Mine is about average i guess 65+ on P5 CA. Found a little fast too but the facilitators helped him follow so he could keep pace. What surprised me is that he used some of what was learnt in his homework so I guess he learned. Am sending again for the P5 in June. I went to the post parent briefing and followed the recommendations about redoing the questions again later. He could do most of the questions but needed help with a few.

My girl is preparing for PSLE and I am confused by the use of "If" in questions. Her teacher tells her one thing, her tuition centre another. And after speaking to a few teachers I know, there is clearly a lack of consistency.


For example:
I make up this question
There are Red and Blue marbles in the ratio 3 : 2. If 10 red marbles are lost, the ratio becomes 1:1. How many Red marbles are there at the end?

In this question, it seems logical that there is no real change to this question and we only use the 10 red marbles to find the answer. The answer would be found like this:
B4
R : B
3 : 2

After
R : B
2 : 2

1units –> 10

There are 30 Red marbles at the end (and beginning) because no change has taken place.

Now what if the question is worded like this.
There are Red and Blue marbles in the ratio 3 : 2 at first. In the end, there is an equal number of Red and Blue marbles. If 10 Red marbles are removed, how many red marbles are there?

For this question, we should have 20 using the final ratio. Correct?

And finally
There are Red and Blue marbles in the ratio 3 : 5. The ratio of the number of Yellow marbles to Blue is 9:4.
a) bla bla bla
b) If 36 Yellow marbles are exchanged for Red and Blue, there would be the same amount of Red and Blue and there would be 50% more Yellow than Red. How many Blue marbles are there?
Before
R : B
3 : 5
12 : 20

Y : B
9 : 4
45 : 20

R : B : Y
12 : 20 : 45 (77 units)

After
R : B : Y
2 : 2 : 3 (7units)
22: 22 : 33 (77units)

How many blue marbles?
20 units –> 20x36 = 720
Correct ?

What if the question is changed to this
a) bla bla
b) If 36 Yellow marbles are exchanged for Red and Blue, there would be the same amount of Red and Blue and there would be 50% more Yellow than Red, how many Blue marbles are there?

Given that the question "how many" is included in the sentence with the comma and not after a full stop, does this change the answer? This is where I get different answers. Some say because of the comma, the question wants an answer assuming it happened.

How to interpret this ??