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The Oxford TSA thread - 2015 applicants - 5th Nov 2014

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Hey guys. Can anyone explain how to do q48 on the 2012 paper. I can't see how the answer can't be B)2 but the answer is in fact D)4
Thanks
Original post by Agap
I just do it chronologically because it won't save me lot of time to do the two types separately.
There will be the risk to miss some questions or make a mistake with the answer sheet which would mess up all answers.


I just tend to skip the ones I get stuck on so I have a load of time at the end to check
Reply 362
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Askaud
8
Original post by hugvoldemort
Hey guys. Can anyone explain how to do q48 on the 2012 paper. I can't see how the answer can't be B)2 but the answer is in fact D)4
Thanks


Well the bottom ranked candidate(Reeta) gets taken out so those 17 votes could go to anyone. If all of those votes went to Wayne then they would have 35 votes, that would be below Ian so they also go out. His original 18 votes then get reallocated, if they all went to Ian, or if Ian got 10 votes more than Pedro, they he would move above Pedro and not get knocked out. He could then get all of Pedro's second votes, meaning he'd be leading. Basically what I'm trying to say is all of the top four can change positions depending on how many of the votes get reallocated to them. As a result, without knowing the number 2 votes, all 4 of them can still win.

I really can't think how to explain it, I hope you get my jist or somebody else can come along and explain it better
http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/images/136633-tsa-oxford-2012-section-1.pdf

Anyone q18? No idea how to approach this.
Original post by hmanblackman


just draw it in.. mark the radius of each circle and just shade in the area


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Reply 365
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Askaud
8
Original post by hmanblackman


Plot the distances in all four directions for each of the people and then join your dots up with a circle. You should get two circles per person and the area between them is where the bird could be for each. Then where they overlap is the point at which the bird is. In fact for that you only need to plot the first two and then go through the list to see which one it could be. I hope you understand what I mean, it may sound time consuming but its not
Original post by Askaud
Plot the distances in all four directions for each of the people and then join your dots up with a circle. You should get two circles per person and the area between them is where the bird could be for each. Then where they overlap is the point at which the bird is. In fact for that you only need to plot the first two and then go through the list to see which one it could be. I hope you understand what I mean, it may sound time consuming but its not


Yes thank you that method makes sense. Sounds stupid that I would have never thought of that!
Anyone provide some insight on 21/25/26/30 on the 2012 paper? Link - http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/images/136633-tsa-oxford-2012-section-1.pdf

Q21: Not sure why it's not D. Can kinda see why it's A but not sure why it's not D.
Q25: ?
Q26: Can understand why it's A but I put C and it looks as if C can't make that shape either?
Q30: ?

Thank you!
Reply 368
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ventus
21: A is correct pretty obviously. It cannot be D because D supports the argument rather than showing a flaw, it says that these insects only eat the smaller ones and there's no adverse affects of them on the crop.

25: Just look at the timetable, it can take the first row of flights but then it arrives too late to take the send row so it has to take the third. Then take 19.45-9.05

26: Those two quadrilaterals overlap in the way that they would make an octagon.

30: Total = 12 x (1/16 + 1/25), which equals B. Be careful to include the lawn juice part in the fraction, because when it is written as a parts b to c parts d, it's easy to forget that the the first bit needs to be included in the fraction.
Original post by ventus
21: A is correct pretty obviously. It cannot be D because D supports the argument rather than showing a flaw, it says that these insects only eat the smaller ones and there's no adverse affects of them on the crop.

25: Just look at the timetable, it can take the first row of flights but then it arrives too late to take the send row so it has to take the third. Then take 19.45-9.05

26: Those two quadrilaterals overlap in the way that they would make an octagon.

30: Total = 12 x (1/16 + 1/25), which equals B. Be careful to include the lawn juice part in the fraction, because when it is written as a parts b to c parts d, it's easy to forget that the the first bit needs to be included in the fraction.


Thank you for your response. I'm still a bit confused about 21,26 and 30 though.

21: Why could it not be D? And why is A clearly the right answer?
26: When I draw C out, it has 12 sides?
30: Not sure why you add the fractions?

Thanks again for your help.
Reply 370
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ventus
Original post by hmanblackman
Thank you for your response. I'm still a bit confused about 21,26 and 30 though.

21: Why could it not be D? And why is A clearly the right answer?
26: When I draw C out, it has 12 sides?
30: Not sure why you add the fractions?

Thanks again for your help.


21) D says that the argument fails to state that there are no harms form the 'other insects' to the crops. This strengthens the argument because it means that the 'other insects' only eat the crop-eating insects and don't eat the crops themselves. Therefore, this cannot be a flaw. B supports the argument and C is a harm, but isn't necessarily relevant to the conclusion and E says it lacks an explanation, but in these critical thinking questions, you sort of ignore lack of explanation, instead just assume everything that is written is true and point out the flaw in reasoning rather than attacking their information. A shows a genuine flaw because the passage only says 'other insects' also kill these insects. It gives no description of scale or effectiveness and so there is an obvious problem in the argument here in that pesticides are probably used because these other insects are not as effective, therefore we shouldn't stop using them (the opposite of the conclusion).

26) To be honest I didn't look at how exactly they made the shape, I just looked at A and knew that they flipped onto each other perfectly and so couldn't make another shape and had a quick look at the others and they all looked possible.

EDIT: I just looked at it and it makes an octagon pretty clearly, if you got a 12-sided shape I think you may have just drawn the outside of the shape including those corners, but when they overlap, those corners turn into flats because the shape is flat there - hard to explain - but just because one side is cut out, doesn't mean you can just add the shapes.

30) She applies it twice once with 1:15 = 12x1/16 and once with 1:24=12x1/25
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 371
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Agap
1
Original post by samthemiller
I just tend to skip the ones I get stuck on so I have a load of time at the end to check



I do it that way, too. But I usually come back to that questions in the end, so most likely there isn't any time left after that
Original post by economicsrocks
Ahh damn...my highest score is around 63, so do you think my chances of getting an offer are low?

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yes ufortunately.... unless you pull of at least a 65 your chances will be lower than everyone elses... they wont be non existent but tiny
Original post by ernstol
yes ufortunately.... unless you pull of at least a 65 your chances will be lower than everyone elses... they wont be non existent but tiny


Yeah I think you need 65 plus to be sure of an interview, but last year the cut off was 61 so if you're scoring 61-65 you might make it:smile:

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Original post by sellerofdreams
Yeah I think you need 65 plus to be sure of an interview, but last year the cut off was 61 so if you're scoring 61-65 you might make it:smile:

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Ohh :frown: Will strong GCSEs (12A*s and dist) and good predictions (A*A*A*B) make up for it?

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Original post by ernstol
yes ufortunately.... unless you pull of at least a 65 your chances will be lower than everyone elses... they wont be non existent but tiny


Do you think strong GCSEs (12A*s and dist) and good A2 predicted grades (A*A*A*B) will make up for it? What about if I interviewed well (providing I get to that stage) thanks :smile:

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Reply 376
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Adriaan
Original post by economicsrocks
Do you think strong GCSEs (12A*s and dist) and good A2 predicted grades (A*A*A*B) will make up for it? What about if I interviewed well (providing I get to that stage) thanks :smile:

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I think you always have a chance. I read that last year people also got in with a TSA score in the 50s, so don't worry, just try your best and you'll see.


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I thought 60 was the average, and they automatically interviewed above 70, and then do the rest individually?
Original post by samthemiller
I thought 60 was the average, and they automatically interviewed above 70, and then do the rest individually?


Last year they stated that they interviewed everyone above 61 and only a few exceptions below that score. After that it's down to the interview basically. The average offer holder has a tsa score of 70.

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Original post by Adriaan
I think you always have a chance. I read that last year people also got in with a TSA score in the 50s, so don't worry, just try your best and you'll see.


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Ok, that's reassuring! Thanks for your reply :smile:

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