The following is an explanation for QUESTION 21 from our Free Wonderlic Test. The strategy listed below is just one of many from my online course, which has helped thousands of people beat their Wonderlic test and land their dream job.

Ratio word problems on the Wonderlic test.

We refer to these Wonderlic questions as “Ratio Word Problems” and recognize that they typically give test-takers a significant amount of trouble, which is understandable as it encompasses everything that everybody hates: fractions, rate, the whole mystique around the “a train travels…” questions.

The goal of this blog post is two-fold:

1) I will show you how to quickly and accurately solve this question type (I will walk through this question using the same time-saving method I teach in my Wonderlic Online Course).

2) You will feel MUCH more comfortable with these questions. The truth is they are quite intimidating, but when you break them down in the manner we will show you, you will see that they are actually quite simple.

Step 1: Get to 1.

Imagine how much easier this problem would be if it read:

A train travels 25 feet in 1 second. At this same speed, how many feet will it travel in 4 seconds?

Easy right? Just take 25 feet/second and multiply it by 4 seconds and you get 100 feet.

The biggest challenge in this problem is that it includes a fraction and, of course, you are under the Wonderlic’s strict time constraint of ~14 seconds per question.

So, we can make this question easier by figuring out how many feet this train travels in 1 whole second.

If we know how far it traveled in 1 second, then we can easily figure out how far it goes in 4 seconds.

If a train travels 25 feet in 1/3 second, then it must travel 3 times that far in 1 whole second:

25 feet x 3 = 75

We now know that this train must travel 75 feet in 1 second. Now we can solve for 4 seconds quite simply.

Step 2: Extrapolate.

If the train travels 75 feet in 1 second, then how far will it travel in 4 seconds? We simply need to multiply 75 by 4 to get our answer:

75 x 4 = 300 feet.

The train will travel 300 feet.

Answer: D.

Let’s try another Wonderlic test example question together.

Now that we have walked through how to do one of these problems, let’s try a new, similar problem together. This time, use the “get to 1” strategy to help you answer the question. See if that makes it much easier and allows you to get the correct answer in less than 14 seconds.

1. Get to 1

Make this problem simpler by getting to 1.

If the car travels 50 feet in 1/3 second, then it must travel 50 x 3 feet in 1 whole second.

50 x 3 = 150 feet

2. Extrapolate

If the car travels 150 feet in 1 second, then how far will it travel in 4 seconds? We multiply 150 feet by 4.

4 x 150 = 600 feet

The car will travel 600 feet.

Answer: E.

How did you do? Was our strategy helpful? Let us know in the comments section!