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Verbal reasoning test: 20 practice questions with answers (free)

  1. Which word is closest in meaning to "scarce"?
  2. Which word is most nearly the opposite of "expand"?
  3. Page is to book as brick is to ...
  4. Which word is closest in meaning to "candid"?
  5. Which word is most nearly the opposite of "generous"?
  6. Thermometer is to temperature as ruler is to ...
  7. Which word is closest in meaning to "reluctant"?
  8. Which word is most nearly the opposite of "transparent"?
  9. Author is to novel as composer is to ...
  10. The town replaced its paper parking tickets with a phone app. Since then, three in four fines are paid on time, up from three in five. The number of complaints has also doubled, mostly from residents without a smartphone. Which statement is supported by the passage?
  11. Which word is closest in meaning to "mitigate"?
  12. Which word is most nearly the opposite of "diligent"?
  13. A library extended its opening hours to nine in the evening on weekdays. Visits after six o'clock now make up a fifth of all visits. The head librarian says the change was made after a survey in which many members said they could only come after work. What is the best summary of the passage?
  14. Drought is to water as famine is to ...
  15. Which word is most nearly the opposite of "fleeting"?
  16. Which word is closest in meaning to "ubiquitous"?
  17. A city counted bicycles at one crossing before and after it added a separate cycle lane. On weekdays the count rose by a third. On weekends it barely changed. The council noted that the new lane runs past two schools and an office park. Which explanation fits the figures best?
  18. Which word is closest in meaning to "meticulous"?
  19. Whisper is to shout as stroll is to ...
  20. A bakery stopped selling bread after four in the afternoon. Its owner says the loaves left at closing time used to be thrown away, and that the shop now earns slightly less per day but wastes far less. Some regular customers have switched to a supermarket that sells bread until closing. Which conclusion does the passage support?
Try the full brain test

Twenty questions with four answers each: find the closest word, the opposite word, the pair that fits an analogy, or the statement a short passage supports. Pick your answers, press the check button and you see how many are right, with the right answer under every question you missed.

How this verbal reasoning test works

Every question has one right answer and three that look reasonable at first. The wrong answers are built from the mistakes people actually make, such as choosing a word that is related but not the same, or reading more into a passage than it says. Guessing blind therefore earns you about a quarter right, and more only if you read the question. A question left empty counts as a miss. All twenty questions were written for this page, and the passages are made up for the exercise.

The four question types

A synonym question asks for the word closest in meaning. An opposites question asks for the word that points the other way. An analogy gives a pair, such as thermometer and temperature, and asks you to find the same relation in a second pair. A passage question gives a few sentences and asks which statement the text supports.

How to approach analogies

Say the relation in one sentence before you look at the answers. A page is a part of a book, so a brick is a part of a wall. An author makes a novel, so a composer makes a symphony. Once you have the sentence, test each answer against it and drop the ones that need a different sentence.

How to approach a passage

The right answer is the one you can point to in the text. Statements that sound likely, but add a reason, a number or a group of people the text never mentions, are the usual wrong answers. Read the options against the passage and not against what you already know about the subject.

Practising

Do one round, check it, and look at the questions you missed before you try again. The list is fixed, so a better result next time may mean you remember the answers. It is a quick check of how you read and say nothing about how clever you are.

More to try

For number series and conclusions from statements, try the logical reasoning test. The vocabulary test works on words in another way, and the brain games page has five short games.

Frequently asked questions

What is in this verbal reasoning test?
Twenty questions with four answers each: six synonym questions, six opposites, six analogies and four short passages with a question about what the text supports. They run from easy to hard.
What is a good score?
We do not publish a pass mark or a comparison with other people. Too few people have taken this test to say anything about averages. Your result is how many of the twenty you got right, which you can compare with your own score next time.
Is my score saved?
No. Your answers stay on this page and are gone when you close it. We do not ask for an account and we do not count your score.
Verbal reasoning test: 20 practice questions with answers (free) | Skillido