From: phil@miracle.com (Phil Hill)
Organization: Boston Mensa
Reply-To: rom-faq@miracle.com
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Followup-To: rec.org.mensa
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 93 07:18:45 EST
Expires: Wed, 03 Feb 93 07:18:45 EST
Keywords: MENSA, MIND, IQ, INTELLIGENCE, GENIUS, SOCIETY, ORGANIZATION,
          CLUB, SOCIAL, SCHOLARSHIP, GIFTED
Subject: Mensa - FAQ: What is the Mensa test like? [Monthly]
Summary: This posting  contains the  answers to many Frequently Asked
         Questions (FAQs)  about Mensa.  It should be  read by anyone
         who wishes to post to the rec.org.mensa newsgroup, or anyone
         that desires information about the Mensa society.

Archive-name: mensa-test
Version: 1.2

This is the answers to  some of the frequently asked  questions (FAQ) in 
rec.org.mensa. Before  posting a  message asking  a question,  read this
article.  Chances are the  answer is in here,  or one of the other Mensa
FAQ articles.

This article includes answers to:

13) What is the Mensa test like?

Other articles include the answers to:

    Question                                 Archive-Name        Posted
    --------                                 ------------        ------
 1) What is Mensa?                           mensa-faq           Weekly
 2) Who is Mensa For?                             "                 "
 3) Why Should I Join Mensa?                      "                 "
 4) What are Members of Mensa Like?               "                 "
 5) How do I Re-Join Mensa?                       "                 "
 6) What are Mensa's Dues?                        "                 "
 7) What does "Mensa" mean?                       "                 "
 8) What are the Qualifications for Mensa?   mensa-join          Weekly
 9) How do I apply for Membership in Mensa?       "                 "
10) Where do I get more Information?              "                 "
11) What other High-IQ Societies are there?  mensa-high-iq       Bi-Weekly
12) What famous people are in Mensa?         mensa-famous        Monthly

You may retreive  copies of this article  and the other answers to Mensa
FAQs  by  anonymous FTP  from  pit-manager.mit.edu.  Those  without  FTP
access should send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with:
               "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources"
in the body to find out how to do FTP by e-mail.

Comments?  Suggestions?  Corrections?  Send e-mail to rom-faq@miracle.com

========================================================================



                         THE MENSA WORKOUT!

Exercise those little, grey cells with these mental calisthenics and see
if  you  can  match  wits  with  Mensa.  This test consists of questions
distributed with two different Mensa pamphlets.  Give  yourself  an  one
hour time limit on this test.

-  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -

1. Which of the lettered designs best completes the following sequence?

      [o]    [.]    (o)

      A: (.)
      B: (o)
      C: [.]
      D: [o]

2. Sally likes 225 but not 224; she likes 900 but not 800; she likes 144
   but not 145.  Does she like 1600 or 1700?

3. Only one other word can be made from the letters of INSATIABLE.   Can
   you find it?

4. Put the appropriate plus or minus signs between the numbers,  in  the
   correct places, so that the sum total will equal 1.

        0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  = 1

5. What is the word coiled inside this circle?

                       T  P
                     I      U
                     A      N
                       L  S

6. If two typists can type two pages in two minutes,  how  many  typists
   will it take to type 18 pages in six minutes?

7. If it were two hours later, it would be half as long  until  midnight
   as it would be if it were an hour later.  What time is it now?

8. Pear is to apple as potato is to?

      A: banana
      B: radish
      C: strawberry
      D: peach
      E: lettuce

9. Continue the following number series with the group of numbers  below
   which best continues the series?

          1  10  3  9  5  8  7  7  9  6  ?  ?

      A: 11  5
      B: 10  5
      C: 10  4
      D: 11  6

10. Which of the following is least like the others?

      A: poem
      B: novel
      C: painting
      D: statue
      E: flower

11. What is the following word when it is unscrambled?

        H  C  P  R  A  A  T  E  U

12. What  is the number that is one half of one quarter of one tenth  of
    400?

13. Which of the following  sentences given  below  means  approximately
    the  same  as  the  proverb:   "Don't count your chickens until they
    are hatched?"

      A: Some eggs have double yolks, so you can't really count eggs and
         chickens.

      B: You can't walk around the henhouse to count the eggs because it
         will disturb the hens and they won't lay eggs.

      C: It is not really sensible to rely on something that has not yet
         happened and may not ever happen.

      D: Since eggs break so easily, you may not  be  accurate  in  your
         count of future chickens.

14. The SAME three-letter word  can be placed in front of the  following
    words to make a new word:

        _ _ _ L I G H T    _ _ _ B R E A K    _ _ _ T I M E


15. Which  of the figures below the line of drawings best completes  the
    series?

    +--------+    +--------+    +--------+    +--------+    +--------+
    ||||||   |    |||      |    ||||     |    |||||    |    ||       |
    |        |    |        |    |        |    |        |    |        |
    |        |    |        |    |        |    |        |    |        |
    |       ||    |||||    |    |     ||||    |||      |    |   ||||||
    +--------+    +--------+    +--------+    +--------+    +--------+


    A: +--------+    B: +--------+    C: +--------+    D: +--------+
       |||||||  |       |   |    |       |||||||  |       |        |
       |        |       |        |       |        |       |        |
       |        |       |        |       |        |       |        |
       |  |     |       |||||||  |       |        |       |  |||||||
       +--------+       +--------+       +--------+       +--------+

-  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -

How Did You Do?

If you answered at least nine questions correctly,  you've  done  fairly
well.   Mensa  recommends  you send for a preliminary test which you can
take at home without supervision.  Although this preliminary test is not
required   to   qualify   for  membership,  many  individuals  who  have
successfully passed the supervised qualifying test have stated that  the
preliminary  test  was  extremely  helpful  in  preparing them.  This is
especially true if it has been some time since you have taken  any  kind
of timed, written examination.

Remember, on the supervised test, you must score at or  above  the  98th
percentile.   You  should feel comfortable and at ease with the types of
questions which will be asked.  The preliminary test  will  not  contain
any  of  the  same  questions  as  the  supervised test, however it does
contain similar questions and may help you get used to  the  process  of
test taking again.

-  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -

                           * A N S W E R S *

 1.  A
 2.  1600, Sally likes perfect squares
 3.  BANALITIES
 4.  0+1+2-3-4+5+6-7-8+9=1, There are  probably other solutions,  so  if
     yours is correct, give yourself full credit.
 5.  NUPTIALS
 6.  SIX typists, one typist types one page in two minutes.
 7.  9 p.m.
 8.  B: Both grow in the ground.
 9.  A: Alternate numbers go up by 2 and down by 1, starting with 1  and
        10.
10.  E: The only one that is not an artistic work made by man.
11.  PARACHUTE
12.  5
13.  C
14.  DAY
15.  C: The number of lines goes down opposite the face, up on the  side
        with the face and  the stick alternates  from top right to lower
        left.

-  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -

Commentary on the Questions and Answers

QUESTION #2 (Sally and her favorite numbers)

The answer that Sally likes perfect  squares  is  the  answer  that  the
question  writer  was  "looking"  for.   Mensans always like to bend the
rules a little, and find other  solutions  that  give  you  the  correct
answer:

* Sally likes numbers whose sum of the digits  is  odd.   Therefore  she
  likes 1600, not 1700.

Or other solutions that give the incorrect answer:

* Sally likes numbers in which the sum of the digits plus the number  of
  digits equals 12.  Therefore, she likes 225, 900, 144, and, of course,
  1700.

* Sally clearly likes the zeros of:
       x^4 + 404 * x^3 - 1792800 * x^2 + 32790000 * x - 49572000000
  so the numbers she likes are 144, 225, 900, and 1700.

Or even solutions that prove that neither answer is correct:

* Sally does *not* like 1600 or 1700, because neither number has digits
  which sum to 9. She *does*, however, like 1800.

QUESTION # 4 (Insert +/1 to make total equal one)

When many Mensans look at the answer and see "There are  probably  other
solutions,  so  if  yours  is  correct, give yourself full credit", they
usually wonder how many solutions there are.  How many can you find?

Still not challenged enough?  Let's bend the rules  a  little  bit,  the
question  doesn't  state that we *have* to put a sign between every pair
of numbers.   Adjacent  digits  would  therefore  form  a  number.   For
example:

   0 1-2 3+4 5+6 7-8 9 = 1  (01-23+45+67-89 = 1)

How many more can you find?

-  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -

                          * ANSWERS TO COMMENTS *
QUESTION #4, Part One

0+1+2+3+4-5+6+7-8-9 | 0-1+2+3-4+5+6+7-8-9 | 0+1-2-3+4+5+6+7-8-9
0+1+2+3+4+5-6-7+8-9 | 0-1+2+3+4-5+6-7+8-9 | 0+1-2+3-4+5+6-7+8-9
0-1-2-3+4+5+6-7+8-9 | 0+1-2+3+4-5-6+7+8-9 | 0+1+2-3-4+5-6+7+8-9
0-1-2+3-4+5-6+7+8-9 | 0-1+2-3-4-5+6+7+8-9 | 0-1+2+3+4+5-6-7-8+9
0+1-2+3+4-5+6-7-8+9 | 0+1+2-3-4+5+6-7-8+9 | 0-1-2+3-4+5+6-7-8+9
0+1+2-3+4-5-6+7-8+9 | 0-1-2+3+4-5-6+7-8+9 | 0-1+2-3-4+5-6+7-8+9
0+1-2-3-4-5+6+7-8+9 | 0+1+2+3-4-5-6-7+8+9 | 0-1+2-3+4-5-6-7+8+9
0+1-2-3-4+5-6-7+8+9 | 0-1-2-3-4-5+6-7+8+9

QUESTION #4, Part Two
0 1-2 3+4 5+6 7-8 9 | 0+1-2 3+4 5+6 7-8 9 | 0 1+2 3+4-5+6 7-8 9
0+1+2 3+4-5+6 7-8 9 | 0-1+2 3-4+5+6 7-8 9 | 0 1+2 3-4 5-6 7+8 9
0+1+2 3-4 5-6 7+8 9 | 0 1-2 3-4+5-6 7+8 9 | 0+1-2 3-4+5-6 7+8 9
0 1-2-3-4 5+6 7-8-9 | 0+1-2-3-4 5+6 7-8-9 | 0 1+2-3 4+5 6-7-8-9
0+1+2-3 4+5 6-7-8-9 | 0-1+2 3+4+5-6-7-8-9 | 0-1 2+3 4-5-6+7-8-9
0 1+2+3+4-5+6+7-8-9 | 0 1-2-3+4+5+6+7-8-9 | 0 1+2 3+4 5-6 7+8-9
0+1+2 3+4 5-6 7+8-9 | 0 1+2 3-4-5-6-7+8-9 | 0+1+2 3-4-5-6-7+8-9
0 1+2+3+4+5-6-7+8-9 | 0 1-2+3-4+5+6-7+8-9 | 0 1-2+3+4-5-6+7+8-9
0 1+2-3-4+5-6+7+8-9 | 0-1+2 3+4 5-6 7-8+9 | 0 1-2 3-4 5+6 7-8+9
0+1-2 3-4 5+6 7-8+9 | 0-1+2 3-4-5-6-7-8+9 | 0 1-2+3+4-5+6-7-8+9
0 1+2-3-4+5+6-7-8+9 | 0 1+2-3+4-5-6+7-8+9 | 0 1-2-3-4-5+6+7-8+9
0 1-2 3+4+5+6+7-8+9 | 0+1-2 3+4+5+6+7-8+9 | 0 1+2+3+4 5-6 7+8+9
0+1+2+3+4 5-6 7+8+9 | 0 1 2+3 4+5-6 7+8+9 | 0+1 2+3 4+5-6 7+8+9
0 1+2+3-4-5-6-7+8+9 | 0 1-2-3-4+5-6-7+8+9 | 0-1-2 3+4+5+6-7+8+9
0 1-2+3 4-5 6+7+8+9 | 0+1-2+3 4-5 6+7+8+9 | 0 1 2-3 4+5-6+7+8+9
0+1 2-3 4+5-6+7+8+9