Can you answer these questions from past VCE exams?

Test your skills with brain-bending VCE exam questions

Writer Hermann Hesse said: ‘Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.’ This statement suggests that wisdom:

is not knowledge

leads to knowledge

depends on knowledge

is gained through knowledge

P, Q, R and S represent positive numbers and P/Q = R/S. If P = 3, Q = 6 and R = 4, which one of the following is true?

S = 2

S = 5

S = 7

S = 8

Starting in Figure 1, each subsequent figure is formed by adding an increasing number of small black or white triangles to the previous figure according to a rule. The total number of small triangles in each figure is given above the figure. Additional figures can be produced using the same rule. How many triangles would be added to Figure 6 to produce Figure 7?

24

21

18

15

‘Social media is not a fad. It has tapped into the human need to make connections with each other, so it’s not going away.’ Which of the following questions is best answered by this comment?

Do Facebook and Twitter allow us to have a deep connection to one another?

Is it likely that Facebook and Twitter will become redundant, like letter-writing?

Should we tolerate the superficial type of communication that social media promotes?

Are we likely to embrace more sophisticated forms of social media than those that already exist?

This diagram shows the relationship between increasing levels of automation and job skill requirements as new technologies applied in the workplace. Which of the following most accurately summarises the research findings illustrated by the diagram?

Operators gradually increase their skills and are constantly learning while ‘on the job’.

Operators find new skills easy to learn at first, but then a high proportion become disillusioned and give up.

After an initial period of high skill development, operators master the machine and do not need to learn further skills.

After a slow introductory period of learning, operators become familiar with the machine and learn additional new skills more quickly.

Poet David Campbell wrote: ‘The cruel girls we loved are over forty, their subtle daughters have stolen their beauty; and with a blue stare of cool surprise, they mock their anxious mothers with their mothers’ eyes.’ The poem suggests mothers and daughters are:

allies

rivals

opposites

soul mates

This rowing boat has seats for four rowers and one cox. The cox steers the boat and directs the rate of rowing strokes. Amy, Cho, Emily, Imani and Jada are in the rowing team. Unless stated otherwise, each of them can sit in any position. How many possible arrangements are there if Jada is the cox and Emily is rower 4?

three

four

five

six

‘Tomorrow is the busiest day of the year’ (Spanish proverb). The most accurate interpretation of the proverb is that:

things that cannot be done today can be done tomorrow.

we only become conscious of time when we need it.

many things often have to be done at the same time.

things are often put off until tomorrow.