Tap a speaker to listen. Then try saying it yourself! Tap it again to stop.
Loading…
Worksheet generator
Pick what you want, print the page. The answer key comes with it, on its own sheet, and it tells you the mistake behind every wrong choice — not just which letter is right.
This exact URL always produces this exact sheet — bookmark it and the answer key will still match next term. Print with your browser; the controls and the site navigation are left off the page.
1.Eight people meet and everyone shakes hands with everyone else exactly once. How many handshakes take place?[3]
A16
B28
C36
D56
E64
2.What is 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 20?[3]
A190
B200
C210
D220
E420
3.Each shape stands for a whole number. A triangle plus a triangle plus a triangle is 12, and a triangle plus a square is 9. What is the square?[3]
A3
B4
C5
D6
E8
4.Three quarters of a class of 28 travelled by bus. How many did not travel by bus?[3]
A4
B7
C12
D21
E24
5.How many different two-digit numbers can be written using only the digits 1, 2 and 3, if a digit may be used twice?[3]
A3
B6
C9
D12
E27
6.Which capital letter, printed plainly, has both a horizontal and a vertical line of symmetry?[3]
AA
BB
CH
DT
EZ
7.A sequence is defined by a(1) = 2 and a(n+1) = 2 a(n) - 1 for every n. What is a(6)?[3]
A33
B31
C64
D17
E63
8.An isosceles triangle has an angle of 100 degrees. How big is each of the other two angles?[4]
A20
B40
C45
D80
E100
9.How many lines of symmetry does a regular hexagon have?[4]
A2
B3
C4
D6
E12
10.Two apples balance three pears. One apple weighs 90 grams. How many grams does one pear weigh?[4]
A45
B60
C90
D135
E180
11.A sequence starts at 3. Each term after that is double the one before it, minus 1. What is the sixth term?[4]
A17
B33
C65
D96
E129
12.Each row of a grid starts 3 more than the row above. Each cell is 1 more than the one to its left. The top-left cell is 1. What is in row 4, column 3?[4]
Text description of the figure
A grid four rows by four columns. The first row reads 1, 2, 3, 4 and the second row reads 4, 5, 6, 7. The remaining rows are blank, and the cell in row 4, column 3 is shaded.
A9
B10
C12
D13
E15
13.A rectangle has an area of 36 and sides that are whole numbers. Which of these could NOT be its perimeter?[4]
A24
B26
C28
D30
E40
14.How many two-digit numbers have digits that add up to 8?[5]
A4
B7
C8
D9
E16
15.A square sheet is folded in half top to bottom, then in half left to right. One hole is punched through all the layers. How many holes are in the unfolded sheet?[5]
Text description of the figure
Three steps in a row: a square sheet, the same sheet folded in half top to bottom into a wide rectangle, and that rectangle folded in half left to right into a small square with a single punched hole near its centre.
A1
B2
C4
D6
E8
16.Five beads of five different colours are threaded on a circular bracelet. Two bracelets count as the same if one can be turned or flipped into the other. How many different bracelets are there?[5]
A12
B20
C24
D60
E120
17.What is the value of (1 - 1/2) x (1 - 1/3) x (1 - 1/4) x ... x (1 - 1/10)?[5]
A1/10
B1/9
C1/2
D9/10
E1
18.How many two-digit numbers have both of their digits odd?[5]
A10
B20
C25
D45
E50
19.What is the smallest number n such that ANY collection of n whole numbers must contain two of them whose difference is divisible by 7?[5]
A8
B7
C14
D15
E4
20.An 8 by 8 chessboard has two opposite corner squares removed, leaving 62 squares. Each domino covers exactly two squares that share an edge. Can the 62 squares be covered exactly by 31 dominoes?[5]
ANo, because the two removed corners share a colour, so 32 squares of one colour remain and only 30 of the other
BYes, because 62 is even and 31 dominoes cover exactly 62 squares
CNo, because 62 is not divisible by 4
DYes, but only if the dominoes may be placed diagonally
ENo, because the board is no longer rectangular
Math Kangaroo Star · https://kangaroo-atlas.vercel.app · seed 8 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Independent project, not affiliated with Math Kangaroo in USA, NFP.
Answer key — Math Kangaroo practice
Each wrong choice carries the thinking that produces it. When a student picks C, this is what they were doing.
1.B — 28KA-0035Handshakes and pairs
AI doubled the number of people, as if each person made two handshakes in total.
CI let each person shake hands with all eight people including themselves before halving.
DI multiplied 8 by 7 and forgot that each handshake was counted from both sides.
EI multiplied 8 by 8, counting every ordered pair including a person with themselves.
2.C — 210KA-0057Clever regrouping (pair to round numbers)
AI paired the numbers from the outside in but left the 20 out of every pair, so I added only up to 19.
BI estimated the total as a round number instead of working it out.
DI used eleven pairs of 20 instead of ten pairs of 21.
EI multiplied 20 by 21 and forgot that pairing counts every number twice.
3.C — 5KA-0061Operation puzzles and cryptarithms
AI solved for the triangle and gave that instead of the square.
BI found the triangle is 4 and gave that number, without going on to the second equation.
DI halved the 12 instead of dividing it by the three triangles.
EI subtracted the wrong way round, taking 9 from a number instead of taking the triangle from 9.
4.B — 7KA-0064Fractions of a quantity
AI divided 28 by 7 instead of taking a quarter of it.
CI found three quarters of 16 by mistake, mixing up the class size.
DI found how many did travel by bus and gave that instead of how many did not.
EI subtracted the 4 quarters as if they were 4 students.
5.C — 9KA-0072Systematic listing
AI counted only the numbers with two identical digits, like 11, 22 and 33.
BI required the two digits to be different, even though repeats are allowed.
DI allowed a fourth digit that was not in the list.
EI counted three-digit numbers instead of two-digit ones.
6.C — HKA-0142Line and rotational symmetry
AI found the vertical fold and assumed a horizontal one must work too.
BI found the horizontal fold and stopped without testing the vertical one.
DI counted the vertical fold twice rather than testing a horizontal one.
EI mistook turning the letter upside down for folding it, which is rotation rather than symmetry about a line.
7.A — 33KA-0171Recursive rules
BI used the rule 2a(n) - 1 but started the sequence at 1 instead of 2.
CI doubled six times and ignored the minus one entirely.
DI stopped at a(5), one term early.
EI computed 2^6 - 1, applying the minus one only once at the very end.
8.B — 40KA-0080Properties of triangles and quadrilaterals
AI subtracted 100 from 180 and then divided by four instead of by two.
CI assumed the two equal angles are always 45 degrees.
DI gave what is left after taking 100 from 180 without splitting it between the two angles.
EI made the 100 one of the equal pair, which would already exceed 180 degrees on its own.
9.D — 6KA-0085Line and rotational symmetry
AI checked only the vertical and horizontal folds and stopped there.
BI counted the lines through opposite corners and forgot the ones through opposite edges.
CI assumed a hexagon behaves like a rectangle with a couple of extra folds.
EI counted each line twice, once from each end.
10.B — 60KA-0093Weighing and balance puzzles
AI halved the apple's weight, as if one apple balanced two pears.
CI assumed a pear must weigh the same as an apple because the two sides balance.
DI multiplied the apple's weight by three halves the wrong way round, making the pear heavier.
EI gave the total weight of the two apples rather than the weight of one pear.
11.C — 65KA-0103Recursive rules
AI stopped at the fourth term, counting the starting number as the first step rather than the first term.
BI generated one term too few, giving the fifth term instead of the sixth.
DI doubled six times and subtracted 1 only once at the end.
EI generated one term too many, giving the seventh instead of the sixth.
12.C — 12KA-0105Patterns in tables and grids
AI stopped at row 3, taking two steps down from the top instead of three.
BI found where row 4 starts but forgot to move across to the third column.
DI moved three columns across instead of two, counting columns rather than steps between them.
EI took four steps of 3 downwards instead of three, counting rows rather than the gaps between them.
13.C — 28KA-0123Eliminate impossible choices by bounding
AI ruled out the square 6 by 6, forgetting that a square is a rectangle.
BI did not think to try 4 by 9, so I judged this perimeter impossible.
DI missed the 3 by 12 rectangle when listing the factor pairs.
EI stopped listing factor pairs before reaching 2 by 18.
14.C — 8KA-0012Casework
AI counted each pair of digits once instead of counting both orders, such as 17 and 71.
BI listed the pairs starting from 1 and 7 and forgot the number 80, where the second digit is zero.
DI included 08 as a two-digit number, but a two-digit number cannot start with zero.
EI counted both orders of every pair and then counted the pairs that reverse to themselves twice as well.
15.C — 4KA-0020Paper folding and hole punching
AI forgot that the punch goes through every layer at once, not just the top one.
BI undid only one of the two folds before counting the holes.
DI doubled for the first fold and then added two more rather than doubling a second time.
EI counted a fold that was never made, doubling three times instead of twice.
16.A — 12KA-0071Overcount, then correct
BI divided the 120 arrangements by 6 rather than by the 10 movements that leave a bracelet looking the same.
CI allowed for turning the bracelet but forgot it can also be flipped over.
DI halved the 120 for flipping but forgot that turning also gives the same bracelet.
EI counted every arrangement in a line, as if the bracelet had a fixed first bead.
17.A — 1/10KA-0125Spot the trick vs. decide to grind
BI cancelled the chain but stopped one factor early, leaving a 9 on the bottom.
CI worked out the first bracket and assumed the rest made no difference.
DI gave the last bracket on its own instead of the whole product.
EI assumed everything cancels completely, leaving nothing behind.
18.C — 25KA-0135Digit-constraint puzzles
AI counted the odd numbers in one row of ten and treated that as the whole answer.
BI used four odd digits instead of five, forgetting that 9 is odd.
DI counted every two-digit number that is itself odd, which only fixes the last digit.
EI let the first digit be any of ten values rather than only the five odd ones.
19.A — 8KA-0175The pigeonhole principle
BI used the number of possible remainders without adding one for the pair that must collide.
CI doubled 7, thinking I needed two full sets of remainders.
DI doubled 7 and added one, applying the pigeonhole idea to the wrong number of boxes.
EI guessed from small cases without identifying what the boxes actually are.
20.A — No, because the two removed corners share a colour, so 32 squares of one colour remain and only 30 of the otherKA-0176Coloring arguments
BI checked that the counts match but a matching count does not make a covering possible.
CI invented a divisibility condition; dominoes cover two squares, so only divisibility by 2 could matter.
DI changed the rules rather than testing them; the question says dominoes cover squares sharing an edge.
EI appealed to the shape, but plenty of non-rectangular regions can be tiled by dominoes.