The Rainbow Vol. 09 No. 01 - August 1989 - TRS-80 Color ...

A program for timed drills in both
multiplication and division
Time Test
By Mary C. Crooks
ime Test is a new approach to
computer-aided drill on multiplication
and division tables: It is
the way I give my third-grade son twominute
timed tests on the multiplication
or division table he is trying to master.
It duplicates the handwritten test strip
that his teacher gives him in school.
After setting a timer for two minutes, I
give him the strip and a pencil. This testtaking
practice, closely approximating
the actual test, gives him more confidence
than just working on the comput­
er using a drill program.
The program is short and can be
further shortened by removing the REM
statements (lines I 0 through 29), which
contain credits and explanation. This
saves 548 bytes of memory. As those
REMs state, Time Test creates and sends
to the printer randomly generated
problems testing on the multiplication
or division tables or on a mixture of
Mary Crooks, a busy housewife and
mother of two, has been programming
for about a year and helped to organize
and run the computer center at her sons
elementary school. She holds a degree
in art and enjoys all things creative.
56 THE RAINBOW August 1989
both (review test).
All you need is a 16 K Extended Color
BASIC disk or cassette system and print-
Line
30 through I 00
II 0 through 300
340 through 350
390
400 through 430
470
480 through 510
550 through 570
610 through 680
690 through 750
er. In lines 660 through 670 I use an
Epson MX-80 to print out the test
strips, utilizing its TAB command to
Function
Reserve memory, dimension array, show title screen
Get keyboard input on chose of test type (Variables X,
A, Y)
Determine type of problem if review (Variable Y)
Specifies multiplication table to test if review (Variable
AA)
Create multiplication problem (Array E$)
Specifies division table to test if review (Variable AA)
Create multiplication problem (Array E$)
Loop counts problems created
Print out problems created (Array E$)
Get keyboard input to end or start again
Table I