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MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

The following pictograph shows the number of bicyclists who participated in the Labor Day weekend bicycle race for the
years 2003-2009. Use the graph to answer the question.

1) In what year did the greatest number of cyclists participate?


A) 1996 B) 2009 C) 1997 D) 2007
Answer: B

2) What was the greatest number of cyclists to participate in any one year?
A) 50 cyclists B) 100 cyclists C) 20 cyclists D) 120 cyclists
Answer: D

3) How many cyclists participated in 2003?


A) 65 cyclists B) 90 cyclists C) 50 cyclists D) 100 cyclists
Answer: B

4) Approximate the total number of cyclists who participated in 2005 and 2006.
A) 160 cyclists B) 140 cyclists C) 130 cyclists D) 150 cyclists
Answer: D

5) In what year did 85 cyclists participate?


A) 2008 B) 2003 C) 2004 D) 2009
Answer: A

6) In what years was there a decline in the number of cyclists who participated in the race?
A) 2004, 2006 B) 2005, 2008, 2009
C) 2004, 2006, 2007 D) 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
Answer: C

7) In what years was there an increase in the number of cyclists who participated in the race?
A) 2004, 2005, 2009 B) 2005, 2008, 2009 C) 2003, 2005, 2009 D) 2004, 2006, 2007
Answer: B

1
8) What was the increase in the number of participants from 2004 to 2005?
A) 40 cyclists B) 45 cyclists C) 35 cyclists D) 30 cyclists
Answer: C

The bar graph shows the number of tickets sold each week by the garden club for their annual flower show.

9) During which week was the most number of tickets sold?


A) week 2 B) week 5 C) week 1 D) week 4
Answer: D

10) During which week was the fewest number of tickets sold?
A) week 6 B) week 2 C) week 4 D) week 5
Answer: B

11) How many tickets were sold during week 5?


A) 11 tickets B) 40 tickets C) 46 tickets D) 19 tickets
Answer: B

12) During which week were 19 tickets sold?


A) week 1 B) week 6 C) week 2 D) week 3
Answer: B

13) How many more tickets were sold during week 6 than week 2?
A) 8 tickets B) 30 tickets C) 18 tickets D) 13 tickets
Answer: A

14) How many tickets were sold in all?


A) 215 tickets B) 195 tickets C) 105 tickets D) 205 tickets
Answer: D

2
The bar graph shows the expenditures of one city government in a recent year.

15) Name the agency with the smallest spending and estimate this value.
A) Human Resources; $24.2 million B) Health; $5.4 million
C) Environment; $3.2 million D) All Other Agencies; $8.2 million
Answer: C

16) Name the agency whose spending is between $3 million and $4 million and estimate its value.
A) Environment; $3.2 million B) Fire; $3.2 million
C) Environment; $4.3 million D) Fire; $4.3 million
Answer: A

17) How much more is spent on Health than on Fire?


A) $2.4 million B) $1.1 million C) $2.6 million D) $4.3 million
Answer: B

3
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

Use the information given to draw a vertical bar graph. Clearly label the bars on the graph shown below.
18) Entree Choices of Customers During One Week

Entree Number of Customers


Grilled Salmon 35
Chicken Salad 40
Beef Stew 30
Ham Pie 45
Bacon Burger 38
Cheese Pizza 22

Answer:
Entree Choices of Customers During One Week

40
30
20
10

4
19) Visitors of Jazz Festival

Year Visitors (in thousands)


1981 12
1991 17
2001 20
2003 23

Answer:
Visitors of Jazz Festival
25
20
15
10
5

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

The histogram shows the scores of each participant in a game from a total of 100 participants.

20) How many participants scored 40-59?


A) 38 participants B) 3 participants C) 16 participants D) 25 participants
Answer: D

21) How many participants scored fewer than 40?


A) 18 participants B) 81 participants C) 43 participants D) 97 participants
Answer: A

5
22) How many more participants scored 80-99 than 20-39?
A) 32 participants B) 4 participants C) 13 participants D) 16 participants
Answer: B

23) What is the ratio of participants who score 20-39 to the total number of participants?
1 19 3 25
A) B) C) D)
4 50 25 3
Answer: C

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

The list shows the scores for a basketball team. Use the list to complete the frequency distribution table and construct a
histogram.
24) 40 31 35 28 19
17 26 33 31 30
28 29 29 26 27

Class Intervals Tally Class Frequency


(Scores) (Number of Games)
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49

Answer:

6
Twenty teenagers were asked to give their current savings account balances. Use the balances shown in the list to
complete the frequency distribution table and construct a histogram.
25) 499 1400 678 3123 3009
2299 692 2890 2159 1004
1234 900 2148 2377 2780
2550 1850 1049 1750 2289

Class Intervals Tally Class Frequency


(Account Balances) (Number of Teenagers)
$0-$499
$500-$999
$1000-$1499
$1500-$1999
$2000-$2499
$2500-$2999
$3000-$3499

7
Answer:

8
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

The line graph shows the recorded hourly temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit at an airport.

26) At what time was the temperature the highest?


A) 11 a.m. B) 5 p.m. C) 2 p.m. D) 1 p.m.
Answer: D

27) At what time was the temperature its lowest?


A) 6 p.m. B) 9 a.m. C) 4 p.m. D) 1 p.m.
Answer: B

28) What temperature was recorded at 1 p.m.?


A) 80 ° F B) 81 ° F C) 77 ° F D) 79 ° F
Answer: D

29) During which hour did the temperature increase the most?
A) 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. B) 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. C) 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. D) 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Answer: D

30) At what time was the temperature 73°?


A) 9 a.m. B) 5 p.m.
C) 10 a.m. D) 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Answer: C

31) During which two hour period did the temperature increase the most?
A) 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. B) 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. C) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. D) 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Answer: C

9
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

The double-line graph shows temperature highs and lows for a week.

32) What was the high temperature reading on Wednesday?


Answer: 89°F

33) On what day of the week was the difference between the high temperature and the low temperature the least?
What was this difference in temperature?
Answer: Friday; 3°F

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

The circle graph shows the results of the student council presidential election. The complete circular area represents 100%
of the votes.
34)
Student Council President

Matt
22%
Ann
36% Jim
18%
Ben
24%

500 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

Who got the most votes?


A) Jim B) Ann C) Matt D) Ben
Answer: B

10
35)
Student Council President

Ted
22%
Ben
32% Gina
19%
Matt
27%

500 total votes


The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

Who got the fewest votes?


A) Matt B) Ted C) Gina D) Ben
Answer: C

36)
Student Council President

Matt
20%
Ted
34% Ann
14%
Ming
32%

300 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

How many votes did Ted get?


A) 60 B) 96 C) 102 D) 42
Answer: C

11
37)
Student Council President

Gina
25%
Ming
29% Ann
20%
Ted
26%

400 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

Find the ratio of Ann's votes to Gina's votes.


20 4 1 5
A) B) C) D)
29 5 5 4
Answer: B

38)
Student Council President

Matt
20%
Ming
34% Lili
14%
Ben
32%

300 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

Find the ratio of Ming's votes to total votes cast.


17 50 33 17
A) B) C) D)
50 17 17 33
Answer: A

12
39)
Student Council President

Ming
22%
Ted
32% Ben
19%
Gina
27%

200 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

Who received the second most number of votes?


A) Ben B) Gina C) Ming D) Ted
Answer: B

40)
Student Council President

Ben
22%
Ming
35% Matt
17%
Gina
26%

300 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

What percent of the votes did Matt and Ben receive together?
A) 17% B) 61% C) 39% D) 22%
Answer: C

13
41)
Student Council President

Ben
25%
Claire
32% John
15%
Jason
28%

200 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

What percent of the votes did Ben NOT get?


A) 75% B) 72% C) 25% D) 68%
Answer: A

42)
Student Council President

Ming
25%
Jim
32% Ben
15%
Lili
28%

500 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

What percent of the votes did Ben NOT get?


A) 15% B) 72% C) 85% D) 68%
Answer: C

14
43)
Student Council President

Matt
25%
Ted
29% Jim
20%
Ben
26%

700 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.

How many people voted for someone other than Ben?


A) 525 B) 560 C) 182 D) 518
Answer: D

The circle graph summarizes the results of a survey of the favorite movie category chosen by a group of adults.

44) 1800 adults answer the survey.


How many of the survey respondents said that they favor comedies? Round to the nearest whole.
A) 167 respondents B) 603 respondents C) 3350 respondents D) 481 respondents
Answer: B

45) 2400 adults answer the survey.


Find the ratio of number of respondents who favor others to those who favor comedies. Write the ratio as a
fraction with integers in the numerator and denominator.
2232 93 335 428
A) B) C) D)
335 335 93 335
Answer: B

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

Fill in the table. Round to the nearest degree. Then draw a circle graph to represent the information given in the table.

15
46)
Shares of Stock Owned by an Investor
Type of Stock Percent of Shares Degrees in sector
Company A 40%
Company B 24%
Company C 36%

Answer:
Shares of Stock Owned by an Investor
Type of Stock Percent of Shares Degrees in sector
Company A 40% 144∘
Company B 24% 86∘
Company C 36% 130∘

47)
Favorite Sports Among a Group of Students
Sports Percent Degrees in Sector
Baseball 15%
Football 10%
Basketball 57%
Soccer 12%
Others 6%

16
Answer:
Favorite Sports Among a Group of Students
Sports Percent Degrees in Sector
Baseball 15% 54°
Football 10% 36°
Basketball 57% 205°
Soccer 12% 43°
Others 6% 22°

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Find the mean. If necessary, round to one decimal place.


48) 20, 7, 23, 20
A) 25.7 B) 17.5 C) 16 D) 18
Answer: B

49) 76, 46, 76, 99, 46


A) 69.1 B) 85.8 C) 68.6 D) 68.1
Answer: C

50) 5, 4, 10, 6, 12, 9


A) 6.2 B) 7.7 C) 9.2 D) 8.2
Answer: B

17
51) 18, 14, 8, 14, 8, 4, 4
A) 11.7 B) 11.5 C) 9.5 D) 10
Answer: D

52) 19, 41, 83, 20, 115, 63


A) 57.3 B) 56.3 C) 68.2 D) 56.8
Answer: D

53) 154, 117, 245, 150


A) 167 B) 222 C) 166 D) 166.5
Answer: D

54) 5, 15, 13, 6, 15, 3, 9, 6


A) 10.3 B) 8 C) 11 D) 9
Answer: D

55) 1.3, 0.7, 0.9, 1.3, 0.5, 1.5, 0.5, 1.6, 2


A) 10.3 B) 1.1 C) 1 D) 1.2
Answer: B

Find the median. If necessary, round to one decimal place.


56) 1, 8, 17, 21, 32, 33, 50
A) 17 B) 32 C) 23.6 D) 21
Answer: D

57) 14, 14, 31, 50, 66, 75, 77


A) 50 B) 31 C) 66 D) 47.2
Answer: A

58) 9, 4, 21, 13, 47, 42, 37


A) 37 B) 13 C) 21 D) 25.2
Answer: C

59) 8, 12, 25, 23, 41, 49


A) 23 B) 24 C) 22.5 D) 25
Answer: B

60) 2, 2, 22, 13, 28, 42, 39, 32


A) 25 B) 22.5 C) 28 D) 22
Answer: A

61) 48, 19, 6, 5, 24, 16, 23, 47, 40, 33


A) 23 B) 23.5 C) 24 D) 26.1
Answer: B

62) 1.5, 0.5, 0.7, 1.5, 0.3, 1.7, 0.3, 1.8, 2.2
A) 1.1 B) 1.2 C) 1.5 D) 0.8
Answer: C

18
Find the mode or modes (if any).
63) 5, 9, 18, 3, 2, 8, 96, 1, 4, 16
A) 15.6 B) 8 C) 9 D) no mode
Answer: D

64) 20, 38, 46, 38, 49, 38, 49


A) 38 B) 39.7 C) 49 D) 46
Answer: A

65) 91, 34, 32, 34, 29, 91


A) 34 B) 51.8 C) 91 D) 91, 34
Answer: D

66) 7.05, 7.41, 7.56, 7.05, 7.88, 7.99, 7.62


A) 7.56 B) 7.05 C) 7.41 D) 7.509
Answer: B

67) 86, 25, 86, 13, 25, 29, 56, 86


A) 50.8 B) 86 C) 42.5 D) no mode
Answer: B

68) 1.5, 0.5, 0.7, 1.5, 0.3, 1.7, 0.3, 1.8, 2.2
A) 1.5 B) 0.3 C) 1.2 D) 0.3 and 1.5
Answer: D

Solve. If necessary, round answers to the nearest hundredth.


69) The grades are given for a student for a particular semester. Find the grade point average. The point values of
grades are given below.
A : 4, B : 3, C : 2, D : 1, F : 0

Grade Credit Hours


C 2
F 1
A 1
B 2
F 2
A) 1.6 B) 1.75 C) 8 D) 1.8
Answer: B

70) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 100, 95, 93, 89, 95, 81, 91. Find the mean, median, and
mode.
A) mean: 92 median: 93 mode: 95 B) mean: 93 median: 92 mode: 100
C) mean: 93 median: 89 mode: 95 D) mean: 92 median: 89 mode: 100
Answer: A

71) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 80, 72, 68, 68, 80, 82. Find the mean, median, and mode.
A) mean: 76 median: 76 mode: 68 B) mean: 75 median: 68 mode: 82
C) mean: 75 median: 76 mode: 68 and 80 D) mean: 76 median: 75 mode: 80
Answer: C

19
72) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 71, 68, 66, 65, 74, 70. Find the mean, median, and mode.
A) mean: 69 median: 65 mode: 74 B) mean: 68 median: none mode: none
C) mean: 70 median: none mode: 74 D) mean: 69 median: 69 mode: none
Answer: D

73) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 98, 55, 96, 55, 81. Find the mean, median, and mode.
A) mean: 77 median: 81 mode: 98 B) mean: 77 median: 81 mode: 55
C) mean: 96.3 median: 88.5 mode: 55 D) mean: 82.5 median: 96 mode: 98
Answer: B

Draw a tree diagram to find the number of possible outcomes.


74) Choose a number, 1, 2, 3, 4, and then a vowel, a,e,i,o,u.
A) 20 outcomes B) 5 outcomes C) 9 outcomes D) 16 outcomes
Answer: A

75) Toss a single die, and then toss a coin.


A) 6 outcomes B) 8 outcomes C) 12 outcomes D) 2 outcomes
Answer: C

76) Pick a number from 1, 2, 3 or 4, and then toss a coin.


A) 6 outcomes B) 1 outcome C) 8 outcomes D) 2 outcomes
Answer: C

77) Toss two six-sided dice.


A) 36 outcomes B) 1 outcome C) 12 outcomes D) 2 outcomes
Answer: A

78) Toss two coins.


A) 3 outcomes B) 1 outcome C) 4 outcomes D) 2 outcomes
Answer: C

79) Toss three coins.


A) 3 outcomes B) 6 outcomes C) 8 outcomes D) 1 outcome
Answer: C

Find the probability of the event.


80) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
A4
2 1
A) B) C) 0 D) 4
3 6
Answer: B

81) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
A7
7
A) 7 B) C) 1 D) 0
6
Answer: D

20
82) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
A 6 or a 1
1 1 1
A) B) C) 7 D)
3 6 2
Answer: A

83) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
A 1 or a 4 or a 3
1 1 1
A) B) C) 8 D)
6 2 3
Answer: B

84) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
An even number.
1 1 1
A) B) C) D) 3
3 6 2
Answer: C

85) If a single die is rolled, find the probability of the following event.
A number less than 2?
1 1 5 1
A) B) C) D)
3 6 6 9
Answer: B

86) Two dice are tossed. What is the probability the sum of the two numbers on the die will be 4?
2 11 1
A) B) C) 3 D)
3 12 12
Answer: D

87) Two dice are rolled. What is the probability that the sum of the two numbers on the dice will be greater than 9?
1 1 1
A) B) C) D) 6
4 6 12
Answer: B

Find the probability of the event if a single choice is made from a bag.
88) A bag contains 6 red marbles, 6 blue marbles, 6 yellow marbles, and 7 green marbles. What is the probability of
choosing a red marble when one marble is drawn?
6 6 1 1
A) B) C) D)
25 19 25 4
Answer: A

89) A bag contains 8 red marbles, 4 blue marbles, and 9 green marbles. What is the probability of choosing a blue
marble when one marble is drawn?
8 1 3 4
A) B) C) D)
21 3 7 21
Answer: D

21
90) A bag contains 8 red marbles, 3 blue marbles, and 1 green marble. What is the probability of choosing a marble
that is not blue when one marble is drawn from the bag?
3 4 1
A) B) 9 C) D)
4 3 4
Answer: A

91) A bag contains 4 red marbles, 8 blue marbles, 7 yellow marbles, and 6 green marbles. What is the probability of
choosing a yellow or green marble when one marble is drawn?
1 6 13 7
A) B) C) D)
2 25 25 25
Answer: C

92) A bag contains 13 balls numbered 1 through 13. What is the probability of selecting a ball that has an even
number when one ball is drawn from the bag?
2 13 6
A) B) 6 C) D)
13 6 13
Answer: D

93) A bag contains 27 balls numbered 1 through 27. What is the probability of choosing a ball numbered 28?
1
A) 1 B) 27 C) 0 D)
27
Answer: C

Solve.
94) A new drug is being tested that is supposed to lower cholesterol. This drug was given to 300 people and the
results are below.

Lower Higher Cholesterol


Cholesterol Cholesterol not Changed
114 40 146

If a person is testing this drug, what is the probability that their cholesterol will be higher?
2 31 77 13
A) B) C) D)
15 50 150 15
Answer: A

A deck of cards contains 52 cards. These cards consist of four suits (hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds) of each of the
following: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace. If a card is chosen from a deck of cards, find the probability of
each event.
95) Selecting an ace
4 12 1 1
A) B) C) D)
13 13 52 13
Answer: D

96) Selecting the 10 of hearts


4 1 1 1
A) B) C) D)
13 13 52 26
Answer: C

22
Fill in the blank with one of the words or phrases listed below.

outcomes bar experiment mean tree diagram


pictograph line class interval median probability
histogram circle class frequency mode

97) A(n) graph presents data using vertical or horizontal bars.


A) line B) circle C) bar D) probability
Answer: C

sum of items
98) The of a set of number items is .
number of items
A) mean B) probability C) median D) mode
Answer: A

99) The possible results of an experiment are the .


A) class interval B) class frequency C) probability D) outcomes
Answer: D

100) A(n) is a graph in which pictures or symbols are used to visually present data.
A) class interval B) pictograph C) tree diagram D) histogram
Answer: B

101) The of a set of numbers is the number that occurs the most often.
A) probability B) mode C) mean D) median
Answer: B

102) A(n) graph displays information with a line that connects data points.
A) line B) probability C) bar D) circle
Answer: A

103) The of a set of an ordered set of numbers is the middle number.


A) mean B) median C) mode D) probability
Answer: B

104) A(n) is one way to picture and count outcomes.


A) pictogram B) tree diagram C) class interval D) histogram
Answer: B

105) A(n) is an activity being considered, such as tossing a coin or rolling a die.
A) tree diagram B) pictogram C) mode D) experiment
Answer: D

106) In a(n) graph, each section (shaped like a piece of pie) shows a category and the relative size of the
category.
A) circle B) bar C) probability D) line
Answer: A

23
number of ways that event can occur
107) The of an event is .
number of possible outcomes
A) mean B) mode C) median D) probability
Answer: D

108) A(n) is a special bar graph in which the width of each bar represents a(n) and the
height of each bar represents the .
A) pictogram, class frequency, class interval B) pictogram, class interval, class frequency
C) histogram, class interval, class frequency D) histogram, class frequency, class interval
Answer: C

The pictograph shows the number of bicycles sold at Mountain Biking Mania for a 7-week period.

109) How many bicycles were sold in week 3?


A) 50 bicycles B) 20 bicycles C) 100 bicycles D) 85 bicycles
Answer: C

110) During which week was the least number of bicycles sold? How many bicycles were sold that week?
A) week 7; 120 bicycles B) week 5; 20 bicycles
C) week 3; 100 bicycles D) week 4; 50 bicycles
Answer: B

111) What was the total number of bicycles sold in this 7-week period?
A) 535 bicycles B) 530 bicycles C) 545 bicycles D) 520 bicycles
Answer: B

24
The bar graph shows the number of students who flunk Dr. Jones' class each year.

112) During which year(s) did Dr. Jones' have more than 8 students flunk his class?
A) 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 B) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
C) 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 D) 1996, 1998, 1999
Answer: B

113) During which year did Dr. Jones' have the fewest number of students flunk his class? How many students
flunked during that year?
A) 2005, 3 students B) 1997, 2 students C) 2005, 2 students D) 1999, 16 students
Answer: B

114) During which year(s) did exactly 4 students flunk Dr. Jones' class?
A) 1993, 2003 B) 2003 C) 1993 D) 1993, 2001
Answer: A

25
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

Use the information given to draw a vertical bar graph. Clearly label the bars on the graph shown below.
115) Visitors of Jazz Festival

Year Visitors (in thousands)


1981 12
1991 17
2001 20
2003 23

Answer:
Visitors of Jazz Festival
25
20
15
10
5

26
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

The line graph shows the recorded hourly temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit at an airport.

116) What temperature was recorded at 4 p.m.?


A) 74°F B) 78°F C) 76°F D) 77°F
Answer: C

117) During which hours shown was the temperature greater than 76°F?
A) 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. B) 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. C) 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. D) 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Answer: D

118) During which hours was the temperature increasing?


A) 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. B) 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
C) 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. D) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Answer: D

27
The following circle graph displays Chris and Mary Smith's monthly $2900 family budget. Use the circle graph to answer
the question.

119) What is the ratio of money spent on miscellaneous to the total amount of the monthly budget?
29 2 29 3
A) B) C) D)
2 29 3 29
Answer: D

120) What is the ratio of money spent on food to money spent on utilities?
5 8 8 11
A) B) C) D)
8 5 11 8
Answer: B

28
The circle graph shows the results of the student council presidential election. The complete circular area represents
100% of the votes.
121)
Student Council President

Ben
20%
Ted
34% Ming
14%
Gina
32%

600 total votes

The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
If 600 total votes were cast, how many votes did Ted get?
A) 192 B) 204 C) 84 D) 120
Answer: B

The circle graph summarizes the results of a survey of the favorite movie category chosen by a group of adults.

122) 2800 adults answer the survey.


How many of the survey respondents said that they favor drama movies? Round to the nearest whole.
A) 260 respondents B) 854 respondents C) 748 respondents D) 2670 respondents
Answer: C

29
A new car dealership has taken an inventory of the vehicles it has in stock. Below is a histogram indicating the number
of vehicles in stock in certain price ranges. Use the histogram to answer the question.

123) How many vehicles in stock are priced between $14,000 and $20,999?
A) 5 vehicles B) 15 vehicles C) 3 vehicles D) 10 vehicles
Answer: B

124) How many vehicles in stock are priced $20,999 or less?


A) 55 vehicles B) 50 vehicles C) 15 vehicles D) 20 vehicles
Answer: D

30
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

Twenty teenagers were asked to give their current savings account balances. Use the balances shown in the list to
complete the frequency distribution table.
125) 345 1382 591 3265 3123
2399 678 2999 2299 1400
1004 692 2159 2148 2890
2780 1999 1234 1850 2377

Class Intervals Tally Class Frequency


(Account Balances) (Number of Teenagers)
$0-$499
$500-$999
$1000-$1499
$1500-$1999
$2000-$2499
$2500-$2999
$3000-$3499

Answer:

Twenty teenagers were asked to give their current savings account balances. Use the balances shown in the list to
complete the frequency distribution table and construct a histogram.
126) 150 1080 960 3022 3499
2001 880 2650 2118 1250
1499 560 2499 2399 2500
2789 1620 1382 1810 2299

Class Intervals Tally Class Frequency


(Account Balances) (Number of Teenagers)
$0-$499
$500-$999
$1000-$1499
$1500-$1999
$2000-$2499
$2500-$2999
$3000-$3499

31
Answer:

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Find the mean, median, and mode of the list of numbers. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.
127) 100, 67, 84, 67, 81
A) mean: 99.8 median: 82.5 mode: 67 B) mean: 83 median: 84 mode: 100
C) mean: 79.8 median: 81 mode: 67 D) mean: 79.8 median: 81 mode: 100
Answer: C

32
128) 90, 82, 78, 78, 90, 92
A) mean: 86 median: 86 mode: 78 B) mean: 85 median: 78 mode: 92
C) mean: 85 median: 86 mode: 78 and 90 D) mean: 86 median: 85 mode: 90
Answer: C

Find the grade point average. If necessary, round to the nearest hundredth.
129)
Grade Credit Hours
A 2
C 1
D 1
F 2
C 2
A) 8 B) 1.88 C) 1.8 D) 1.6
Answer: B

Draw a tree diagram for the experiment to find the number of outcomes.
130) Spinning the spinner twice

A) 9 outcomes B) 6 outcomes C) 3 outcomes D) 27 outcomes


Answer: A

131) Tossing a coin twice


A) 8 outcomes B) 4 outcomes C) 2 outcomes D) 16 outcomes
Answer: B

Suppose that the numbers 1 through 10 are each written on a scrap of paper and placed in a bag. You then select one
number from the bag.
132) What is the probability of choosing a 9 from the bag?
1 9 1
A) B) 1 C) D)
10 10 9
Answer: A

133) What is the probability of choosing a 4 or a 7 from the bag?


1 b 1 11
A) B) C) D)
10 10 5 10
Answer: C

33
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world of consciousness, and we are not necessarily opposed to
attempts to reach the physical world from that end. From the point of
view of philosophy it is desirable that this entrance should be
explored, and it is conceivable that it may be fruitful scientifically. If I
have rightly understood Dr. Whitehead’s philosophy, that is the
course which he takes. It involves a certain amount of working
backwards (as we should ordinarily describe it); but his method of
“extensive abstraction” is intended to overcome some of the
difficulties of such a procedure. I am not qualified to form a critical
judgment of this work, but in principle it appears highly interesting.
Although this book may in most respects seem diametrically
opposed to Dr. Whitehead’s widely read philosophy of Nature, I think
it would be truer to regard him as an ally who from the opposite side
of the mountain is tunnelling to meet his less philosophically minded
colleagues. The important thing is not to confuse the two entrances.

Nature of Exact Science. One of the characteristics of physics is that


it is an exact science, and I have generally identified the domain of
physics with the domain of exact science. Strictly speaking the two
are not synonymous. We can imagine a science arising which has
no contact with the usual phenomena and laws of physics, which yet
admits of the same kind of exact treatment. It is conceivable that the
Mendelian theory of heredity may grow into an independent science
of this kind, for it would seem to occupy in biology the same position
that the atomic theory occupied in chemistry a hundred years ago.
The trend of the theory is to analyse complex individuals into “unit
characters”. These are like indivisible atoms with affinities and
repulsions; their matings are governed by the same laws of chance
which play so large a part in chemical thermodynamics; and
numerical statistics of the characters of a population are predictable
in the same way as the results of a chemical reaction.
Now the effect of such a theory on our philosophical views of the
significance of life does not depend on whether the Mendelian atom
admits of a strictly physical explanation or not. The unit character
may be contained in some configuration of the physical molecules of
the carrier, and perhaps even literally correspond to a chemical
compound; or it may be something superadded which is peculiar to
living matter and is not yet comprised in the schedule of physical
entities. That is a side-issue. We are drawing near to the great
question whether there is any domain of activity—of life, of
consciousness, of deity—which will not be engulfed by the advance
of exact science; and our apprehension is not directed against the
particular entities of physics but against all entities of the category to
which exact science can apply. For exact science invokes, or has
seemed to invoke, a type of law inevitable and soulless against
which the human spirit rebels. If science finally declares that man is
no more than a fortuitous concourse of atoms, the blow will not be
softened by the explanation that the atoms in question are the
Mendelian unit characters and not the material atoms of the chemist.
Let us then examine the kind of knowledge which is handled by
exact science. If we search the examination papers in physics and
natural philosophy for the more intelligible questions we may come
across one beginning something like this: “An elephant slides down
a grassy hillside....” The experienced candidate knows that he need
not pay much attention to this; it is only put in to give an impression
of realism. He reads on: “The mass of the elephant is two tons.” Now
we are getting down to business; the elephant fades out of the
problem and a mass of two tons takes its place. What exactly is this
two tons, the real subject-matter of the problem? It refers to some
property or condition which we vaguely describe as “ponderosity”
occurring in a particular region of the external world. But we shall not
get much further that way; the nature of the external world is
inscrutable, and we shall only plunge into a quagmire of
indescribables. Never mind what two tons refers to; what is it? How
has it actually entered in so definite a way into our experience? Two
tons is the reading of the pointer when the elephant was placed on a
weighing-machine. Let us pass on. “The slope of the hill is 60°.” Now
the hillside fades out of the problem and an angle of 60° takes its
place. What is 60°? There is no need to struggle with mystical
conceptions of direction; 60° is the reading of a plumb-line against
the divisions of a protractor. Similarly for the other data of the
problem. The softly yielding turf on which the elephant slid is
replaced by a coefficient of friction, which though perhaps not
directly a pointer reading is of kindred nature. No doubt there are
more roundabout ways used in practice for determining the weights
of elephants and the slopes of hills, but these are justified because it
is known that they give the same results as direct pointer readings.
And so we see that the poetry fades out of the problem, and by
the time the serious application of exact science begins we are left
with only pointer readings. If then only pointer readings or their
equivalents are put into the machine of scientific calculation, how
can we grind out anything but pointer readings? But that is just what
we do grind out. The question presumably was to find the time of
descent of the elephant, and the answer is a pointer reading on the
seconds’ dial of our watch.
The triumph of exact science in the foregoing problem consisted
in establishing a numerical connection between the pointer reading
of the weighing-machine in one experiment on the elephant and the
pointer reading of the watch in another experiment. And when we
examine critically other problems of physics we find that this is
typical. The whole subject-matter of exact science consists of pointer
readings and similar indications. We cannot enter here into the
definition of what are to be classed as similar indications. The
observation of approximate coincidence of the pointer with a scale-
division can generally be extended to include the observation of any
kind of coincidence—or, as it is usually expressed in the language of
the general relativity theory, an intersection of world-lines. The
essential point is that, although we seem to have very definite
conceptions of objects in the external world, those conceptions do
not enter into exact science and are not in any way confirmed by it.
Before exact science can begin to handle the problem they must be
replaced by quantities representing the results of physical
measurement.
Perhaps you will object that although only the pointer readings
enter into the actual calculation it would make nonsense of the
problem to leave out all reference to anything else. The problem
necessarily involves some kind of connecting background. It was not
the pointer reading of the weighing-machine that slid down the hill!
And yet from the point of view of exact science the thing that really
did descend the hill can only be described as a bundle of pointer
readings. (It should be remembered that the hill also has been
replaced by pointer readings, and the sliding down is no longer an
active adventure but a functional relation of space and time
measures.) The word elephant calls up a certain association of
mental impressions, but it is clear that mental impressions as such
cannot be the subject handled in the physical problem. We have, for
example, an impression of bulkiness. To this there is presumably
some direct counterpart in the external world, but that counterpart
must be of a nature beyond our apprehension, and science can
make nothing of it. Bulkiness enters into exact science by yet
another substitution; we replace it by a series of readings of a pair of
calipers. Similarly the greyish black appearance in our mental
impression is replaced in exact science by the readings of a
photometer for various wave-lengths of light. And so on until all the
characteristics of the elephant are exhausted and it has become
reduced to a schedule of measures. There is always the triple
correspondence—
(a) a mental image, which is in our minds and not in the external
world;
(b) some kind of counterpart in the external world, which is of
inscrutable nature;
(c) a set of pointer readings, which exact science can study and
connect with other pointer readings.
And so we have our schedule of pointer readings ready to make
the descent. And if you still think that this substitution has taken
away all reality from the problem, I am not sorry that you should
have a foretaste of the difficulty in store for those who hold that exact
science is all-sufficient for the description of the universe and that
there is nothing in our experience which cannot be brought within its
scope.
I should like to make it clear that the limitation of the scope of
physics to pointer readings and the like is not a philosophical craze
of my own but is essentially the current scientific doctrine. It is the
outcome of a tendency discernible far back in the last century but
only formulated comprehensively with the advent of the relativity
theory. The vocabulary of the physicist comprises a number of words
such as length, angle, velocity, force, potential, current, etc., which
we call “physical quantities”. It is now recognised as essential that
these should be defined according to the way in which we actually
recognise them when confronted with them, and not according to the
metaphysical significance which we may have anticipated for them.
In the old textbooks mass was defined as “quantity of matter”; but
when it came to an actual determination of mass, an experimental
method was prescribed which had no bearing on this definition. The
belief that the quantity determined by the accepted method of
measurement represented the quantity of matter in the object was
merely a pious opinion. At the present day there is no sense in which
the quantity of matter in a pound of lead can be said to be equal to
the quantity in a pound of sugar. Einstein’s theory makes a clean
sweep of these pious opinions, and insists that each physical
quantity should be defined as the result of certain operations of
measurement and calculation. You may if you like think of mass as
something of inscrutable nature to which the pointer reading has a
kind of relevance. But in physics at least there is nothing much to be
gained by this mystification, because it is the pointer reading itself
which is handled in exact science; and if you embed it in something
of a more transcendental nature, you have only the extra trouble of
digging it out again.
It is quite true that when we say the mass is two tons we have not
specially in mind the reading of the particular machine on which the
weighing was carried out. That is because we do not start to tackle
the problem of the elephant’s escapade ab initio as though it were
the first inquiry we had ever made into the phenomena of the
external world. The examiner would have had to be much more
explicit if he had not presumed a general acquaintance with the
elementary laws of physics, i.e. laws which permit us to deduce the
readings of other indicators from the reading of one. It is this
connectivity of pointer readings, expressed by physical laws, which
supplies the continuous background that any realistic problem
demands.
It is obviously one of the conditions of the problem that the same
elephant should be concerned in the weighing experiment and in the
tobogganing experiment. How can this identity be expressed in a
description of the world by pointer readings only? Two readings may
be equal, but it is meaningless to inquire if they are identical; if then
the elephant is a bundle of pointer readings, how can we ask
whether it is continually the identical bundle? The examiner does not
confide to us how the identity of the elephant was ensured; we have
only his personal guarantee that there was no substitution. Perhaps
the creature answered to its name on both occasions; if so the test of
identity is clearly outside the present domain of physics. The only
test lying purely in the domain of physics is that of continuity; the
elephant must be watched all the way from the scales to the hillside.
The elephant, we must remember, is a tube in the four-dimensional
world demarcated from the rest of space-time by a more or less
abrupt boundary. Using the retina of his eye as an indicator and
making frequent readings of the outline of the image, the observer
satisfied himself that he was following one continuous and isolated
world-tube from beginning to end. If his vigilance was intermittent he
took a risk of substitution, and consequently a risk of the observed
time of descent failing to agree with the time calculated.[41] Note that
we do not infer that there is any identity of the contents of the
isolated world-tube throughout its length; such identity would be
meaningless in physics. We use instead the law of conservation of
mass (either as an empirical law or deduced from the law of
gravitation) which assures us that, provided the tube is isolated, the
pointer reading on the schedule derived from the weighing-machine
type of experiment has a constant value along the tube. For the
purpose of exact science “the same object” becomes replaced by
“isolated world-tube”. The constancy of certain properties of the
elephant is not assumed as self-evident from its sameness, but is an
inference from experimental and theoretical laws relating to world-
tubes which are accepted as well established.

Limitations of Physical Knowledge. Whenever we state the


properties of a body in terms of physical quantities we are imparting
knowledge as to the response of various metrical indicators to its
presence, and nothing more. After all, knowledge of this kind is fairly
comprehensive. A knowledge of the response of all kinds of objects
—weighing-machines and other indicators—would determine
completely its relation to its environment, leaving only its inner un-
get-atable nature undetermined. In the relativity theory we accept
this as full knowledge, the nature of an object in so far as it is
ascertainable by scientific inquiry being the abstraction of its
relations to all surrounding objects. The progress of the relativity
theory has been largely due to the development of a powerful
mathematical calculus for dealing compendiously with an infinite
scheme of pointer readings, and the technical term tensor used so
largely in treatises on Einstein’s theory may be translated schedule
of pointer readings. It is part of the aesthetic appeal of the
mathematical theory of relativity that the mathematics is so closely
adapted to the physical conceptions. It is not so in all subjects. For
example, we may admire the triumph of patience of the
mathematician in predicting so closely the positions of the moon, but
aesthetically the lunar theory is atrocious; it is obvious that the moon
and the mathematician use different methods of finding the lunar
orbit. But by the use of tensors the mathematical physicist precisely
describes the nature of his subject-matter as a schedule of indicator
readings; and those accretions of images and conceptions which
have no place in physical science are automatically dismissed.
The recognition that our knowledge of the objects treated in
physics consists solely of readings of pointers and other indicators
transforms our view of the status of physical knowledge in a
fundamental way. Until recently it was taken for granted that we had
knowledge of a much more intimate kind of the entities of the
external world. Let me give an illustration which takes us to the root
of the great problem of the relations of matter and spirit. Take the
living human brain endowed with mind and thought. Thought is one
of the indisputable facts of the world. I know that I think, with a
certainty which I cannot attribute to any of my physical knowledge of
the world. More hypothetically, but on fairly plausible evidence, I am
convinced that you have minds which think. Here then is a world fact
to be investigated. The physicist brings his tools and commences
systematic exploration. All that he discovers is a collection of atoms
and electrons and fields of force arranged in space and time,
apparently similar to those found in inorganic objects. He may trace
other physical characteristics, energy, temperature, entropy. None of
these is identical with thought. He might set down thought as an
illusion—some perverse interpretation of the interplay of the physical
entities that he has found. Or if he sees the folly of calling the most
undoubted element of our experience an illusion, he will have to face
the tremendous question, How can this collection of ordinary atoms
be a thinking machine? But what knowledge have we of the nature of
atoms which renders it at all incongruous that they should constitute
a thinking object? The Victorian physicist felt that he knew just what
he was talking about when he used such terms as matter and atoms.
Atoms were tiny billiard balls, a crisp statement that was supposed to
tell you all about their nature in a way which could never be achieved
for transcendental things like consciousness, beauty or humour. But
now we realise that science has nothing to say as to the intrinsic
nature of the atom. The physical atom is, like everything else in
physics, a schedule of pointer readings. The schedule is, we agree,
attached to some unknown background. Why not then attach it to
something of spiritual nature of which a prominent characteristic is
thought. It seems rather silly to prefer to attach it to something of a
so-called “concrete” nature inconsistent with thought, and then to
wonder where the thought comes from. We have dismissed all
preconception as to the background of our pointer readings, and for
the most part we can discover nothing as to its nature. But in one
case—namely, for the pointer readings of my own brain—I have an
insight which is not limited to the evidence of the pointer readings.
That insight shows that they are attached to a background of
consciousness. Although I may expect that the background of other
pointer readings in physics is of a nature continuous with that
revealed to me in this particular case, I do not suppose that it always
has the more specialised attributes of consciousness.[42] But in
regard to my one piece of insight into the background no problem of
irreconcilability arises; I have no other knowledge of the background
with which to reconcile it.
In science we study the linkage of pointer readings with pointer
readings. The terms link together in endless cycle with the same
inscrutable nature running through the whole. There is nothing to
prevent the assemblage of atoms constituting a brain from being of
itself a thinking object in virtue of that nature which physics leaves
undetermined and undeterminable. If we must embed our schedule
of indicator readings in some kind of background, at least let us
accept the only hint we have received as to the significance of the
background—namely that it has a nature capable of manifesting
itself as mental activity.

Cyclic Method of Physics. I must explain this reference to an endless


cycle of physical terms. I will refer again to Einstein’s law of
gravitation. I have already expounded it to you more than once and I
hope you gained some idea of it from the explanation. This time I am
going to expound it in a way so complete that there is not much
likelihood that anyone will understand it. Never mind. We are not
now seeking further light on the cause of gravitation; we are
interested in seeing what would really be involved in a complete
explanation of anything physical.
Einstein’s law in its analytical form is a statement that in empty
space certain quantities called potentials obey certain lengthy
differential equations. We make a memorandum of the word
“potential” to remind us that we must later on explain what it means.
We might conceive a world in which the potentials at every moment
and every place had quite arbitrary values. The actual world is not so
unlimited, the potentials being restricted to those values which
conform to Einstein’s equations. The next question is, What are
potentials? They can be defined as quantities derived by quite
simple mathematical calculations from certain fundamental quantities
called intervals. (MEM. Explain “interval”.) If we know the values of
the various intervals throughout the world definite rules can be given
for deriving the values of the potentials. What are intervals? They are
relations between pairs of events which can be measured with a
scale or a clock or with both. (MEM. Explain “scale” and “clock”.)
Instructions can be given for the correct use of the scale and clock
so that the interval is given by a prescribed combination of their
readings. What are scales and clocks? A scale is a graduated strip
of matter which.... (MEM. Explain “matter”.) On second thoughts I will
leave the rest of the description as “an exercise to the reader” since
it would take rather a long time to enumerate all the properties and
niceties of behaviour of the material standard which a physicist
would accept as a perfect scale or a perfect clock. We pass on to the
next question, What is matter? We have dismissed the metaphysical
conception of substance. We might perhaps here describe the
atomic and electrical structure of matter, but that leads to the
microscopic aspects of the world, whereas we are here taking the
macroscopic outlook. Confining ourselves to mechanics, which is the
subject in which the law of gravitation arises, matter may be defined
as the embodiment of three related physical quantities, mass (or
energy), momentum and stress. What are “mass”, “momentum” and
“stress”? It is one of the most far-reaching achievements of
Einstein’s theory that it has given an exact answer to this question.
They are rather formidable looking expressions containing the
potentials and their first and second derivatives with respect to the
co-ordinates. What are the potentials? Why, that is just what I have
been explaining to you!
The definitions of physics proceed according to the method
immortalised in “The House that Jack built”: This is the potential, that
was derived from the interval, that was measured by the scale, that
was made from the matter, that embodied the stress, that.... But
instead of finishing with Jack, whom of course every youngster must
know without need for an introduction, we make a circuit back to the
beginning of the rhyme: ... that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that
ate the malt, that lay in the house, that was built by the priest all
shaven and shorn, that married the man.... Now we can go round
and round for ever.
But perhaps you have already cut short my explanation of
gravitation. When we reached matter you had had enough of it.
“Please do not explain any more, I happen to know what matter is.”
Very well; matter is something that Mr. X knows. Let us see how it
goes: This is the potential that was derived from the interval that was
measured by the scale that was made from the matter that Mr. X
knows. Next question, What is Mr. X?
Well, it happens that physics is not at all anxious to pursue the
question, What is Mr. X? It is not disposed to admit that its elaborate
structure of a physical universe is “The House that Mr. X built”.

Fig. 8
It looks upon Mr. X—and more particularly the part of Mr. X that
knows—as a rather troublesome tenant who at a late stage of the
world’s history has come to inhabit a structure which inorganic
Nature has by slow evolutionary progress contrived to build. And so
it turns aside from the avenue leading to Mr. X—and beyond—and
closes up its cycle leaving him out in the cold.
From its own point of view physics is entirely justified. That matter
in some indirect way comes within the purview of Mr. X’s mind is not
a fact of any utility for a theoretical scheme of physics. We cannot
embody it in a differential equation. It is ignored; and the physical
properties of matter and other entities are expressed by their
linkages in the cycle. And you can see how by the ingenious device
of the cycle physics secures for itself a self-contained domain for
study with no loose ends projecting into the unknown. All other
physical definitions have the same kind of interlocking. Electric force
is defined as something which causes motion of an electric charge;
an electric charge is something which exerts electric force. So that
an electric charge is something that exerts something that produces
motion of something that exerts something that produces ... ad
infinitum.
But I am not now writing of pure physics, and from a broader
standpoint I do not see how we can leave out Mr. X. The fact that
matter is “knowable to Mr. X” must be set down as one of the
fundamental attributes of matter. I do not say that it is very
distinctive, since other entities of physics are also knowable to him;
but the potentiality of the whole physical world for awaking
impressions in consciousness is an attribute not to be ignored when
we compare the actual world with worlds which, we fancy, might
have been created. There seems to be a prevalent disposition to
minimise the importance of this. The attitude is that “knowableness
to Mr. X” is a negligible attribute, because Mr. X is so clever that he
could know pretty much anything that there was to know. I have
already urged the contrary view—that there is a definitely selective
action of the mind; and since physics treats of what is knowable to
mind[43] its subject-matter has undergone, and indeed retains
evidences of, this process of selection.

Actuality. “Knowableness to mind” is moreover a property which


differentiates the actual world of our experience from imaginary
worlds in which the same general laws of Nature are supposed to
hold true. Consider a world—Utopia, let us say—governed by all the
laws of Nature known and unknown which govern our own world, but
containing better stars, planets, cities, animals, etc.—a world which
might exist, but it just happens that it doesn’t. How can the physicist
test that Utopia is not the actual world? We refer to a piece of matter
in it; it is not real matter but it attracts any other piece of (unreal)
matter in Utopia according to the law of gravitation. Scales and
clocks constructed of this unreal matter will measure wrong intervals,
but the physicist cannot detect that they are wrong unless he has
first shown the unreality of the matter. As soon as any element in it
has been shown to be unreal Utopia collapses; but so long as we
keep to the cycles of physics we can never find the vulnerable point,
for each element is correctly linked to the rest of the cycle, all our
laws of Nature expressed by the cycle being obeyed in Utopia by
hypothesis. The unreal stars emit unreal light which falls on unreal
retinas and ultimately reaches unreal brains. The next step takes it
outside the cycle and gives the opportunity of exposing "the whole
deception. Is the brain disturbance translated into consciousness?
That will test whether the brain is real or unreal. There is no question
about consciousness being real or not; consciousness is self-
knowing and the epithet real adds nothing to that. Of the infinite
number of worlds which are examples of what might be possible
under the laws of Nature, there is one which does something more
than fulfil those laws of Nature. This property, which is evidently not
definable with respect to any of the laws of Nature, we describe as
“actuality”—generally using the word as a kind of halo of indefinite
import. We have seen that the trend of modern physics is to reject
these indefinite attributions and to define its terms according to the
way in which we recognise the properties when confronted by them.
We recognise the actuality of a particular world because it is that
world alone with which consciousness interacts. However much the
theoretical physicist may dislike a reference to consciousness, the
experimental physicist uses freely this touchstone of actuality. He
would perhaps prefer to believe that his instruments and
observations are certified as actual by his material sense organs; but
the final guarantor is the mind that comes to know the indications of
the material organs. Each of us is armed with this touchstone of
actuality; by applying it we decide that this sorry world of ours is
actual and Utopia is a dream. As our individual consciousnesses are
different, so our touchstones are different; but fortunately they all
agree in their indication of actuality—or at any rate those which
agree are in sufficient majority to shut the others up in lunatic
asylums.
It is natural that theoretical physics in its formulation of a general
scheme of law should leave out of account actuality and the
guarantor of actuality. For it is just this omission which makes the
difference between a law of Nature and a particular sequence of
events. That which is possible (or not “too improbable”) is the
domain of natural science; that which is actual is the domain of
natural history. We need scarcely add that the contemplation in
natural science of a wider domain than the actual leads to a far
better understanding of the actual.
From a broader point of view than that of elaborating the physical
scheme of law we cannot treat the connection with mind as merely
an incident in a self-existent inorganic world. In saying that the
differentiation of the actual from the non-actual is only expressible by
reference to mind I do not mean to imply that a universe without
conscious mind would have no more status than Utopia. But its
property of actuality would be indefinable since the one approach to
a definition is cut off. The actuality of Nature is like the beauty of
Nature. We can scarcely describe the beauty of a landscape as non-
existent when there is no conscious being to witness it; but it is
through consciousness that we can attribute a meaning to it. And so
it is with the actuality of the world. If actuality means “known to mind”
then it is a purely subjective character of the world; to make it
objective we must substitute “knowable to mind”. The less stress we
lay on the accident of parts of the world being known at the present
era to particular minds, the more stress we must lay on the
potentiality of being known to mind as a fundamental objective
property of matter, giving it the status of actuality whether individual
consciousness is taking note of it or not.
In the diagram Mr. X has been linked to the cycle at a particular
point in deference to his supposed claim that he knows matter; but a
little reflection will show that the point of contact of mind with the
physical universe is not very definite. Mr. X knows a table; but the
point of contact with his mind is not in the material of the table. Light
waves are propagated from the table to the eye; chemical changes
occur in the retina; propagation of some kind occurs in the optic
nerves; atomic changes follow in the brain. Just where the final leap
into consciousness occurs is not clear. We do not know the last
stage of the message in the physical world before it became a
sensation in consciousness. This makes no difference. The physical
entities have a cyclic connection, and whatever intrinsic nature we
attribute to one of them runs as a background through the whole
cycle. It is not a question whether matter or electricity or potential is
the direct stimulus to the mind; in their physical aspects these are
equally represented as pointer readings or schedules of pointer
readings. According to our discussion of world building they are the
measures of structure arising from the comparability of certain
aspects of the basal relations—measures which by no means
exhaust the significance of those relations. I do not believe that the
activity of matter at a certain point of the brain stimulates an activity
of mind; my view is that in the activity of matter there is a metrical
description of certain aspects of the activity of mind. The activity of
the matter is our way of recognising a combination of the measures
of structure; the activity of the mind is our insight into the complex of
relations whose comparability gives the foundation of those
measures.

“What is Mr. X?” In the light of these considerations let us now see
what we can make of the question, What is Mr. X? I must undertake
the inquiry single-handed; I cannot avail myself of your collaboration
without first answering or assuming an answer to the equally difficult
question, What are you? Accordingly the whole inquiry must take
place in the domain of my own consciousness. I find there certain
data purporting to relate to this unknown X; and I can (by using
powers which respond to my volition) extend the data, i.e. I can
perform experiments on X. For example I can make a chemical
analysis. The immediate result of these experiments is the
occurrence of certain visual or olfactory sensations in my
consciousness. Clearly it is a long stride from these sensations to
any rational inference about Mr. X. For example, I learn that Mr. X
has carbon in his brain, but the immediate knowledge was of
something (not carbon) in my own mind. The reason why I, on
becoming aware of something in my mind, can proceed to assert
knowledge of something elsewhere, is because there is a systematic
scheme of inference which can be traced from the one item of
knowledge to the other. Leaving aside instinctive or commonsense
inference—the crude precursor of scientific inference—the inference
follows a linkage, which can only be described symbolically,
extending from the point in the symbolic world where I locate myself
to the point where I locate Mr. X.
One feature of this inference is that I never discover what carbon
really is. It remains a symbol. There is carbon in my own brain-mind;
but the self-knowledge of my mind does not reveal this to me. I can
only know that the symbol for carbon must be placed there by
following a route of inference through the external world similar to
that used in discovering it in Mr. X; and however closely associated
this carbon may be with my thinking powers, it is as a symbol
divorced from any thinking capacity that I learn of its existence.
Carbon is a symbol definable only in terms of the other symbols
belonging to the cyclic scheme of physics. What I have discovered is
that, in order that the symbols describing the physical world may
conform to the mathematical formulae which they are designed to
obey, it is necessary to place the symbol for carbon (amongst others)
in the locality of Mr. X. By similar means I can make an exhaustive
physical examination of Mr. X and discover the whole array of
symbols to be assigned to his locality.
Will this array of symbols give me the whole of Mr. X? There is
not the least reason to think so. The voice that comes to us over the
telephone wire is not the whole of what is at the end of the wire. The
scientific linkage is like the telephone wire; it can transmit just what it
is constructed to transmit and no more.
It will be seen that the line of communication has two aspects. It
is a chain of inference stretching from the symbols immediately
associated with the sensations in my mind to the symbols descriptive
of Mr. X; and it is a chain of stimuli in the external world starting from
Mr. X and reaching my brain. Ideally the steps of the inference
exactly reverse the steps of the physical transmission which brought
the information. (Naturally we make many short cuts in inference by
applying accumulated experience and knowledge.) Commonly we
think of it only in its second aspect as a physical transmission; but
because it is also a line of inference it is subject to limitations which
we should not necessarily expect a physical transmission to conform
to.
The system of inference employed in physical investigation
reduces to mathematical equations governing the symbols, and so
long as we adhere to this procedure we are limited to symbols of
arithmetical character appropriate to such mathematical equations.
[44] Thus there is no opportunity for acquiring by any physical
investigation a knowledge of Mr. X other than that which can be
expressed in numerical form so as to be passed through a
succession of mathematical equations.
Mathematics is the model of exact inference; and in physics we
have endeavoured to replace all cruder inference by this rigorous
type. Where we cannot complete the mathematical chain we confess
that we are wandering in the dark and are unable to assert real
knowledge. Small wonder then that physical science should have
evolved a conception of the world consisting of entities rigorously
bound to one another by mathematical equations forming a
deterministic scheme. This knowledge has all been inferred and it
was bound therefore to conform to the system of inference that was
used. The determinism of the physical laws simply reflects the
determinism of the method of inference. This soulless nature of the
scientific world need not worry those who are persuaded that the
main significances of our environment are of a more spiritual
character. Anyone who studied the method of inference employed by
the physicist could predict the general characteristics of the world
that he must necessarily find. What he could not have predicted is
the great success of the method—the submission of so large a
proportion of natural phenomena to be brought into the prejudged
scheme. But making all allowance for future progress in developing
the scheme, it seems to be flying in the face of obvious facts to
pretend that it is all comprehensive. Mr. X is one of the recalcitrants.
When sound-waves impinge on his ear he moves, not in accordance
with a mathematical equation involving the physical measure
numbers of the waves, but in accordance with the meaning that
those sound-waves are used to convey. To know what there is about
Mr. X which makes him behave in this strange way, we must look not
to a physical system of inference, but to that insight beneath the
symbols which in our own minds we possess. It is by this insight that
we can finally reach an answer to our question, What is Mr. X?
[41] A good illustration of such substitution is afforded by
astronomical observations of a certain double star with two
components of equal brightness. After an intermission of
observation the two components were inadvertently interchanged,
and the substitution was not detected until the increasing
discrepancy between the actual and predicted orbits was inquired
into.
[42] For example, we should most of us assume (hypothetically)
that the dynamical quality of the world referred to in chapter V is
characteristic of the whole background. Apparently it is not to be
found in the pointer readings, and our only insight into it is in the
feeling of “becoming” in our consciousness. “Becoming” like
“reasoning” is known to us only through its occurrence in our own
minds; but whereas it would be absurd to suppose that the latter
extends to inorganic aggregations of atoms, the former may be
(and commonly is) extended to the inorganic world, so that it is
not a matter of indifference whether the progress of the inorganic
world is viewed from past to future or from future to past.
[43] This is obviously true of all experimental physics, and must
be true of theoretical physics if it is (as it professes to be) based
on experiment.
[44] The solitary exception is, I believe, Dirac’s generalisation
which introduces -numbers (p. 210). There is as yet no approach
to a general system of inference on a non-numerical basis.
Chapter XIII
REALITY
The Real and the Concrete. One of our ancestors, taking arboreal
exercise in the forest, failed to reach the bough intended and his
hand closed on nothingness. The accident might well occasion
philosophical reflections on the distinctions of substance and void—
to say nothing of the phenomenon of gravity. However that may be,
his descendants down to this day have come to be endowed with an
immense respect for substance arising we know not how or why. So
far as familiar experience is concerned, substance occupies the
centre of the stage, rigged out with the attributes of form, colour,
hardness, etc., which appeal to our several senses. Behind it is a
subordinate background of space and time permeated by forces and
unconcrete agencies to minister to the star performer.
Our conception of substance is only vivid so long as we do not
face it. It begins to fade when we analyse it. We may dismiss many
of its supposed attributes which are evidently projections of our
sense-impressions outwards into the external world. Thus the colour
which is so vivid to us is in our minds and cannot be embodied in a
legitimate conception of the substantial object itself. But in any case
colour is no part of the essential nature of substance. Its supposed
nature is that which we try to call to mind by the word “concrete”,
which is perhaps an outward projection of our sense of touch. When
I try to abstract from the bough everything but its substance or
concreteness and concentrate on an effort to apprehend this, all
ideas elude me; but the effort brings with it an instinctive tightening
of the fingers—from which perhaps I might infer that my conception
of substance is not very different from my arboreal ancestor’s.
So strongly has substance held the place of leading actor on the
stage of experience that in common usage concrete and real are
almost synonymous. Ask any man who is not a philosopher or a
mystic to name something typically real; he is almost sure to choose
a concrete thing. Put the question to him whether Time is real; he will
probably decide with some hesitation that it must be classed as real,
but he has an inner feeling that the question is in some way
inappropriate and that he is being cross-examined unfairly.
In the scientific world the conception of substance is wholly
lacking, and that which most nearly replaces it, viz. electric charge, is
not exalted as star-performer above the other entities of physics. For
this reason the scientific world often shocks us by its appearance of
unreality. It offers nothing to satisfy our demand for the concrete.
How should it, when we cannot formulate that demand? I tried to
formulate it; but nothing resulted save a tightening of the fingers.
Science does not overlook the provision for tactual and muscular
sensation. In leading us away from the concrete, science is
reminding us that our contact with the real is more varied than was
apparent to the ape-mind, to whom the bough which supported him
typified the beginning and end of reality.
It is not solely the scientific world that will now occupy our
attention. In accordance with the last chapter we are taking a larger
view in which the cyclical schemes of physics are embraced with
much besides. But before venturing on this more risky ground I have
to emphasise one conclusion which is definitely scientific. The
modern scientific theories have broken away from the common
standpoint which identifies the real with the concrete. I think we
might go so far as to say that time is more typical of physical reality
than matter, because it is freer from those metaphysical associations
which physics disallows. It would not be fair, being given an inch, to
take an ell, and say that having gone so far physics may as well
admit at once that reality is spiritual. We must go more warily. But in
approaching such questions we are no longer tempted to take up the
attitude that everything which lacks concreteness is thereby self-
condemned.
The cleavage between the scientific and the extra-scientific
domain of experience is, I believe, not a cleavage between the
concrete and the transcendental but between the metrical and the

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