Chapter 2 Multiple Choice Questions

. A advertises in his local newspaper that he has: '30 digital radios for sale at a bargain price of £30 or near offer, available until the end of the month. Contact me at PO Box 76.' Is the advert an offer or an invitation to treat?

The advert is an invitation to treat because advertisements are presumed to be invitations to treat - see Partridge v Crittenden.

The advert is an offer because it says it is a bargain, and the advertiser is therefore promising to sell to the first 30 purchasers who respond, just as there was a promise to sell to the first three customers in Lefkowicz.

The advert is an offer because it is addressed to the whole world, as in Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball.

The advert is an invitation to treat because the advertiser does not know how many responses he will get or at what price - see Partridge v Crittenden.

. Upton on Severn RDC v Powell is an example of the courts:

applying a subjective test of agreement.

applying an objective test, based on what it appeared to the other party was intended.

applying an objective test, based on what the reasonable bystander would have thought.

actually basing its decision on the prevention of unjust enrichment/restitution.

. Which of the following statements are true in relation to auctions without reserve? Please select all that apply.

The owner promises to sell to the highest bidder.

The auctioneer, on behalf of the owner, invites bids and the bidders make offers to buy, which may be accepted or rejected on behalf of the owner.

If a person makes the highest bid, the owner is obliged to sell.

The auctioneer promises to sell to the highest bidder.

. Although the submission of a tender normally only constitutes the making of an offer, in Blackpool & Fylde Aero Club v Blackpool Borough Council, the Council was obliged to accept the Aero Club's tender, which had been submitted within the deadline.

True

False

. A purported acceptance that changes the terms of the offer is known as a ………… and constitutes a rejection of the original offer.

. Any response to an offer that does not exactly match the offer will amount to a counter-offer and will destroy the original offer.

True

False

. On Monday evening, in the pub, A tells his three friends, B, C and D, that he will sell his sports car to the first one to return to him a cheque for £10,000. B posts a letter on Tuesday evening, enclosing his cheque, which is delivered to A's home address on Wednesday lunchtime. C calls in to see A at work on Wednesday morning and leaves his cheque in an envelope with A's secretary, because A is tied up in meetings all day. A's secretary does not pass on the envelope until she next sees A on Thursday morning. D goes to meet A at the station on his way home on Wednesday evening and gives him his cheque, whereupon A gives D the car keys. Which one of the following is true?

B validly accepts the offer when he posts his letter on Tuesday evening.

C validly accepts the offer when he leaves his cheque with A's secretary.

B's letter becomes a valid acceptance once it is delivered to A's house on Wednesday lunchtime.

D validly accepts when he gives his cheque to A at the station.

. If an offer prescribes a certain mode of acceptance (e.g. 'by recorded delivery'), which of the following statements correctly state the law? Please select all that apply.

Failure to use that method means that the acceptance is ineffective.

Failure to use that method means that there is a valid acceptance, provided the offeror is not prejudiced.

The effect of failure to use that method depends, in part, on whether the prescribed method is mandatory (obligatory) or directory (permissive).

Using a different method will constitute a valid acceptance, if it is not disadvantageous and the prescribed method is not mandatory.

. Acceptance by silence is never valid.

True

False

. A ………, to which the postal rule is inapplicable, must be communicated prior to the time of acceptance in order to be effective.

. The case of Dickinson v Dodds shows that? Please select all that apply.

promises to keep offers open for a fixed period cannot be enforced.

termination of an offer can be communicated by a third party.

an offer stated to be open for a fixed period can be terminated before that time, if there is no consideration for the promise to keep it open.

selling to X the property one has already offered to Y amounts to a revocation of the offer to Y.

. A unilateral contract is one-sided in that only one side makes a ……….

. In January, A, a rich maths professor, promises his colleagues (B and C) a prize of £10,000 to whomever is first to present him with the solution for a fiendish mathematical problem that he has set for them, the problem to be solved no later than the end of December. B has spent all of his spare time trying unsuccessfully to solve it, when A announces that he is withdrawing his offer at the end of November. C, who has done nothing up to this stage, is annoyed by A's conduct and spends most of December trying to solve the problem, presenting his correct solution to A on 24 December. B, meanwhile, has continued his efforts and finally (and independently) manages to solve it on 31 December and presents it to A on that day and claims his prize. Who is entitled to the prize?

B is entitled to the prize.

C is entitled to the prize.

Neither B nor C is entitled to the prize.

B and C are entitled to share the prize.

. It is important to be able to recognize unilateral contract situations because? Please select all that apply.

it is easier to infer that an advert is an offer where the result is a unilateral contract.

communication of acceptance is not required in the same way as with bilateral contracts.

the rules about revocation are different and a unilateral offer cannot normally be revoked once the other party has started to perform, even though acceptance has not been completed.

the revocation of a unilateral offer can be performed simply by taking reasonable steps to publicize the revocation and does not need actually to be communicated to the person (or persons) who may accept them.

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