Quantitative tasks are easier when:

• the numbers to be used are obvious. The task is more difficult if the reader has to search for the values and infer labels associated with amounts.

• the numbers appear in row or column format rather than in a random arrangement (as for example in a prose paragraph).

• arithmetic operations are explicitly signalled by the use of mathematical symbols ( +, x, =, etc.) or explicit verbal cues (‘add,’ ‘subtract,’ ‘total,’ etc.) If the operation is signalled by the use of relational statements such as ‘how much,’ ‘what amount,’ or ‘calculate the difference,’ the operation becomes more difficult. When these operations are indirect or implied as in ‘what is the net profit,’ or ‘what is the discounted price,’ the task becomes even more difficult.

Quantitative tasks are more difficult when:

• the reader is required to work with ratios (one in four, two to one). Working with rates (miles per gallon, litres per square yard) is yet more difficult.

• operations require sequential steps. Tasks are made more difficult when the amount resulting from one operation or task is used in the next calculation.

• the answer requires some transformation–hours and minutes to hours only, converting ratios to a common denominator, changing measurements from one system to another, fractions to decimals, etc.