Answer these questions. Kindly explain your answers fully.

15 (a) Explain what is meant by the term "associate company". (b) Explain how associates are treated on consolidation. [5] 16 Discuss the reasons for requiring quoted companies to publish their diluted earnings per share (EPS) in addition to their basic EPS. [5] 17 Explain why it may not be appropriate for management to choose the least expensive source when raising fresh finance. [5] 18 Describe the process by which a holding company will construct a set of consolidated financial statements. [5]A certain species of plant produces flowers which are either red, white or pink. It also produces leaves which may be either plain or variegated. For a sample of 500 plants, the distribution of flower colour and leaf type was: Red White Pink Plain 97 42 77 Variegated 105 148 31 (i) Test whether these results indicate any association between flower colour and leaf type. [6] (ii) A genetic model suggests that the proportions of each combination should be as follows: Red White Pink Plain 4 9/2 (1-3q)/2 Variegated 39/2 (1-5q)/2 where q (0