VR NFER paper 11B q22

[stressed out mum]

pls can someone explain this to me I cannot get to the answer in the booklet

[Sally-Anne]

Do you mean paper 2B, q22 - a Type Z about David, Gemma, Jane etc?

[stressed out mum]

Dear Sally-Anne,

I have the old NFER papers and it does say Familiarization Test 11B, however it does sound like the same question you are refering to. Please help .

[Sally-Anne]

No problem. It usually helps to draw a grid (I have to use dots to make spaces) and put "Xs" where you have ruled things out:
......9.......10........11.......12
..............10
D
G
Ja
Jo
Ma

David is 2 years younger than John, so John must be either 11 or 12
Gemma is 2 years younger than Jane , so Jane must be either 11 or 12

Therefore John & Jane are 11 and 12 (you don't need to know which).

Now you just need to sort out who is 9 and who is 10.

Maria is older than David, therefore David must be 9 and Maria is 10 and one of the twins.

That leaves only Gemma, and she must also be 10, so the correct answer is D - Maria and Gemma.

(I must admit that the very first time I saw that question I had to puzzle over it a bit, but I hadn't done much VR at that point!)

Hope that helps?

[stressed out mum]

thank you so much, you have explained it so clearly.x

[patricia]

David, Gemma, Jane, John and Maria are 12, 11, 10, 10 and 9 years old, but not in that order.
David is 2 years younger than John.
Gemma is 2 years younger than Jane.
Maria is older than David.
Who are the twins?

With this type of question I use 2 columns:

We do not know whether John and David are 12 and 10 or 11 and 9
Additionally we do not know whether Jane and Gemma are 12 and 10 or 11 and 9

D....10.....9

G.....9.....10

Ja....11...12

Jo...12....11

M...10.....10 [Maria has to be 10 as that is the only age not used.]

As we are told Maria is older than David column 1 is incorrect as they are the same age, making column 2 correct.

Maria and Gemma are the twins.

Patricia

[stressed out mum]

thank you Patricia .