HSA DIAGNOSTIC TEST

Simplify

1000 tickets were sold. Adult tickets cost $8.50, children’s cost $4.50, and a total of $7300 was collected. How many adult tickets were sold?

Express the following into a single simplified fraction

Solve the following equation:

Work out the gradient of the line passing through (1,4) and (3, 10)

Solve

Find the value of the trigonometric function indicated

Factor

Rey invests some amount in deposit A and some amount in deposit B. The total money invested is $2500. He gets 10% income on deposit A and 20% income on deposit B. If the total income earned be $380, find the amount invested in A.

Calculate the volume of the prism below.

Simplify

Factor

Calculate the volume of the cylinder below.

Express the following as a single fraction

Which of the following bases pairs with guanine?

Time taken to complete a wave is termed as

Chemical equations

Which of the following happens during both mitosis and meiosis?

As the temperature of a reaction is increased, the rate of reaction increases because the_______ .

Sound is a good example of

Which of the following does not contain covalent bonds?

Chemical equations must be balanced to satisfy __________________

The rate of change of velocity of the body is said to be ________

According to Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, individuals who survive are the ones best adapted for their environment. Their survival is due to the:

Which statement about the members of a population that live long enough to reproduce is consistent with the theory of natural selection?

__________is the adaptor that is the key to converting the triplet codons of mRNA into the protein polymers.

During which stage of mitosis the spindle fibers are formed & get attached to the chromosomes?

Two resistors R1 = 6 ohms and R2 = 12 ohms  are connected in parallel to each other and in series to R3 = 2 ohms . An ammeter measures an electric current of 3A flowing through resistors R3 . What is the current in 12 ohms  resistors?

Alpha particles are hazardous to human health. Which of the following is not a risk associated with exposure to alpha radiation?

PAST THE GARDEN GATE 

By six years old I’d picked up a handful of stunts—bawling out for milk and porridge, recognising animals and visitors, responding to my parents with coyness, indifference, enthusiasm, whatever. Cause and effect were tumbling into a pattern. One thing puzzled me though. Mum and Dad and the few people who came to the house were all white. I knew no other children. I was certainly growing, but I stayed black. Would I fade, or what? 

School had been mentioned off and on for maybe a year or so. It would be like this: every day I would get up early, just like Dad, and leave the house, a thing I’d never done, and Mum would take me to a castle full of kids, and someone would stand up in front of us and tell us how to live and what to do, and what had happened in the world so far, and how to read stories by ourselves, and draw even better than I could already, and count past fifty, and catch a ball. Also how to sing, if I was good. It sounded like a bargain to me. All this was now payable, the day had come. 

Dad had shambled off to work with his kitbag full of tools and sandwiches, the dog had settled down again and Mum was stuffing apples and things into my new case. I had sharp crayons and hardly any patience. The chain came off the wooden gate. This on its own would have justified the circle on the calendar. Up till now the world beyond our hedge had been no more real than stuff in picture books. Then came the bombshell. I’d known there’d be a million brats in the street, kids in the same boat as me. But fancy dress hadn’t been mentioned. Some had orange hair and spots like Dad, and there was yellow hair, and even the black-haired ones had white faces. They all had white skin. All sorts of bizarre combinations, but they all had white skin. 

‘You didn’t tell me this, Mum!’ 

‘What, dear?’ 

I was in no mood to be raw prawned. 

‘Why didn’t you doll me up like them?’ 

‘Don’t be silly. Come on.’ 

I’d woken up to things by now of course. There was no grease paint, no powder. This crowd was white and I was the only black kid in the world. Imagine Mum and Dad keeping it under their hats so long, like it was a detail or something. I couldn’t believe it. Tonight I’d run question time, but right now it was teacher’s turn. We’d all been given bits of cardboard with pins through them. The teacher circled the room printing names on the cards and sticking them to our clothes. There were lots of Johns and Julies and Kevins but I was the only Wanda. Plus I’d written it myself, like Mum had shown me. Everyone laughed except the teacher. She seemed pleased. 

We were allowed to draw for a while, then a rough-looking big kid delivered a crate of milk which we all had to help scoff, unless we had a note from home. Then there was more drawing until lunchtime.

The afternoon was crammed with numbers and building blocks. By the time Mum came to get me the others weren’t staring quite so much. I guess nothing’s funny over and over again. 

Nothing much was said on the way home. Mum seemed a bit tense, but I wasn’t feeling helpful. I’d wait till Dad got back, and corner them together. The dog kicked up as usual when the gate squeaked. Mum went inside to shell the peas. I mucked around behind the shed disturbing spiders and stuff. All sorts of theories occurred to me. What if I stayed black for ever? It seemed possible, even likely. Maybe I wouldn’t ever grow up. What then? Could I stay here with Mum? And what about school? Clearly I’d be taken there every day. What for? Boys went to school until they turned into blokes, like Dad. Girls turned into their mums in the end, but would I do that? And if not? My education had begun but there were even more questions than I’d had the day before. Hard ones too. 

Dad was making cubes and pyramids out of his mashed potato. He knew it wasn’t an ordinary day, but he wouldn’t break the silence, I could tell. Same with Mum—apart from saying grace, nothing. They didn’t even ask about school. I knew guilt when I saw it close up. 

‘No-one else is black, Mum.’ 

Dad jumped up straight away. For months he’d been meaning to oil that gate. ‘Mum?’ I’d never seen her this pale. 

‘Go into your room dear, I’ll be with you directly.’ She meant after the dishes. 

‘Tell me Mum.’ She started clearing the table. Pretty slowly it seemed. Anyway, it got done. She took off her apron and sat down with me. I didn’t push any more, I knew she was trapped. 

WANDA KOOLMATRIE, My Own Sweet Time 

Magabala Books 1994

QUESTION

In what ways does the writing convey the child’s point of view in this passage?