Sample questions for applicants for Cambridge medicine courses. An average of one minute is allowed for each of the first three questions and 30 minutes for each of the final two:

1. Two buses, the Zipper and the Metbus, each pass my stop hourly, and I can catch either one.
I have no regular times for travelling and I can never remember the bus times. I just go to the stop and catch the first bus that comes along. Yet I discover, over the year, that the Zipper is more likely to come along first than the Metbus. The Zipper passes the stop at z minutes past every hour and the Metbus passes at m minutes past. If the Zipper passes the stop in the first half of the hour, which of the following would explain the higher probability of the Zipper coming along first?

A. z > m
B. m > 30
C. z/m <1
D. 0 <(m-z) <30
E. 0 <(m-z) <60

2. A government study suggested that courses in adult education should be subsidised because they contribute to the economy, raise skills and improve job opportunities. However, where an adult education course is purely for leisure there is no case for subsidy. Therefore subsidies for courses which are purely for leisure should be abandoned. Which of the following is an underlying assumption of the above argument?

A. Unemployment figures are showing an upward trend.
B. Large numbers of adults will attend these courses.
C. There are enough teachers for the courses which would be subsidised.
D. Adults attending these courses will be able to upgrade their jobs if they pass the examinations.
E. Courses which are purely for leisure cannot be economically useful.

3. A bullet of mass 10g travels at a speed of 200 m/s. It strikes a bulletproof vest and is brought to rest in 1 x 10-4 s. Calculate the average force exerted on the bullet by the vest.

4. Science teaches us to question established knowledge.
What does the statement above imply? Can you suggest examples where science might not encourage us to question established knowledge? If so, what determines when science teaches us to question established knowledge and when it does not?

5. Plants do not have brains because they cannot walk.
Summarise the argument by which this statement might be justified. How might one argue against it? Can any such arguments be verified by experiment?

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