Numbers and Units Quick Quiz Answer Key

Quick Quiz Answer Key

1) Read the short paragraph below and spot the errors with the numbers and units, before replacing/rewriting them in the correct format (8 marks). Each correct edit is highlighted in bold font (1 mark each).

Fifty years ago, the Earth’s rainforests were in a much better state; now, due to deforestation, experts predict that up to 50,000 species go extinct each year, which means that one quarter (OR ¼) of all species might be gone in another 50 years. As a measure of how rapidly forests can be lost, logging in Amazonian Brazil rose by 69% in just 12 months, between 2007 and 2008. The Amazon is an example of a tropical rainforest, which means monthly temperatures exceed 18˚C and there is at least 168 cm of rain each year. Incredibly, in some years, these forests receive more than 1,000 cm of rain.

2) Read the two sentences below and suggest how these might be confusing (1 mark each), before re-writing them to remove this potential confusion (1 mark each). Correct example answers are highlighted in bold font (1 mark each, 4 marks total).

A) Please pass me those 10 10 ml pipettes.

PROBLEM: Two distinct numbers appear next to each other (possible someone might think you were referring to 1,010 ml pipettes).

EXAMPLE SOLUTION: Re-phrase the sentence to make sure the two numbers are not right next to each other. E.g. Please pass me 10 of those 10 ml pipettes.

B) I need to shake the reagents within 10 m after they first mixed.

PROBLEM: Incorrect unit abbreviation; the author means they need to shake the reagents within a certain time, rather than a certain distance (as designated by ‘m’, the unit abbreviation for metres).

EXAMPLE SOLUTION: Re-write the sentence to use the correct unit abbreviation. E.g. I need to shake the reagents within 10 min after they first mixed.