EXAMPLE Cardiovascular disease is so prevalent that virtually all businesses are likely to have employees who suffer from,

or may develop, this condition. Research shows that between 50-80% of all people who suffer a heart attack are able to return to work. However, this may not be possible if they have previously been involved in heavy physical work. In such cases, it may be possible to move the employee to lighter duties, with appropriate retraining where necessary. Similarly, high-pressure, stressful work, even where it does not involve physical activity, should also be avoided. Human Resources managers should be aware of the implications of job roles for employees with a cardiac condition. EXAMPLE A) Physical or stressful work may bring on a heart attack.
The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

FINAL EXAMPLE D) Heart disease can affect people of any age.

The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

A) So much of the literature of the western world, including a large part of its greatest literature, was either written for actual speaking or in a mode of speech, that we are likely to deform it if we apply our comparatively recent norm of writing for silent reading. It is only that so much of this work is drama or oratory (the latter including the modern forms of sermons, lectures and addresses which as late as the nineteenth century play a most important part). It is also that through classical and mediaeval times, and in many cases beyond these, most reading was either aloud or silently articulated as if speaking: a habit we now recognise mainly in the slow. Most classical histories were indeed quite close to oratory and public speech, rather than silent reading of an artefact, was the central condition of linguistic composition. 1. Until the nineteenth century, most people could only read with difficulty
The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

2. In ancient times, literature was intended to be read aloud

The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw.

I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

Classical histories were passed on orally and never written down

The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

4. Only people with literacy problems now read aloud

The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

B) Millions of lives around the world could be saved, and the quality of life of hundreds of millions markedly improved - very inexpensively - by eradicating three vitamin and mineral deficiencies in people's diets.The three vitamins and minerals are vitamin A, iodine and iron - so-called micronutrients. More than 2 billion people are at risk from micronutrient deficiencies and more than 1 billion people are actually ill or disabled by them, causing mental retardation, learning disabilities, low work capacity and blindness. It costs little to correct these deficiencies through fortification of food and water supplies. In a country of 50 million people, this would cost about $25 million a year. That $25 million would yield a fortyfold return on investment. 5. Most illnesses in developing countries are caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies
The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

6. Micronutrients provide inadequate nourishment to maintain a healthy life

The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

7. Vitamin A, iodine and iron are the only micronutrients that people need in their diet
The statement is DEFINITELY TRUE, or would be a reasonable conclusion to draw from the passage The statement is DEFINITELY UNTRUE, or would not be a reasonable conclusion to draw. I have INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION to answer either of the above with any certainty

8. Correcting micronutrient deficiencies would cost about $2 per person per year

C) The clinical guidelines in asthma therapy have now moved towards anti-inflammatory therapy - and away from regular bronchiodilator therapy - for all but the mildest asthmatics. This is now being reflected in prescribing patterns. In the U.S., combined prescription volumes of the major bronchiodilators peaked in 1991 (having risen slowly in the preceding years), though they still account for around half of the 65 million asthma prescriptions there. During the same period, prescriptions for inhaled steroids have doubled, but still account for less than 10% of asthma prescriptions in the U.S. 10. Use of bronchiodilators has been increasing since 1991 11. Doctors are reluctant to treat asthma with inhaled steroids for fear of potential sideeffects 12. Bronchiodilators are the single most prescribed treatment for asthma D) Relations between Sweden and the European Community had always been restricted in scope by Sweden's traditional neutrality and for many years any suggestion of Community membership was out of the question. But the upheavals in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s gradually led to the conclusion that membership of the EC was no longer incompatible with its neutral stance. People came to the conclusion that Sweden has already taken over a large part of the Community rules and began to weigh up the pros and cons of membership along the lines sought by Austria. 13. Political changes in Eastern Europe led to a change in relations between Sweden and the European Community 14. The European Community rejected Sweden's application for membership because of its neutrality 15. After abandoning its policy of neutrality, Sweden applied to join the European Community 16. Sweden applied for membership of the European Community after other neutral countries had joined E) Buddhism was introduced to Japan from India via China and Korea around the middle of the sixth century. After gaining imperial patronage, Buddhism was propagated by the authorities throughout the country. In the early ninth century, Buddhism in Japan entered a new era in which it catered mainly to the court nobility. In the Kamakura period (11921338), an age of great political unrest and social confusion, there emerged many new sects of Buddhism offering hope of salvation to warriors and peasants alike. Buddhism not only flourished as a religion but also did much to enrich the country's arts and learning. 17. Buddhism was adopted by the court nobility at the urging of the emperor 18. The introduction of Buddhism to Japan led to great political unrest and social confusion 19. Buddhism replaced the Shinto religion which had previously been followed in Japan

20. Japanese arts and culture were greatly enriched by the introduction of Buddhism F) In Japan, companies generally expect their employees to put in long hours of overtime. But it is difficult for women, who also have household chores to do and children to take care of, to work at the same pace as men, who are not burdened with such responsibilities. Many women inevitably opt for part-time jobs, which enable them to combine work and domestic duties. At present, 23% of all female salaried workers are part-timers and the ratio has been on the rise in recent years.Part-time work places women at a disadvantage. The wages of part-time workers are considerably lower than those of full-time employees, and part-time work tends to involve menial labour. Moreover, because salary and promotion in Japanese companies are often based on seniority, it is extremely difficult for women either re-entering the labour force or switching from part-time to full-time work to climb the ladder. 21. Japanese men do not share household chores and childcare with their wives. 22. A quarter of all part-time workers in Japan are female. 23. Part-time workers hold a low status in Japanese companies. 24. Women in Japan are unwilling to work overtime. G) Abdominal pain in children may be a symptom of emotional disturbance, especially where it appears in conjunction with phobias or sleep disorders such as nightmares or sleep-walking. It may also be linked to eating habits: a study carried out in the USA found that children with pain tended to be more fussy about what and how much they ate, and to have over-anxious parents who spent a considerable time trying to persuade them to eat. Although abdominal pain had previously been linked to excessive milk-drinking, this research found that children with pain drank rather less milk than those in the control group. 25. There is no clear cause for abdominal pain in children 26. Abdominal pain in children may be psychosomatic in nature. 27. Drinking milk may help to prevent abdominal pain in children 28. Children who have problems sleeping are more likely to suffer from abdominal pain H) When Christianity was first established by law, a corrupt form of Latin had become the common language of all the western parts of Europe. The service of the Church accordingly, and the translation of the Bible which was read in churches, were both in that corrupted Latin which was the common language of the country. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin gradually ceased to be the language of any part of Europe. However, although Latin was no longer understood anywhere by the great body of the people, Church services still continued to be performed in that language. Two different languages were thus established in Europe: a language of the priests and a language of the people

29. After the fall of the Roman Empire, people who had previously spoken Latin returned to their original languages 30. Latin continued to be used in church services because of the continuing influence of Rome. 31. Priests spoke a different language from the common people. 32. Prior to the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin had been established by law as the language of the Church in western Europe.
1. Three ships are berthed next to each other. A blue ship is to the right of a red ship and to the left of a green ship. If the blue ship and the green ship change places then -

The red ship and the blue ship are next to each other. The green ship is between the red ship and the blue ship. The red ship is immediately to the left of the blue ship. The red ship is in the middle. Don't Know The number codes 3152, 3455 and 5213 stand for three of the words MISS, SHAM, MASH and HAMS. Work out the code for each of the four words. 2. MISS 3152 3. SHAM 5213 4. MASH 5213 5. HAMS 5312 3455 5213 2135 Don't Know 3455 1345 3152 Don't Know 3455 3152 1255 Don't Know 3455 5543 5213 Don't Know

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ The alphabet above will help you with some of the following questions. Each question is a series of letters or numbers. What is the next letter or number in the series? 6. C,F,G,J,K,N,O,? P S A,Z,B,Y,C,X,D,? E U L,C,K,D,J,E,I,? F G O,P,N,Q,M,R,L,S,? T K 116 , 58 , 56 , 28 , 26 , 13 , ? 11 10 1 , 4 , 9 , 16 , 25 , 36 , ? M R L Q Don't Know

7.

Don't Know

8.

Don't Know

9.

Don't Know

10.

12

Don't Know

11.

42

72

49

55

47

50

Don't Know

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ If the words in the following questions were arranged in alphabetical order, then 12. Which word would come first? sensation seat Which word would come third? joint jog Which word would come fourth? hang gander Which word would come second? zero zoom Which word would come last? pillar pile joke sense set sentry Don't Know

13.

jewel

joiner

Don't Know

14.

game

gang

fuss

Don't Know

15.

your

zone

zigzag

Don't Know

16.

pilot

pillow

pie

Don't Know

In each of the following questions choose one word which means EITHER the same as, or the opposite of, the word in capital letters. 17. SOILED garden 18. SOLID hard FLOWER rose 20. NEED dough BRILLIANT colour 22. require cook deed search Don't Know shape hollow soft cube Don't Know clean plant walk lubricated Don't Know

19.

petals

propagate

ground

bloom

Don't Know

21.

blue

bright

yellow

sun

Don't Know

In two years time my father will be exactly three times as old as I am now. My father is thirty-seven. How old am I? 13 14 15 12 16 Don't Know Which letter of the day of the week which starts with the letter nearest to the end of the alphabet is nearest to the letter C? A B D E F Don't Know Five boys took part in a fitness test. Tony scored higher than Sam who didn't have the lowest score. Jack had the highest score and Gerry scored more than Paul but less than Tony. Who had the lowest score? Tony Sam Jack Gerry Paul Don't Know My watch is 6 minutes fast and the train which should have arrived at my station at 11.30am was 5 minutes late. What time was it by my watch when the train arrived? 11.41am 11.40am 11.38am 11.44am 11.39am Don't Know

23.

24.

25.

Verbal Reasoning
These are sample questions from our Verbal Reasoning practice papers. Print this page and have a go! If you want the answers, ask the wiseowl. Click here to load a 'printer-friendly' copy -

Each of the following sentences has two words which should change places with each other in order to make sense. Underline BOTH of these words in each case. Here is an example. She put a head on her hat. 1. The quietly moved burglar through the house. 2. Before Paul went to teeth he cleaned his bed. 3. Can this jump over you wall? 4. It an is offence to stop your car on a motorway. 5. If you buy enough money you can have it.

6. 7. 8.

I like in drink lemonade to the summer. Too neighbours complained when we made our much noise. Please door you close the will.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ The above alphabet can be used to help you with some of the following questions. In each question write in the brackets either the missing numbers or the missing letters. Here is an example. F , H , J , L , (N) , (P) 9. A , Z , B , Y , ( ) , ( ) , D , W 10. S , Q , O , M , ( ) , ( ) 11. 5 , 8 , 5 , 11 , 5 , ( ) , ( ) , 17 12. A , O , B , N , C , M , D , ( ) , ( ) 13. 6 , 10 , 15 , 21 , ( ) , ( ) , 45 14. J , A , B , K , C , D , L , E , ( ) , ( ) 15. Joan and Mary enjoy playing hockey. Karen and Joan enjoy netball. Karen and Mary enjoy swimming. Which girl enjoys both swimming and hockey? ( ) 16. In a kitchen cupboard there are three pots containing different items. The rice is on the right of the flour and the sugar is on the right of the rice. Which item is in the middle? ( ) P,Q,R,S and T are five children who attend the same school. P and T usually wear a white shirt and the others generally wear blue ones. Q and S enjoy games lessons but the others do not. Q, R and T have a man for a teacher and the rest have a lady. Now answer the following questions by writing the correct letter in the brackets. 17. Which child who enjoys games has a lady teacher? ( 18. Which child has a male teacher and usually wears a white shirt? ( 19. Which one has a female teacher and wears mainly blue shirts? ( 20. Which one enjoys taking part in games lessons and also has a male teacher? ( 21. Which child dislikes games lessons and has a lady who teaches him? ( 22. Which child usually arrives at school wearing a blue shirt and does not enjoy games lessons? ( 23. Which child mainly wears white shirts and is taught by a female teacher? ( 24. Which TWO children who do not enjoy games lessons are taught by a male? ( )(

) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

In each of the following rows there should be three pairs of words. The second word of each pair has been made from the first word using the same rule for each pair. Find the rule and work out the last word for the third pair. There is a different rule for each question. Write the answer in the brackets. 25. port , spot / hole , shoe / kiln , ( ) 26. spin , pick / blot , lock / prop , ( ) 27. hail , jail / lame , name / right , ( ) 28. point , pint / plant , pant / prays , ( ) A, B, C, D and E are new cars in a showroom. B and D are sports cars, the rest are saloons. C and E have radios, the rest do not. A, C and D have four doors, the rest have two. Now answer the following questions. 29. Which saloon car has a radio and four doors? ( ) 30. Which car without a radio has two doors? ( ) 31. Which saloon car does not have a radio? ( ) 32. Which sports car has four doors? ( ) 33. Which saloon car has two doors? ( ) 34. Which TWO cars with four doors have no radio? ( )( ) Only one word in the brackets means EITHER the same as or the opposite of the word in CAPITALS. Find this word and underline it. 35. ENEMY ( fight , peace , foe , battle , knight ) 36. COMMON ( tree , exclamation , great , small , rare ) 37. ORDER ( groceries , straight , border , command , last ) 38. GROW ( flower , soil , rich , shrink , horticulture )

Verbal Reasoning Quiz

Question 1 Which letter can be moved from the first word to the second word to make two new words? The letters must not otherwise be rearranged and both new words must make sense. e.g. pound or Answer u (The two new words are pond and our) The words are mince lap

Question 2 Which letter can be moved from the first word to the second word to make two new words? The letters must not otherwise be rearranged and both new words

must make sense. The words are grain fir

Question 3 Which letter can be moved from the first word to the second word to make two new words? The letters must not otherwise be rearranged and both new words must make sense. The words are their sake

Question 4 If A=2, B=3, C=5, D=6, E=7, what is the answer to this sum written as a letter? E-A=?

Question 5 Find the two words, one from each group, that will complete the sentence in the best way. E.g. Big is to (small orange colour) as wide is to (apple red narrow) Answer small narrow Scales are to (fins pounds weight) as ruler is to (tail length ounces) pounds & weight & fins & tail length length

fins & length

pounds & ounces

Question 6 Find the two words, one from each group, that will complete the sentence in the best way. Thief is to (take crime money) as donor is to (give victim blood) money & crime & give take & blood victim

take & give

crime & blood

Question 7 Find two words, one from each group, that are closest in meaning. (game trick harm) (play hurt chess) trick & game & play chess

harm & hurt

game & chess

trick & hurt

Question 8 Find two words, one from each group, that are closest in meaning. (liquid bend soften) (solid set melt) soften & liquid & melt solid

liquid & melt

bend & set

soften & set

Question 9 Find two words, one from each group, that are closest in meaning.

(raise level step) (high elevate lower) raise & raise & high elevate

step & elevate

level & lower

step & high

Question 10 Three of these five words are related in some way. Find the two words that do not go with these three. ship train canal tarmac bus ship & canal train & bus canal & bus ship & tarmac canal & tarmac

Question 11 Three of these five words are related in some way. Find the two words that do not go with these three. carpet curtain blanket pillow sheet curtain & blanket & carpet & sheet sheet blanket

carpet & curtain

curtain & pillow

Question 12 Three of these five words are related in some way. Find the two words that do not go with these three. spoon rake fork wheel spade spoon & fork & spoon & rake spade wheel

spoon & spade

rake & spade