The answer
(a) \(\approx 465\,000\)
(b) the 0 to 9 bar is shorter in 2017
(c) mean age has increased
O-Level E-Math 2021 Paper 1 Question 13 · Verified worked solution by the Genius Plus Academy teaching team
What this question tests
This is Question 13 of the O-Level E-Math 2021 Paper 1. It tests reading a comparative bar chart, in the Statistical diagrams area. It is worth 4 marks: 1 + 1 + 2. It is a worded / diagram-based question, so open your Ten-Year Series (TYS) or the official paper at this question, then follow our full worked solution below.
(a) Reading the 2017 bar for the 60 to 69 group (\(\approx 4.65\) in units of 100 000) gives about \(465\,000\) people.
(b) The 0 to 9 age group (the most recent births) has a smaller bar in 2017 (\(\approx 385\,000\)) than in 2007 (\(\approx 420\,000\)), so fewer young children, evidence of a falling birth rate.
(c) The mean age has increased between 2007 and 2017: the younger groups (0 to 19) are smaller in 2017 while the older groups (60 to 89) are larger, so the distribution has shifted towards older ages.
Answer: (a) \(\approx 465\,000\)
(b) the 0 to 9 bar is shorter in 2017
(c) mean age has increased
Same structure, different numbers
Swap the constants, dress a quadratic as a length, hide a derivative inside an integral, and a student sees a brand new problem. The structure underneath is the same, and so is the method. Once a student can name the structure, a whole row of questions that look different start to open the same way.
That is where marks really leak: in choosing the method, not in the algebra that follows. We call it Lock and Key, name the lock, then the key follows.
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Genius Plus Academy · O-Level & IP Mathematics
Our O-Level E-Math tuition trains the same recognise-the-structure method these worked solutions show, taught by a team that has marked these papers for years. It runs within our weekly Secondary Math programme, Sec 1 to 4 and IP.
It is a reading a comparative bar chart question from Statistical diagrams, worth 4 marks: 1 + 1 + 2.
Yes. IP (Integrated Programme) schools teach the same O-Level Mathematics content; they just sequence it differently and set their own internal exams, so these worked solutions apply to IP students too.
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