When you work with fractions on the GED Math test, you'll often have to reduce them to their lowest common denominator to find the correct answer. The following practice questions will test your reducing skills.

Practice Questions

  1. Four hundred eighty yards is what fraction of a mile? (1 mile = 1,760 yards)

    GED_2301

    Tim measures the lengths of four cats' tails and records his results in the following table.

    GED_2302

  2. Which cat has the longest tail? (Note: You may not use a calculator.)

    A. Mrs. Whiskers B. Bootsie C. Mr. Bigglesworth D. Catty McCatface

Answers and Explanations

  1. The correct answer is D.

    Divide the given number of yards by the number of yards in 1 mile:

    GED_2303

    Reduce the fraction to its lowest terms. Dividing both the numerator and the denominator by 10 gives you

    GED_2304

    Now, dividing both the numerator and the denominator by 8 followed by 2 gives you

    GED_2305

    Another option is to find

    GED_2306

    Then get a decimal answer and use the calculator's decimal-to-fraction key.

    Hence, the correct answer is Choice (D).

  2. The correct answer is D.

    Because the whole-number part of each cat's tail length equals 7, you can ignore this and focus solely on the fractional part of each length. Hence, you only need to determine which of the following fractions (corresponding to each cat) is the greatest:

    GED_2307

    The lowest common denominator for all the fractions is 32, so you can rewrite each fraction in terms of this common denominator to get

    GED_2308

    Hence, Choice (D) is the correct answer.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Stuart Donnelly, PhD, earned his doctorate in mathe-matics from Oxford University at the age of 25. Since then, he has established successful tutoring services in both Hong Kong and the United States and is considered by leading educators to be one of the most experienced and qualified private tutors in the country.

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