PART1VerbalReasoningAbility

SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS

PART 1: Verbal Reasoning Ability

Typical length: 25-40 questions

Typical time to complete: 20 - 40 minutes

Verbal ability tests can be divided into tests of simple verbal ability which examine a persons basic

verbal skills, and tests of verbal reasoning which look at how well a person can apply their verbal

skills to solve more complex problems, this is sometimes known as critical thinking.

Verbal tests usually cover spelling, word use or comprehension and grammar. As with numerical

ability, you may be faced with individual tests which focus on one specific aspect of verbal ability, or

more commonly with one which includes questions relating to a number of different verbal areas.

This could be a series of sentences which may contain spelling or comprehension errors and your

task is to locate them. They all however still depend on basic spelling ability.

Above all else it is important to read each question carefully. Concentrate on a single word or even

letter at a time. We often skip from word to word and pick the general meaning of a sentence. When

one is being asked to look at specific aspects in a sentence or set of words, then one does have to

concentrate on individual words or even letters. This is something we may not be used to doing.

In particular try to remember:

· Strange as it may sound, the answer, which LOOKS right, may often be the correct one. We are

good at recognizing whole words as patterns rather than individual letters. So, for instance, you may

have previously seen the word spelt correctly, but may never have actually spelled it yourself.

· Read each word carefully. Sometimes similar sounding or similar looking words are put in to

confuse you and add irrelevant 'noise'.

· If you are unsure of the meaning of a word, try eliminating the answers, which you know, are

incorrect to reduce the response options open to you.

Example Questions (The answers are at the bottom of the page)

1. Which of these words is spelt correctly ?

a) Extraeneous

b) Extranious

c) Extraneous

d) Extraineous

e) none of these

Read each sentence and then read the words underneath that particular sentence and decide which

of those words, if any, would complete the sentence in such a way as to allow it to make most sense.

2. After revising all week she finally felt --- for the exam.

a) nervous b) ready c) revised d) happy

Which word completes a well known phrase in conjunction with each of the other two ?

3. blast --- set

a) off b) smash c) rare d) grab e) none of these

Which word in each set of four is the odd one out ?

4. a) look b) see c) watch d) face e) none

This test requires you to identify the relationship between two words

5. Shoe is to foot as sock is to _____

a) wind b) hand c) foot d) leg e) none of these

Synonyms and Antonyms

A synonym is a word which means the same as another word whilst an antonym is a word which

means the opposite of another word.

6. Relaxed means the same as the opposite of ______

a) calm b) angry c) tense d) sleep e) none of these

Critical Thinking

In this next test there is some information followed by a series of statements which relate to that

information. Your task is to read the information given, then decide for each of the statements

which follow whether they are :-

a) True - “ the statement is true based on the information you have read.

b) False - the statement is untrue based on the information you have read.

c) Can’t say whether the statement is true or untrue based on the information you have read.

7. The thinking behind the single European currency is quite simple. Suppose that a company in

Germany wanted to buy some raw materials from a company in Spain. At the moment there is one

major problem in them doing so.

The exchange rate between the German Mark and the Spanish Peseta is variable. If the German

company agreed to buy from the Spanish company Dm 5,000,000 worth of product over the course

of a year, but had to invoice the amount in its Peseta equivalent, a subsequent fluctuation in the

exchange rate which made the German Mark worth less in Peseta terms could mean the German

company ends up paying a lot more than it had originally intended.

If both companies traded in the single European currency, the Euro, then such fluctuations in

national currency exchange rates would have no effect. This greatly helps with business planning and

cash-flow.

i. Most companies in Germany trade with companies in Spain.

a) true b) false c) can’t say

ii. Fluctuations in exchange rates making financial planning difficult.

a) true b) false c) can’t say

iii. Trading in Euro means that fluctuations in exchange rates have much less effect.

a) true b) false c) can’t say

Answers

1c 2b 3a 4d (the others involve actions with the eyes) 5c 6c 7i.c 7ii.a 7iii.b

PART 2: Numerical Ability Tests

Typical length: 25-40 questions

Typical time to complete: 20 - 40 minutes

Numerical ability tests fall into one of two camps - outright mathematical ability which requires you

to carry out mathematical calculations, and numerical problem solving ability - which requires you

to work out what mathematical calculations you should apply, rather than just telling you.

In the case of numerical problem solving, the actual mathematics involved may be very simple, but

you are being assessed on your knowledge of how to apply them.

In the case of numerical sequences, which ask you to identify a pattern, you should try to look for

simple sequences first. For instance, do the numbers increase or decrease, do they seem to have

common denominators, is there a sequence of positive or negative figures. Then begin looking for

add one, subtract two, add three, and so on.

In the case of items requiring multiplication or division you may be presented with very complex

numbers. These may be an attempt to see how well you can look for the 'big picture'. Sometimes,

seemingly impossible problems can be solved easily by applying some lateral thinking. Remember

your basic mathematical principles; for example, anything divided or multiplied by zero is zero. Two

even numbers multiplied by each other will produce another even number. Any number ending in

zero that is multiplied by any other number will always produce another number ending in zero. A

negative and positive number multiplied by each other will produce a negative number. Two

negative numbers multiplied always produce a positive number, and so on.

Example Questions (The answers are at the bottom of the page)

We'll start with some easy ones!

In this test your task is simply to calculate the correct answer.

1. 7+45 =

2. 15+21 =

3. 12-107 =

4. 54-58 =

5. 21÷7 =

Now let's stretch you a little:

6. Which number comes next in this series ?

1 4 7 10 13 16

a) 17 b) 19 c) 21 d) 25 e) none of these

7. What is p in this equation ?

2 + (3xp) = 14

a) 2 b) 3 c) 4 d) 6 e) none of these

8. Which number comes next in this series ?

0 1 3 6 10 15

a) 19 b) 21 c) 26 d) 32 e) none of these

Numerical Reasoning

9 . The Telecom Company Limited provides international telephone calls for its customers. Its call

charges in Euro per minute are shown below.

Customer Location

Call Germany

Cost

1.00

2.50

2.00

2.00

UK

2.50

1.50

2.00

3.00

France

2.00

1.20

1.00

2.50

Call Destination

India

United States

Australia

Singapore

i) A ten minute call to the United States would be cheapest from which country ?

a) Germany b) UK c) France

ii) A businessman travels regularly between Germany, France and the UK. He wishes to make

a 5 minute call to each of India, the United States and Australia. assuming he is free to choose which

country he makes each of the calls from what would be the least amount of money he could do it for

a) 12.50 b) 14 c) 16 d) 16.70 e) none of these

iii) Which customer location has the cheapest average international call rates ?

a) Germany b) UK c) France

Answers

1.52 2.36 3.-95 4.-4 5.3 6.b 7.c 8.b 9i.c 9ii.c 9iii.c

PART 3: Ability questions

In the sample items below, the first word in each line is printed in capital letters. Opposite it are four

other words. You will be asked to circle the one word which means the same thing, or most nearly

the same thing, as the first word.

(i) SMALL blue little noisy dry

(ii) OBVIOUS abstract local sharp clear

(iii) PUNITIVE weak rewarding retributive erroneous

Answers:

(i) little

(ii) clear

(iii) retributive

There may also be questions where you are asked to fill in either a letter or number for each dash

(__) which follows information you are given.

Example:

(i) D E F G __

(ii) 2 4 6 8 __ __

Answers:

(i) H

(ii) 10