Practice for aptitude tests
Verbal reasoning test practice: true, false or cannot say
Timed verbal reasoning practice in the employer format: a passage, a statement, then true, false or cannot say. New passages every sitting. Free, no sign-up.
Verbal drill. 12 questions, 9 minutes: read a short passage, then decide whether each statement is true, false, or cannot be said from the passage alone.
What a verbal reasoning test asks
Most employer verbal reasoning tests use one format: a paragraph of a few sentences, then statements to judge against it. True means the passage says so or it follows necessarily. False means the passage contradicts it. Cannot say means the passage does not settle it either way. The skill is discipline, not vocabulary: using only what the passage says and noticing when it stops short.
One question, worked
Harbour Rail began running night trains on the coast line in 2019. Its only competitor on that line, Tidewater, has never run a night service. Every Harbour Rail night train stops at all eleven stations.
Statement: Tidewater’s trains do not stop at every station.
Answer: cannot say. The passage describes where Harbour Rail’s night trains stop and says nothing about where Tidewater’s day trains stop, so the statement is neither confirmed nor contradicted.
The three mistakes that cost the most
- Answering from the world, not the passage. A statement can be true in real life and still be cannot say here.
- Reading “some” as “all”. “Some of its trains are electric” does not tell you that any particular train is.
- Treating “not mentioned” as false. False needs a contradiction; silence is cannot say.
Every key is proved
Each statement is checked against every situation the passage leaves open, and it is true only if it holds in all of them, false if in none, and cannot say otherwise. The passages are generated when you press Start, so the tenth sitting is as new as the first.
For all four sections, including numerical, logical and abstract reasoning and a full mock, open the aptitude test practice page. For relations between words (analogies and odd-word-out) rather than passages, try the verbal analogies test.
Questions people ask
What does “cannot say” mean?
The passage neither confirms nor contradicts the statement. Choose it when you would need a fact the passage does not give, even if the statement sounds likely to be true in real life.
Should I use what I already know about the topic?
No. Every answer depends only on the passage. The organisations here are invented so that outside knowledge cannot help or mislead you.
How long do I get for each question?
The drill is 12 questions in 9 minutes, 45 seconds each, which is close to the pace employer verbal tests commonly set.
Is this the test an employer will send me?
No. These are original practice questions in the common employer format. They are not any publisher’s test and do not copy one, and there is no pass mark or percentile.