Majority of the candidates found the question on simplification of quadratic expression very easy and scored full marks.
The question on Arithmetic progression was not well handled by the candidates. They were unable to recall that since ½, 1/x, 1/3 were terms of an A.P., hence 1/x – ½ = 1/3 - 1/x.
Thus 2 – x = x – 3
2x 3x
which by cross multiplying and simplifying leads to 2 - x = 2x/3x
3 - x
= 2/3 as required.