) people have been finding this little blog.
- The paper below is really nice, yes, but do you know what's nicer? That new site. On it, you can do practice papers and get results instantly! Here's the link:

Studying Online Rocks

 - I know you'll love it, because you have loved this blog here.

- One more thing, when you get there, you can choose to either log in with your Facebook account or Gmail account or Yahoo account, or create a new account manually (using FB/Gmail/Yahoo is better), or you can log in as a guest (*guests cannot attempt tests).

 - I as yet, haven't included any other subjects besides English, but we will. Notice that I have said 'we'.

Before viewing these answers, please try Math Practice Test Paper 1. You can find it in the downloads section at the side.

I have tried to do as detailed an analysis of the paper as I could. I have presented this in Question and Answer format for ease of revision.

A summary of the answers in ABCD format has been presented at the end. I simply want to make sure you read the analysis first, that's all...

The notes that are given in each answer may sometimes contain links to various websites that I think could be of use to you as you read. They are presented as underlined italicized words e.g. downloads and are dotted here and there in this analysis, please feel free to check them out. Thanks.

OK, here goes...

1. What is 9099909 written in words?

A. Nine million nine hundred and ninety thousand and nine

B. Nine million ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and nine

C. Ninety million ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and nine

D. Ninety million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand and nine

2. How many groups of ten would represent the value of the digit 7 in the number 27435?

A. 7

B. 70

C. 700

D. 7000

3. What is 547.2698 rounded off to the nearest hundredth?

A. 550.2698

B. 547.300

C. 600.2698

D. 547.27

Rounding off:

4. What is the square root of 0.1764?

A. 42

B. 0.42

C. 0.042

D. 0.0042

Some additional info on how to calculate the square root: here

5. What is the next number in the series?

2, 5, 14, 29, __

A. 50

B. 44

C. 36

D. 56

6. What is the value of:

A. 27

B. 72

C. 24

D. 64

Want more on BODMAS? Here

7. Kiptoo repacked fifty half-litre packets of milk into 2-decilitre packets. How many 2-decilitre packets did he get?

A. 125

B. 250

C. 150

D. 25

1 litre = 10dl

               

                50 half-litre packets = 50 X ½ = 25 litres; and if 1l = 10dl, then 25l = (25X10) dl = 250dl.

                How many 2dl packets are in 250dl? We simply divide. 250 ÷ 2 = 125 packets.

I came across this. Check it out.

8. What is the value of?

A. 1.5

B. 0.15

C. 0.075

D. 0.75

I haven't an idea whether this will help, but I did find it nice.

9. A train travelling at an average speed 54km/h takes 5 seconds to cross a bridge. What is the length of the bridge in metres?

A. 27

B. 64.8

C. 90

D. 75

10. In the figure below line AD = line DE. Line BFC is a straight line. Angle BFE = 130° and angle ADE = 72°

                           
What is the size of angle ECF?

A. 54°

B. 72°

C. 76°

D. 50°

11. Mwenje starts his homework at 8.30 pm. At 9.05 pm he has done half of it. At what time will he finish working at the same rate?

A. 9.40 pm

B. 9.45 pm

C. 9.35 pm

D. 9.30 pm

12. During a reduction sale, prices were reduced by 15%. Alex saved Ksh. 48.30 by buying a jacket during the sale. What was the price of the jacket before the sale?

A. Ksh. 273.30

B. Ksh. 322

C. Ksh. 332

D. Ksh. 370.30

13. What is the value of X in the equation:

A. 13

B. 5

C. 23

D. 15

More on LCM and GCD

14. The table below shows the number of goals scored by Harambee Stars in their football matches during the 2008 and 2009 season.

No. of goals	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
No. of matches	4	6	4	2	1	2	1

  What was the mode of score?

A. 6

B. 2

C. 4

D. 1

The first row represents the item being observed/analysed in the table – which here is the number of goals scored.

The second row has the frequency with which the item being observed has appeared. For example the first item in the second row says that four matches have ended with no goals scored.

So, asked to find the mode, simply look at the frequency table and determine which item in the first row has the highest frequency.

The second item in the first row has the highest frequency – 6. And what is this item? 1. So the answer is 1. It is the mode.

15. The circle graph below shows the ages of pupils in Msambweni Primary School.

                                                           

    If there were 200 pupils over 12 years of age, how many pupils are between 10 and 12 years of age?

A. 600

B. 400

C. 460

D. 410

16. A tank is 2/5 full of water. After 270 litres of water have been drawn off, it becomes 1/7 full. What is the capacity of the tank when full?

A. 1000 litres

B. 1050 litres

C. 1890 litres

D. 675 litres

17. A trader bought 10 trays of eggs at Ksh. 150 each. The eggs in two trays got broken. He then sold the remaining eggs at Ksh. 6 per egg. If each tray contained 30 eggs, what loss did he make?

A. Ksh. 60

B. Ksh. 160

C. Ksh. 120

D. Ksh. 180

He bought 10 trays of eggs at 150/- each; therefore, his buying price was:

                10 X 150 = 1500/-

Since 2 trays broke, he sold only 8 trays. Let’s first find out how much he sold each tray at. 1 tray had 30 eggs, each at 6/-.

 each tray sold at 30 X 6 = 180/-

He sold 8 trays; therefore his selling price was:

                8 X 180 = 1440/-

How do we calculate either profit or loss?

                = Selling price – Buying price

= 1440 – 1500

= – 60

 He made a loss of Ksh. 60

18. A clock gains 5 seconds every hour. It was set right on Sunday 10.48 am. What time will it show the following Sunday at 10.48 am?

A. 11.02 am

B. 12.48 pm

C. 11.12 am

D. 11.58 am

19. The area of a right-angled triangle is 240 cm². If the height of the triangle is 30 cm, what is the length of the longest side?

A. 25 cm

B. 34 cm

C. 36 cm

D. 42 cm

20. Kipsoi is p years old now. He is q years older than his son. Which of the following expressions represents the sum of their ages in twenty years' time?

A. p – q + 20

B. p + q + 40

C. 2p – q + 40

D. 2p – q + 20

If he is q years older than his son, then his son is q years less than him, i.e. p – q years old.

The sum of their ages now is:

p + p – q which becomes:

2p – q

In twenty years’ time, we will simply add 20 to their present age, and the answer becomes:

2p – q + 20

21. The figure below represents Mwango's flower garden:

What is the perimeter of the flower garden?

A. 220 m

B. 80 m

C. 78 m

D. 108 m

22. A sum of money was shared between Salim and Hemed in the ratio 5 : 8. If Hemed got Ksh. 30 more than Salim, how much did Salim get?

A. Ksh. 65

B. Ksh. 45

C. Ksh. 26

D. Ksh. 50

Here's more on ratios, if you please...

23. The heights of seven pupils in a class were recorded as: 1.50 m, 1.45 m, 1.35 m, 1.47 m, 1.38 m, 1.49 m and 1.25 m. What was the median height?

A. 1.47 m

B. 1.45 m

C. 1.50 m

D. 1.49 m

Simply arrange the heights given in descending order (highest to lowest):

1.50, 1.49, 1.47, 1.45, 1.38, 1.35, 1.25

Then eliminate them first and last, first and last, first and last... until you get the figure that is bang in the middle. Like this:

1.50, 1.49, 1.47, 1.45, 1.38, 1.35, 1.25

1.49, 1.47, 1.45, 1.38, 1.35

1.47, 1.45, 1.38

Your median is therefore 1.45 m.

24. What is the value of:

25. A square piece of carton has four squares of side 4 cm cut from the corners. The sides are then turned up to form an open box whose volume is 64 cm³. What was the size of the carton in cm² before it was cut?

A. 144 cm²

B. 256 cm²

C. 512 cm²

D. 48 cm²

26. The figure below is a square of side 20 cm. XW, WY, YZ and ZX are arcs of radius 10 cm.

                                      

      What is the area of the shaded part?

A. 86 cm²

B. 54 cm²

C. 126 cm²

D. 157 cm²

27. A mother is five times as old as her daughter. In 18 years' time, she will be twice as old as her daughter. How old is the mother now?

A. 16

B. 46

C. 36

D. 30

28. What is the value of:

Following BODMAS, we do away with the brackets:

29. Ten men can do a piece of work in 18 days. How many more men must there be to finish the work in 15 days?

A. 12

B. 10

C. 2

D. 6

30. In the figure below PT is parallel to QS, PR is perpendicular to RS, angle QSR = 15° and angle PTQ = 30°.

                                       

      What is the size of angle QPT?

A. 105°

B. 45°

C. 65°

D. 75°

31. A hawker bought a suit from a tailor at a price 40% less than the marked price. What profit did the hawker make on a suit marked Ksh. 900 which he later sold at Ksh. 1200?

A. Ksh. 660

B. Ksh. 540

C. Ksh. 350

D. Ksh. 280

32. The length of one of the parallel sides of a trapezium is 30 cm and the perpendicular height is 8 cm. What is the length of the other parallel side if the area of the trapezium is 312 cm²?

A. 36 cm

B. 48 cm

C. 24 cm

D. 12 cm

More on trapeziums? Here you go...

33. Draw a triangle ABC in which the base BC = 13 cm, AB = 8 cm and AC = 11 cm. Draw a bisector of angle ABC. Then draw a perpendicular from A to meet this bisector at X.

  What is the length of AX?

A. 4.8 cm

B. 7.5 cm

C. 4 cm

D. 5.5 cm

34. A sales girl earns a basic salary of Ksh. 8000. For any sales above Ksh. 10000 she is paid a commission. In a certain month she sold goods worth Ksh. 160000. What was her percentage commission if her total earnings for that month were Ksh. 12000?

A. 5%

B. 4%

C. 12%

D. 2½%

35. A cylindrical container has a volume of 1584 cm³. If the height of the container is 14 cm, what is its diameter?

A. 12 cm

B. 18 cm

C. 20 cm

D. 15 cm

I am quite sure you'll also find this to your liking.

36. The table below shows the number of crates of soda a trader sold in one week except on Tuesday.

Days of the week	No. of crates
Monday	14
Tuesday	_
Wednesday	24
Thursday	12
Friday	10
Saturday	21
Sunday	20

      A crate of soda sells at Ksh. 350. If the total sales of soda for the whole week were Ksh. 40600, how much more money did he get on Sunday than on Tuesday?

A. Ksh. 2350

B. Ksh. 1750

C. Ksh. 3150

D. Ksh. 2100

37. Onyango cut out the shape below from an iron sheet in order to make an open rectangular box.

                             

      What was the area of the iron sheet in cm² used to make the box?

A. 388

B. 488

C. 398

D. 588

38. The cash price of a cupboard is Ksh. 8500. Mutiso bought the cupboard on cash terms and was given 10% discount. Omolo bought the same kind of cupboard on hire purchase terms whereby he paid a deposit of Ksh. 2500 plus 12 equal monthly instalments of Ksh. 650. How much more than Mutiso did Omolo pay for his cupboard?

A. Ksh. 850

B. Ksh. 1650

C. Ksh. 2500

D. Ksh. 2650

Just came across some stuff on Hire Purchase, a bit British though, but good.

39. A bus weighs 3.75 tonnes when empty and 7.5 tonnes when carrying 50 passengers. What is the average weight of each passenger?

A. 150 kg

B. 75 kg

C. 55 kg

D. 65 kg

Empty bus = 3.75 tonnes

Empty bus + Passengers = 7.5 tonnes

3.75 tonnes + Passengers = 7.5 tonnes

Passengers = (7.5 – 3.75) tonnes

                = 3.75 tonnes

Since there were 50 passengers, to find their average, you simply divide their total weight by 50.

Unfortunately, 3.75 tonnes has to be converted to kg first.

                1 tonne = 1000 kg

                3.75 tonnes = (3.75 X 1000) kg

                                = 3750 kg

So the average weight;

                = 3750 ÷ 50

               

                =75 kg

40. Which of the following expressions is the simplest form of:

41. Bosbori bought the following items from a shop.

1½ kg of sugar @ Ksh. 80.00 per kg

½ litre packet of milk for Ksh. 34.00

1 packet of tea leaves for Ksh. 76.00

2 loaves of bread @ Ksh. 32.00

A 2 kg tin of fat for Ksh. 210

If she gave the shopkeeper two five-hundred-shilling notes, how much balance did she get?

A. Ksh. 504

B. Ksh. 479

C. Ksh. 286

D. Ksh. 496

120 + 34 + 76 + 64 + 210

                = 504 /-

Now, remember, you’ve been asked what balance would be returned if she gave the shopkeeper 1000/-

                = 1000 – 504

                = 496 /-

42. The figure below represents a closed cylinder whose diameter is 14 cm and it is 12 cm long.

                                                             

      What is its surface area?

A. 836 cm²

B. 682 cm²

C. 528 cm²

D. 616 cm²

Surface area isn't really that difficult at all, here's some more stuff on it.

43. Hassan deposited Ksh. 20000 in a bank which paid compound interest at the rate of 15% per annum. If he withdrew all his money at the end of two years, how much money did he withdraw?

A. Ksh. 26450

B. Ksh. 26000

C. Ksh. 2300

D. Ksh. 23450

With compound interest, you... OK, go here, check this out.

44. During a football match there were five times as many children as women in the stadium. There were 1800 more children than there were men. If there were 3500 women in the stadium, how many people were there in the stadium altogether?

A. 5700

B. 26700

C. 36700

D. 38700

‘...there were five times as many children as women...’ i.e. the children were five times the women.

So if;      the women can be represented as          x

                the children will be                             5x

Now, you are told ‘...there were 1800 more children than men...’

                i.e. children = men + 1800

                                5x = men + 1800

                                Men = 5x – 1800

But then they give you the number of women as being 3500;

                i.e.          x = 3500

the children 5x \ are 5 (3500) = 17500

the men, 5x – 1800, consequently are 17500 – 1800 = 15700

The total is men + women + children;

                = 15700 + 17500 + 3500

                = 36700

45. Draw a line QR 6 cm long. Draw another line PQ 5 cm long. Angle PQR = 120°. To locate points S of the quadrilateral, construct angle QRS = 60 and the bisector of angle PQR. Join QS.

What is the size of angle QSR?

A. 130°

B. 110°

C. 60°

D. 74°

46. A train left Nakuru at 1850h. It took 12 hours and 55 minutes to reach Mombasa. At what time did it reach Mombasa?

A. 8.15 am

B. 7.45 am

C. 6.50 am

D. 7.35 am

47. A section of a river measuring 25 km is represented on a map by 5 cm. What is the scale used?

A. 1 : 500

B. 1 : 5000

C. 1 : 50000

D. 1 : 500000

Want to know more about drawing stuff to scale? Here.

48. How many pieces of the same length and of the greatest length can be cut from three pieces of metal of lengths 108 cm, 162 cm and 270 cm there being no leftovers?

A. 20

B. 54

C. 10

D. 27

Some more info on GCD here...

49. The table below shows rates of sending letters and postcards through the Post Office.

    Wanjugu sent the following letters and postcards:

One letter weighing 18 g

Two letters each weighing 150 g

Four letters each weighing 520 g

Two postcards

    How much money did she spend on postage?

A. Ksh. 595

B. Ksh. 452

C. Ksh. 574

D. Ksh. 556

The first item,

               

                One letter weighing 18 g                  = Up to 20 g (in the table)            

                                                                                = 21/-

The second item,

                Two letters @ 150 g                        = Over 100 g up to 250 g (in the table)

                                                                                = 42 X 2 (since they are two)

                                                                                = 84/-

The third item,

                Four letters @ 520 g                        = Over 500 g up to 1 kg (in the table)

                                                                                = 113 X 4 (since they are four)

                                                                                = 452/-

The fourth item,

                2 postcards                                     = 19 X 2 (since they are two)

                                                                                = 38/-

Let’s add them all up:

                = 21 + 84 + 452 + 38

                = 595/- 

50. The graph below represents Wasike's and Wafula's journeys.

    If Wasike left Nairobi at 9.00 am and reached Bungoma at 3.12 pm. Which of the following statements CORRECTLY describes Wafula's journey?

A. Wafula left Nairobi at 8.00 am and reached Bungoma at 12.48 pm

B. Wafula left Nairobi at 9.00 am and reached Bungoma at 12.48 pm

C. Wafula left Bungoma at 8.00 am and reached Nairobi at 12.48 pm

D. Wafula left Bungoma at 9.00 am and reached Nairobi at 12.48 pm

5 little boxes here make up 1 cm, right? Go count and measure.

Now, Wasike begins his journey after 1 cm; which is at 9.00 am. He takes 6 cm and one little box to get to Bungoma.

1 cm represents one hour; and one little box represents 12 minutes – which is true, since he took 6 hours and 12 minutes to get to Bungoma.

                9.00 + 6 hrs = 15 hrs         =            3 pm

                                                                   +12 minutes

                                                       =             3.12 pm

Since Wafula began 1 cm earlier, he thus started 1 hour earlier, at 8.00 am, which eliminates choices B and D.

A and C simply debate where he was coming from and going to. (He was coming from Bungoma to Nairobi – shown in the graph).

Now, Wafula got to Nairobi 4 cm and 4 little boxes later.

That’s 4 hours and (4 X 12) minutes later, i.e. 4 hours and 48 minutes later.

8.00 + 4.48 = 12.48 pm

He therefore left Bungoma at 8.00 am and got to Nairobi at 12.48 pm.

Here's a summary of the answers:

1. B

2. C

3. D

4. B

5. A

6. B

7. A

8. C
9. D
10. C

11. A
12. B

13. A

14. D

15. C

16. B

17. A

18. A

19. B

20. D

21. B

22. D

23. B

24. A

25. A

26. A

27. D

28. C

29. C

30. D

31. A

32. B

33. A

34. D

35. A

36. B

37. D

38. D

39. B

40. C

41. D

42. A

43. A

44. C

45. C

46. B

47. D

48. B

49. A

50. C

Thanks for trying the paper. Hope it helped.