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

In my opinion some of your answers are wrong. I'll just send my solutions for the not-matching answers.

5: c

If you take 7 out of one box, you'll have one of both colours, therefore it doesn't matter which college it is, when you take a single one from the other box.

11: c

Your answer is in minutes, but the questions asks for hours.

13: a

It's 8 square feet for the first hole. Therefore 4 square feet an hour, divided by 12 persons = 1/3 square feet per person per hour.

The second hole is 4*4*4= 64 square feet. Therefore 3*64= 192 working hour for a single worker. Divided by 6 leaves us with 32 hours.

14: D

The argument tries to set out that today we shouldn't totally rely on the written word. In my opinion D is the only possible answer. But I'm not sure about it.

20: ?

I simply don't understand this one. My guess was B.

25: B

Your answer (E) is not actually part of the argument. In my opinion, the link between the two events (less funding for sport + problems regarding obesity) are not linked by the given argument in a proper way. Therefore it fails to consider the sport children do at home.

26: E

I must do A to do B.
B happened, even though I didn't do A.
Therefore it must be for reason C.

In my opinion E is more closely to that but your guess (C) could be true as well.

27: D

It's definitely about the setting borders for technologies.

30: E

I think it's more important because if there is no relation it also includes B.

31: E

In my opinion D is more a summary of the reasons of the argument. But maybe E is too far away from the argument.

32: E

I think C is simply one reason.

36: E

41: B

12*95= 1140
1140:422= 2,...

Therefore 3

44: C


2400*(100%-80%)= 480


48: D

The question is asking for what is not true according to the argument. C is definitely stated in the middle of the paragraph.




I found the 2007 paper quite easy compared to the recent ones.

I agree with you in nearly all the answers, but

Q2: it would also say that B seems to be the most reasonable. But have a look at Q11 in 2013 (which I think has quite the same structure), there the right answer is not the one one would expect. It lacks also some information..
Therefore I would suggest answer D being right because it conforms the way of other Oxford answers (like in 2013).

Q9: Why isn't it C? We don't have any numbers of the actual part of women in society. We have to look at the active population and therefore:
16%+18%+20% = 54% => more than the half

Q38: I think E is appropriate because the stressing "a lot", but it may also be B....

Q46: answer C, because they have to pay taxes

Please tell me, if I made an error anywhere

I agree with you in nearly all the answers, but

Q9: Why isn't it C? We don't have any numbers of the actual part of women in society. We have to look at the active population and therefore:
16%+18%+20% = 54% => more than the half


Please tell me, if I made an error anywhere

For anyone that has the 'Cracking The TSA' by Desai, on page 32 he gets the probability of no ball being potted from the break at 2/3, how did he get that? Surely it should be 1/2?

I have not taken a look at this question yet, but I would like to ask if he offers the answers to the mental math drill anywhere in the book, as well as the examples from the past papers he uses (since he does not give a date). Many thanks.

There are no answers to the mental maths drill but he works through the past paper question examples (leading to the answer explicitly). All the practice questions of course have an accompanying answer section in the back.

Thanks for the reply. Sometimes he follows up the past paper examples with a few other examples from other sources, like he does on pg 43. Are there any answers to those anywhere, because I cannot seem to find them? As for the mental maths questions, I shall try use a calculator to check my answers. Kind of lazy of him not to do it himself though.

Figured I'd join this thread seeing as I've got the TSA for PPE in like... 2 weeks(?!?)

I bought "thinking skills" by Cambridge uni, it was ****. I've resorted to using past papers, but my school seems to be getting lower each time... first paper I did I got 40, then 38, then 36, and most recently 34. Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Would anyone judge if I were to paste some of the essays I've done here? I could really use some feedback on them. Economics A level has made my answers seem v boring.

Hey.
Because there are two types of TSA question (numerical-problem solving and verbal-arguments) is it faster to do the questions in the order they are in the test or to do all of one type first and go back and do all of the other type?

Mitesh Desai gave us the advice in "Cracking the TSA" to first finish all the questions of one typ and then start with the other.
I tried it and saved some little time...depends on how you are faster I would say.
Try it out