Students typically get stuck on a question because the question looks intimidating and unfamiliar. Like an artichoke.
These questions are long(winded), have tough-looking math characters, and sometimes, difficult words that make you feel like you’re sitting for English exams.
When you first face such a scary question, your head might look like this.
Then you try to think of possible solutions like this.
Then your mind gets fogged up. You feel like crying. But you don’t want to get dehydrated (crying makes you lose a lot of water).
After this turmoil, the paper is still blank, and you tell yourself, let’s stop wasting time and move on.
(That’s not a bad decision, but…)
What you can do the next time is a brain dump. Don’t get it all stuck in your head.
Read the question, sentence by sentence, and write down all the information you have that could be useful. Like this.
Example question.
Looking at the second sentence, you can already indicate the proportion of the length of OP, OA, etc. Doing that will make your life easier and help you visualise better.
Another example.
Once done, you’ll get a better clue of how to do it.
Still no clue? Continue writing your first equation. Then second. Most times, the answer will reveal itself.
And even if it doesn’t, you’re still probably going to bag a few marks.
By the way, an artichoke looks like this – like a Pokemon. It’s a vegetable and actually very tasty and nutritious.
mathcally
Grow your Math brain, 1% each day