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Numbas has comprehensive support for multiple choice questions. The order of choices can be randomised, the marking matrix can be calculated from question variables, and you can write specific feedback for each choice.


Answer the following festive multiple-choice questions:

a)

What are the characteristics of Frosty the Snowman, as described in the famous Christmas song?

Expected answer:

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b)

Which of the following are genuine reindeer names, according to Clement Clarke Moore's famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (AKA "The Night Before Christmas")

Expected answer:

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c)

Match up each piece of festive greenery with its name.

Ivy

Holly

Mistletoe

Expected answer:

Ivy

Holly

Mistletoe

This feedback is on your last submitted answer. Submit your changed answer to get updated feedback.

d)

Match the following translations of the greeting "Merry Christmas" with the correct language.

Dutch

French

German

Korean

Norwegian

Frohe Weihnachten

Gledelig Jul

Meri krismas

Joyeux Noël

Zalig Kerstmis

Expected answer:

Dutch

French

German

Korean

Norwegian

Frohe Weihnachten

Gledelig Jul

Meri krismas

Joyeux Noël

Zalig Kerstmis

This feedback is on your last submitted answer. Submit your changed answer to get updated feedback.

Advice

a)

The song Frosty the Snowman goes like this:

"Frosty the Snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal
Frosty the Snowman"

b)

An extract from Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas":

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
...
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!"

c)

Holly has the red berries, mistletoe the white. Don't forget or you could be hanging around, puckered up under the Holly for a while...

d)

A list of "Merry Christmas" greetings can be found in many places online, to impress your family on the big day.  Danistayohihv &Aliheli'sdi Itse Udetiyvasadisv and have a Happy New Year!
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Unscramble each of the following anagrams into a common festive word or phrase.

a)

Most elite    Expected answer:

Romantic Christmas greenery.

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()

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b)

Thick massacre   Expected answer:

Hopefully, if you make one for pudding, it will not be described as such.

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()

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c)

Honesty warms font   Expected answer:

He could laugh and play, just the same as you and me.

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()

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d)

The rich Mr Fat Ass   Expected answer:

Creepy man who sneaks around at night.

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()

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Advice

You can't do it? That's just out of order! 

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Numbas has many options for numeric input, including restrictions on precision and options to allow, for example, input as a fraction. You might need a calculator for this one!


The chimney at 52 Festive Road has internal dimensions of 50 x 40 cm. Santa has arrived with presents on Christmas morning.

Assuming that Santa has a big, perfectly circular tummy, what is its maximum circumference, in order to fit down the chimney?

Expected answer: cm          Round your answer to 1 decimal places.

The circumference of a circle is given by $\pi d$, where $d$ is the diameter. Now think about the maximum diameter for a circle that would fit inside the rectangle at the top of the chimney.

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()

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Advice

The circumference of a circle is given by $\pi d$, where $d$ is the diameter. 

The trick here is to realise that the maxmum diameter corresponds to the shortest length of the rectangular chimney, 40cm.

Therefore the maximum circumference of his tummy is $\pi\times\var{a} = \var{precround(pi*a,1)}$cm. 

According the National Obesity Forum, he is at substantially increased risk of conditions such as coronary heart disease.

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Note that this question is randomised, including the graph (try clicking "Try another question like this one"), and that you get a preview of the answer when you type in an expression. One more thing: the correct answer is written in terms of the variable n, go on try a different letter, like x, it separates the validation from the marking to help you out.


Santa is reviewing the personnel requirements for the North Pole's UK division. He requires 30 elves to do the basic administrative jobs, plus 15 elves for every 1 million children, to manage toy making and the like.

a)

There are roughly 11 million children in the UK. How many elves does Santa need?

Expected answer: elves

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b)

Santa makes a plot of the number of elves he requires, $E$, against the number of children, $n$ (in units of million children):

1312111098765432120015010050
$$n$$
$$E$$

What is the equation of the line?

$E(n)=$  Expected answer:

The equation of a straight line is traditionally written

\[ y = mx+c\text{,}\]

where $m$ is the gradient of the line, and $c$ the intercept with the y axis.

In our case, the variables are labelled $E$ and $n$ (rather than $y$ and $x$ respectively). The intercept $c$ is the number of elves required for $0$ children, i.e. the base number, $\var{c}$. And the gradient $m$ is the number of elves required for each unit $n$, which is given as $\var{m}$.

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()

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Advice

a)

The number of elves Santa requires is

\[ ({m}\times 11) + {c} \text{.}\]  

b)

The equation of a straight line is traditionally written

\[ y = mx+c\text{,}\]

where $m$ is the gradient of the line, and $c$ the intercept with the y axis.

In our case, the variables are labelled $E$ and $n$ (rather than $y$ and $x$ respectively). The intercept $c$ is the number of elves required for $0$ children, i.e. the base number, $\var{c}$. And the gradient $m$ is the number of elves required for each unit $n$, which is given as $\var{m}$.

Therefore the equation of Santa's line is

\[ E(n) = \var{m}x + \var{c}\text{.}\]

To learn more about the equation of a straight line, here is Professor Robin Johnson solving a slightly trickier problem:

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At Christmas dinner, your pal's cracker contains an Amazing Magic Trick.

Your pal asks you to pick a whole number between 1 and 30, then shows you the following five cards and asks which cards contain your number.

1527923
5112521
3191731
297131
26111831
1971410
2730223
156232
561512
20282331
2230729
1413214
3126927
25101211
15142430
2813298
 
29182719
31302017
25242821
26222316

Amazingly, your pal is able to magically divine the number you're thinking of every time!

a)

To get an idea of how the trick works, try picking a number between 1 and 30 and clicking all the cards containing that number. When you submit this part, we'll guess which number you were thinking of. It's important that you make sure you check every card containing your number.

You can try this as many times as you like.

Expected answer:

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b)

When you think you've worked out how the trick works, your pal offers to let you try it on them.

Your pal has thought of a number, and says it's on the cards highlighted below:

1527923
5112521
3191731
297131
 
26111831
1971410
2730223
156232
 
561512
20282331
2230729
1413214
 
3126927
25101211
15142430
2813298
 
29182719
31302017
25242821
26222316

You can work it out by looking very carefully at all the cards, but there's a quicker way!

Expected answer:

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Advice

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This is one for SPSS users (or in Excel, R, or similar; the data is small and just for demonstration purposes). The question provides a CSV file containing data. The clever bit is that the data file is randomised by Numbas (in this case the number of years of data, but could easily have been the values themselves).


The so called 'Santa Rally' is the pattern of positive rises in the financial markets in the month of December. There are many suggestions for the cause, including the mood of traders and the tax benefits, which cause a surge of investments before the end of the calendar year.

Download this CSV data file, which contains data from the last 5 Decembers, up to 2016, and open it in your favourite program.

a)

Calculate the percentage change in the FTSE 100 index for each of the given months to find the average change:

The average change was Expected answer: %           Round your answer to 2 decimal places.

The percentage change for a given month is:

\[  \frac{\text{(closing value) - (opening value)}}{\text{(opening value)}}\times  \text{100%.}\]

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()

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b)

Which year was most volatile (had the maximum difference between the high and low value)?

The most volatile year was  Expected answer: with a difference of  Expected answer: .

This feedback is on your last submitted answer. Submit your changed answer to get updated feedback.

Advice

a) 

Firstly, create a new column of data containing the percentage change, given by:

\[  \frac{\text{(closing value) - (opening value)}}{\text{(opening value)}}\times  \text{100%.}\]

The following video explains how to compute the mean of a column in SPSS. (Video from BrunelASK)

b) 

To find the most volatile month, create a new column of data:

\[  \text{(high value) - (low value),} \]

to find the maximum value and corresponding year.

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