Verbal Ability Reviewer Part 1 with Answers | Civil Service Exam Reviewer

Part 1 of our Verbal Ability reviewer has 20 practice questions in the style of the Civil Service Exam. Answer them in order, read the explanation after each one, and check your score against the 80% passing mark at the end. Questions and choices are reshuffled every time you retake the part.

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Sample questions from Part 1

Here are a few questions from this part. Take the full test to answer all 20 and get your score.

Sample question 1

The following are examples of Palindrome, except.

level
same
deified
noon

Answer: same

A palindrome is a word, phrase, number or sequence of words that reads the same backward as forward.

Sample question 2

That perfume always "evokes" pleasant memories.

angers
erases
calls up
confuses

Answer: calls up

Evoke means to bring a feeling or memory to mind, so it is closest to calls up.

Sample question 3

The attorney wanted to "expedite" the process because her client was becoming impatient.

accelerate
evaluate
reverse
justify

Answer: accelerate

Expedite means to speed up a process. Closest: accelerate.

Sample question 4

The suspect gave a "plausible" explanation for his presence at the scene, so the police decided to
look elsewhere for the perpetrator of the crime.

unbelievable
credible
insufficient
apologetic

Answer: credible

Plausible means believable or reasonable. Because the police looked elsewhere, they accepted the explanation as credible.

Sample question 5

He based his conclusion on what he "inferred" from the evidence, not on what he actually observed.

predicted
imagined
surmised
implied

Answer: surmised

Infer means to conclude from evidence by reasoning. Surmised (guessed or concluded from evidence) fits best. Imply is what a speaker or evidence does, not the person who draws the conclusion.

Verbal Ability Reviewer - Part 1