Mathematics (Multiple Choices)

6 – Inequality
HKCEE 1980’
1. 9. Solve the inequality (4x + 3)(x  4) > 0.
3 3
A. x>4 B. 4>x>  C.  >x
4 4
3 3
D.  > x or x > 4 E. x> 
4 4

2. 37. If x2  kx + 9  0 for all real values of x, what is the value of k?

A. k = 6 only B. k = 6 only C. 6  k  6
D. k = 6 or 6 only E. k  6 or k  6

3. 38. If x and y are real numbers, what is the minimum value of the expression (x + y)2  1?
A. 5 B. 1 C. 0
D. 3 E. It cannot be determined.

HKCEE 1981’
4. 10. 2y  3 > 4y + 2x + 5 is equivalent to
A. y > x + 4. B. y < x + 4. C. y > x  4. D. y < x  4. E. y > x + 1.

5. 29. 2x2  2  0 is equivalent to

A. x  1. B. x  1. C. 1  x  1.
D. x  1 or x  1. E. x  1 or x  1.

HKCEE 1982’
6. 8. 5  9x  2x2 > 0 is equivalent to
1 1
A. x> . B. x < 5. C. 5 < x < .
2 2
1 1
D. x < 5 or x > . E. x > 5 or x < .
2 2

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HKCEE 1982’
7. 32. Let a > 2. The inequality 2x  2a < ax + 5a is equivalent to
7a 7a  3a  3a  7a
A. x> . B. x< . C. x> . D. x< . E. x> .
2a 2a 2a 2a 2a

8. 34. a, b and k are real numbers. If k > 0 and a > b, which of the following must be true?
I. a2 > b2
II. a < b
III. ka > kb
A. II only B. III only C. I and III only D. II and III only E. I, II and III

9. 49. If 0  x  180 and sin x  cos x, what is the range of x?

A. 0  x  45 B. 0  x  90 C. 45  x  90
D. 45  x  180 E. 90  x  180

HKCEE 1983’
10. 8. 2x  3a  4 > 3x + 5a + 6 is equivalent to
A. x > 8a  10. B. x > 2a  10. C. x < 8a  10.
1 1
D. x < (2a + 2). E. x < (2a + 2).
5 5

11. 34. 12  x  x2 < 0 is equivalent to

A. x < 4. B. x > 3. C. 4 < x < 3.
D. x < 3 or x > 4. E. x < 4 or x > 3.

HKCEE 1984’
12. 33. 4x2  9  0 is equivalent to
3 3 3 3 3 3
A. x or x   . B.  x  . C.  x .
2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3
D. x  or x  . E. x  or x  .
2 2 2 2

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HKCEE 1984’
13. 35. If a and b are non-zero real numbers and a > b, which of the following must be true?
I. a2 > b2
1 1
II. >
a b
III. a3 > b3
A. II only B. III only C. I and II only D. II and III only E. I and III only

HKCEE 1985’
14. 36. Which of the following is the solution of (x − 1)(x − 3)  0 and x − 2  0?
A. x  2 B. x  3 C. 2  x  3 D. 1  x  2 E. 1  x  3

HKCEE 1986’
15. 36. If a > 0 and b < 0, which of the following is/are negative?
1 1
I. 
a b
a b
II. +
b a
a 2 b2
III. 
b a
A. I only B. III only C. I and II only D. I and III only E. II and III only

x
16. 37. If 2 < x < 3 and 3 < y < 4, then the range of values of is
y
1 x 3 1 x 2 x 3 2 x 4 x 3
A. < < . B. < < 1. C. < < . D. < < 1. E. < < .
2 y 4 2 y 3 y 4 3 y 3 y 2

HKCEE 1987’
17. 36. If x and y are integers with x > y, which of the following is/are true?
I. x2 > y2
1 1
II. <
x y
III. 10x > 10y
A. III only B. I and II only C. I and III only D. II and III only E. I, II and III

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HKCEE 1987’
18. 37. Solve the inequality x log100.1 > log1010.
A. x > 1 B. x>1 C. x > 100 D. x<1 E. x < 1

HKCEE 1988’
19. 29. The maximum load a lift can carry is 600 kg. 11 men with a mean weight of 49 kg are
already in the lift. If one more man is to enter the lift, his weight must not exceed
A. 49 kg. B. 50 kg. C. 51 kg. D. 59 kg. E. 61 kg.

HKCEE 1989’
20. 7. If 3x > 2y and y < 0, then
x 3 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2
A. > . B. > . C. < . D. > . E. < .
y 2 y 3 y 3 y 3 y 3

HKCEE 1990’
21. 36. If a < b < 0, which of the following must be true?
a
A. a < b B. <1 C. a2 < b2 D. 10a < 10b E. a1 < b1
b

HKCEE 1991’
22. 37. If x < 0 < y, then which one of the following must be positive?
y
A. x+y B. x–y C. y–x D. xy E.
x

HKCEE 1992’
23. 37. How many integers x satisfy the inequality 6x2 – 7x – 20  0?
A. 0 B. 1 C. 2 D. 3 E. 4

HKCEE 1993’
24. 40. If the solution of the inequality x2 – ax + 6  0 is c  x  3, then
A. a = 5, c = 2. B. a = –5, c = 2. C. a = 5, c = –2. D. a = 1, c = –2. E. a = –1, c = 2.

HKCEE 1994’
25. 6. If x (x + 1) < 5 (x + 1), then
A. x < 5. B. x < –5 or x > 1. C. x < –1 or x > 5.
D. –5 < x < 1. E. –1 < x < 5.

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HKCEE 1995’
2 x  16
26. 9. Find the values of x which satisfy both –x < 4 and  2 .
3
A. –4 < x < 5 B. x < –4 C. x > –4 D. x < 5 E. x>5

27. 40. Find the range of values of k such that the equation x2 + (k – 2)x + 1 = 0 has real roots.
A. k = 4 B. 0 < k < 4 C. 0  k  4 D. k < 0 or k > 4 E. k  0 or k  4

HKCEE 1996’
28. 7. Solve 1 < –3x + 4 < 10.
A. –2 < x < 1 B. –1 < x < 2 C. x < –2 or x >1
D. x < –1 or x > 2 E. no solution

29. 40. If 3 is a root of the equation x2 – x + c = 0, solve x2 – x + c > 0.

A. x < –2 or x > 3 B. x < 2 or x > 3 C. x > –6
D. –2 < x < 3 E. 2<x<3

HKCEE 1997’
30. 32. Find the values of x which satisfy both –2x < 3 and (x + 3) (x – 2) < 0.
3
A. x < –3 B. x > 2 C. –3 < x < –
2
3 3
D. – < x < 2 E. x < –3 or x > –
2 2

31. 33. If a < b < 0, then which of the following must be true?
I. a2 < b2
II. ab < a2
1 1
III. 
a b
A. I only B. II only C. III only D. I and II only E. I and III only

HKCEE 1998’
32. 3. Solve x2 + 5x – 6  0.
A.  6  x  1 B.  3  x  2 C. 1  x  6
D. x  6 or x  1 E. x  1 or x  6

33. 9. If the equation x2 – 6x + k = 0 has real roots, find all possible values of k.
A. k  9 B. k  – 9 C. k = 9 D. k  9 E. k  – 9

HKCEE 1999’
34. 7. Solve x2 + 10x – 24 > 0.
A. x < –12 or x > 2 B. x < –6 or x > –4 C. x < –2 or x > 12
D. – 12 < x < 2 E. – 2 < x < 12

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HKCEE 2000’
35. 6. Find the values of x which satisfy both x + 3 > 0 and – 2x < 1.
1 1 1 1
A. x > – 3 B. x > – C. x > D. – 3 < x < – E. –3<x<
2 2 2 2

HKCEE 2001’
36. 38. If a > b, which of the following must be true?
I.  a <  b
II. a + b > b
III. a2 > b2
A. I only B. II only C. III only D. I and II only E. I, II and III

HKCEE 2002’
37. 9. Solve (2x – 1)2 + 2(2x – 1) – 3 > 0.
A. 0 < x < 2 B. 1 < x < 1 C. x < 0 or x > 2 D. x < 1 or x > 1

HKCEE 2003’
38. 5. If the equation x2 – 4x + k = 1 has no real roots, then the range of values of k is
A. k > 4. B. k  4 . C. k > 5. D. k  5 .

39. 8. The solution of x > 1 and 13 < 3x 2 < 25 is

A. x > 1. B. 1 < x < 5. C. 1 < x < 9. D. 5<x<9

HKCEE 2004’
40. 9. The solution of 2x < 3 – x or 3x + 3 > 0 is
A. x > 3. B. x > 1. C. 3 < x < 1. D. x < 3 or x > 1.

HKCEE 2005’
41. 9. The solution of 2(3 – x) > –4 is
A. x < 5. B. x > 5. C. x < 10. D. x > 10.

HKCEE 2006’
42. 9. Find the range of values of k such that the quadratic equation x2 + 2x – k = 2 has two distinct
real roots.
A. k  3 B. k  3 C. k  1 D. k  1

HKCEE 2007’
43. 6. The solution of 15  4( x  2)  1 is
A. x  2 . B. x  2 . C. x  2 . D. x  2.

HKCEE 2009’
44. 9. If x is a positive integer satisfying the inequality x  5  1  x , then the least value of x is
A. 0. B. 1. C. 2. D. 3.

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HKCEE 2010’
45. 10. Let k be a constant. Find the range of values of k such that the quadratic equation
x 2  6 x  k  3 has no real roots.
A. k < 9 B. k > 9 C. k < 12 D. k > 12

46. 11. If a and b are real numbers such that ab > 0, which of the following must be true?
a
I. 0
b
II. a  b  0
III. a 2  b 2  0
A. I and II only B. I and III only C. II and III only D. I, II and III

HKCEE 2011’
47. 4. If x and y are non-zero numbers with x < y, which of the following must be true?
I.  x  y
1 1
II. 2
 2
x y
III. x 3  y 3
A. I and II only B. I and III only C. II and III only D. I, II and III

48. 5. The solution of 2(1  x)  5  17 is

A. x  5 . B. x  5 . C. x  12 . D. x  12 .

HKDSE 2012’
49. 7. The solution of 15  4 x  3 or 9  2 x  1 is
A. x  3 . B. x  3 . C. x  4 . D. x  4.

HKDSE 2013’
x 1
50. 5. The solution of x   5 or 1  x  11 is
2
A. x  9. B. x  10 . C. x  11 . D. x  12 .

HKDSE 2014’
51. 6. If a > b and k < 0, which of the following must be true?
I. a 2  b2
II. a  k  b  k
a b
III. 2
 2
k k
A. I only B. II only C. I and III only D. II and III only

52. 7. The solution of –3x < 6 < 2x is

A. x > –2. B. x > 0. C. x > 3. D. –2 < x < 3.

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HKDSE 2014’
4 5 7
53. 12. It is given that   , where a, b and c are positive numbers. Which of the
5a 7b 9c
following is true?
A. a<b<c B. a<c<b C. b<a<c D. b<c<a

HKDSE 2015’
54. 6. The solution of 18  7 x  4 or 5  2 x  3 is
A. A. x  2 . B. B. x  1 . C. x  1. D.  2  x  1.

HKDSE 2016’
55. 7. The solution of  5x  21  2 x and 6 x  18  0 is
A. x  7 B. x  3 C.  7  x  3 D. x  7 or x  3

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