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Currency Conversion Questions- Detailed Explanation

Most of us, when shopping online or planning a trip abroad, do our currency conversions on the computer. It is, after all, as simple as googling “Currency converter” and typing in the amounts we want to convert.

However, there will be times when you don’t have access to a computer and Google is no longer your friend. Then you will be called upon to use your brainpower to carry out the conversions.

And that situation can very easily arise when doing a test. But to see how you would manage unprepared in this situation, try your hand at the following free sample currency conversion test.

Where Do I Learn How to do Currency Conversions?

The answer is very straightforward. You learn it in the same way as you learned multiplication or even trigonometry in school. You take a course and practice and then practice some more. Seek out a reliable course that will give you detailed explanations of how to do the conversions and then sample test papers to try your new skills.

Where Do I Learn How to do Currency Conversions?

For this, we recommend Job Test Prep, who has dedicated the past thirty years to preparing applicants for a wide range of school and pre-employment exams that are taken by Multinational Companies to hire you.

They will provide you with a test prep pack explaining all the complexities of currency conversion, sample papers to test your learning on and a useful scoring system to measure the progress you are making.

As their sample papers are modeled on real tests, you will not need to worry about the unexpected happening on the day you do your currency conversion test.

To get an idea of the types of tests they give, look at the following question from a sample currency conversion assessment.

Please note, the question itself tests your numerical skills, something you may find you need to brush up on before taking a currency conversion test.

Sample Question

How many pounds does £0.25 + 25 pence make?

Answer Explanation

The correct answer is £0.50

1 penny = £1/100 = £0.01
Therefore, 25 pence = £25/100 = £0.25 0.25 + 0.25 = £0.5 which is 0.5 pound.

Bear in mind that in tests of this type, your ability to work with numbers is being tested as well as your ability to do that within a restricted time frame.

If you find questions of the type above challenging, your test prep pack will include some sample mathematical tests to help you revive your numerical skills. You could begin your preparation by attempting the following free sample numerical reasoning test.

 

How Do I Work Out the Conversion Rate?

When converting currencies, you will need to look at how one currency is trading against the other. You can expect the test paper to give you that information as currencies never remain stable.

For example, the value of a currency can rise and fall many times within an hour when it is traded on the stock exchange. However, to make life simpler, banking institutions set the value of a currency for the day at the start of business.

To make that easier to understand, here’s a look at the value of the US dollar against other currencies today.

___________________________________
1 United States Dollar equals

0.95 Euro

7.85 Hong Kong Dollar

0.81 Pound sterling
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However, you don’t have to really worry about that unless you are planning a trip taking in the US, UK, and Hong Kong or unless you are doing a currency conversions test!

The test will present you with a table of information similar to the information above.

Then you may be asked to study the information provided and answer questions along the following lines.

  • How many Euros will you get for $100? You simply have to multiply .95 x 100 to come up with your answer of E 95. However, more mental agility and a good math brain coupled with intensive preparation will be required if you are asked, “How many Euros will you get for $9.75?”
  • You need 15.70 Hong Kong dollars to pay for your taxi. But you only have US Dollars in your pocket. How many US Dollars must you give the driver? A quick look at the table will show that $1 will pay half of the fare, so you owe the driver $2.
  • That is quite easily worked out if you have time to spend on the calculation, but if you have neither the time nor a calculator, then regular practice on sample questions is essential.
  • This next question I am going to leave you to work out for yourself. You have returned to the UK from a very successful working stint in the US and are going to spend your savings on a car. The salesman quoted you £20,000 for the car. How many $$ do you need to buy the car and put £50 of Diesel in the tank?

That last question may have proved difficult, but practicing these questions on sample papers will hone your skills in spotting the easiest and quickest ways of coming up with answers.

If you have a test coming up in currency conversion, you will find all the resources you need to ace it here. You can do all the currency conversion manually without taking help of online currency converter.

 

Written by Elizabeth O Mahony

With 25+ years’ experience as a teacher and state examinations corrector, Elizabeth now writes for the education and careers industry. Her experience preparing students for examinations and running an academy for supplementary education give her invaluable insights into what it takes for job seekers and graduates to succeed in assessments.

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