Mathematical Literacy (Математическая грамотность)
Mathematical Literacy tests whether you can pull numbers out of a real situation - a price list, a family budget, a timetable, a floor plan - and reach a decision. The formulas are school-level; what is marked is the choice of operation and the interpretation of the result. The paper is compulsory for every specialty, so these are points no profile subject can compensate for.
What the tasks require
- Percentage of a number, percentage change, repeated percentage change (markup then discount, deposit interest, VAT)
- Proportion and ratio: recipes, mixtures, map scale, similar figures
- Unit conversion: km/h to m/s, hectares to m², litres to cm³
- Reading data: which column of the table, which bar, what the axis unit is
- Everyday geometry: perimeter, area, volume, number of tiles or paint tins
- Averages and simple probability from a frequency table
Worked example
A jacket costs 8,000 tenge. The shop raises the price by 20%, then advertises a 20% discount. What does the customer pay? Step 1, the rise: 8,000 × 1.20 = 9,600. Step 2, the discount comes off the new price: 9,600 × 0.80 = 7,680. The customer pays 320 tenge less than the original - 4% less, not the same price. The discount was calculated on a larger base than the original price.
Traps
- Assuming +20% then −20% returns to the start. It never does.
- Taking a percentage of the wrong base (before or after VAT).
- Mixing units inside one calculation; convert first, then compute.
- Rounding early - carry full values to the last step.
- Answering the arithmetic instead of the question: 'how many full boxes' rounds up, 'how much money' rounds to the smallest coin.