Read the question twice

Hello, and welcome to Myriora Maths! In the 11 plus, lots of marks are lost on questions that children could easily do. The maths was fine. They just read the question wrong! Today: four traps, and how to read a question properly.

Trap number one: units. A pen costs forty-five pence. How much do four pens cost, in pounds? Four times forty-five is a hundred and eighty. But the question wants pounds! A hundred and eighty pence is one pound eighty. Writing a hundred and eighty would lose the mark.

Trap number two: little words like not. Which of these is not a multiple of four? If you miss the word not, you'll pick twelve, the first multiple you see. Read it again: we want the one that isn't. It's eighteen!

Trap number three: how many more. Sam has twenty-six stickers, and Ali has forty-one. How many more does Ali have? It's tempting to add them, and get sixty-seven. But more means the difference: forty-one take away twenty-six is fifteen.

Trap number four: nearest, and closest. Which number is closest to five hundred? It's not the biggest, and not the smallest. Find how far each one is from five hundred: twenty, fifteen, and thirty. So five hundred and fifteen is closest.

So here's what to do. Read the whole question once, to see what it's about. Then read it again, slowly, and underline the key words: the units, not, more, closest. When you've got an answer, read the last line one more time. Ask yourself: did I answer what it asked?

Here's a question that catches lots of people. A bottle holds one litre of water. You pour out two hundred and fifty millilitres. How much is left, in millilitres? Some people work in litres, and write nought point seven five. That's right in litres, but the question asked for millilitres! The answer is seven hundred and fifty millilitres.

Your turn! A rope is three metres long. Seventy-five centimetres is cut off. How much is left, in centimetres? You've got twenty seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Three metres is three hundred centimetres. Take away seventy-five: two hundred and twenty-five centimetres. If you wrote two point two five, that's in metres, and the question asked for centimetres!

Quick review. Read the question twice. Underline the key words: units, not, more, and closest. Read the last line again before you answer. And give your answer in the units it asks for. See you next time!