# USA: 5 Questions From an 8th-Grade Math Test

From the NYT, 28 Aug 2015:

• A: 4

• B: 6

• C: 20

• D: 60

• A: 18

• B: 24

• C: 42

• D: 48

### 3 Triangle M is similar to triangle N. Triangle M has two angles with measures of 32° and 93°. Which two angle measures could be included in triangle N?

• A: 32° and 58°

• B: 32° and 74°

• C: 93° and 55°

• D: 93° and 87°

• A: 3.6

• B: 4.4

• C: 10.6

• D: 13.1

### 5An above-ground swimming pool in the shape of a cylinder has a diameter of 18 feet and a height of 4.5 feet. If the pool is filled with water to 6 inches from the top of the pool, what is the volume, to the nearest cubic foot, of the water in the pool?

• A: 226

• B: 452

• C: 1,018

• D: 4,072

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## One thought on “USA: 5 Questions From an 8th-Grade Math Test”

1. I think the idea of the article is for readers to say ‘These 8th graders are seriously under-achieving’, and then find out they themselves lack basic Maths competence.
And I think the same applies in the UK, and it is a very significant issue, not least from an economic perspective.
GCSE is intended to define, roughly, the level of Maths which most people should have. But most adults have nowhere near this level of achievement (evidence – ask your non-Maths teacher colleagues what a quadratic equation is and how to solve it).
The GCSE pass-rate is quite high – but only because students are intensely prepared to get through the standard questions which they practice repeatedly. They have very little understanding, and it has nearly all gone a few weeks after the exam.
Schools should be graded according to the Maths competence of their former pupils at age 25.