Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions With Answers
Verbal reasoning tests check one thing: can you read a short business text and judge exactly what it does and does not say? Most employer tests use the True / False / Cannot Say format, sometimes alongside short word questions.
Below you will find four workplace-style passages with 16 statements, plus four word questions. All questions are our own practice items, not taken from any real test. Cover the Answer and Why lines, write down your choice, then check. The explanation matters more than the score: it tells you which trap caught you.
The Rules Before You Start
For every statement, ask one question: which sentence in the passage decides this?
- True: the passage states it, or it follows directly from what the passage states.
- False: the passage states something that contradicts it.
- Cannot Say: the passage does not give enough information to decide. This includes statements that sound sensible from general knowledge but are not supported by the text.
Three traps account for most wrong answers:
- Outside knowledge. You know something about the world and let it fill a gap in the passage.
- "Some" versus "all". The passage talks about some people or most cases; the statement talks about everyone.
- Cause versus correlation. The passage says two things go together; the statement says one causes the other.
Passage 1: Office Relocation
Marlow Logistics will move its head office from the city centre to the Eastgate business park in March. The new building has 240 desks, compared with 310 at the current site. The company says the smaller number of desks reflects its hybrid working policy, under which most office-based staff work from home two days a week. Staff in the finance and legal teams are expected to attend the office four days a week because of the volume of paper documents they handle. A free shuttle bus will run between the central railway station and Eastgate every 20 minutes during peak hours. Parking at Eastgate is limited to 90 spaces, which will be allocated first to employees with mobility needs and then by lottery. Some employees have raised concerns that the longer journey will affect their childcare arrangements. Management has said it will review individual requests for adjusted working hours.
Statement 1. The new head office has fewer desks than the current one.
Answer: True
Why: The second sentence gives both figures: "240 desks, compared with 310 at the current site." 240 is fewer than 310, so the statement follows directly from the text.
Statement 2. All office-based staff at Marlow Logistics are expected to attend the office three days a week.
Answer: False
Why: The deciding sentence is "Staff in the finance and legal teams are expected to attend the office four days a week." Finance and legal staff are office-based staff, and they are expected in four days, not three.
Statement 3. The shuttle bus runs every 20 minutes throughout the working day.
Answer: Cannot Say
Why: The passage says the bus runs every 20 minutes "during peak hours". It says nothing about the rest of the day. The bus might run less often, more often, or not at all outside peak hours. Many candidates choose False because "during peak hours" feels like a restriction, but no sentence contradicts the statement.
Statement 4. Parking spaces at Eastgate will be allocated by lottery only.
Answer: False
Why: The passage says the 90 spaces "will be allocated first to employees with mobility needs and then by lottery." The allocation method is therefore not lottery only; there is a priority step before the lottery. The text directly contradicts the word "only".
Passage 2: Customer Call Analysis
A regional energy supplier analysed 12,000 customer calls handled in the first half of the year. Calls resolved on first contact received an average satisfaction score of 8.4 out of 10, while calls that needed a follow-up averaged 5.9. Customers who waited more than ten minutes before speaking to an adviser gave lower scores than those who waited less than two minutes. The analysis also found that advisers who had completed the new billing training course resolved a higher proportion of calls on first contact than advisers who had not. The training is optional, and advisers who chose to take it had, on average, more years of experience than those who did not. The supplier plans to extend opening hours on weekday evenings from September. It has not yet decided whether to make the billing course compulsory.
Statement 5. Calls that needed a follow-up received a lower average satisfaction score than calls resolved on first contact.
Answer: True
Why: The second sentence gives 8.4 for first-contact calls and 5.9 for calls needing a follow-up. 5.9 is lower than 8.4.
Statement 6. Taking the billing training course causes advisers to resolve more calls on first contact.
Answer: Cannot Say
Why: The passage reports a link: advisers who completed the course "resolved a higher proportion of calls on first contact." It then adds that those who chose the course "had, on average, more years of experience." So the better results could come from the training, from the extra experience, or from both. The passage shows correlation, not cause. Nothing rules out that the course helps either, so it is not False.
Statement 7. All advisers at the energy supplier are required to complete the billing training course.
Answer: False
Why: The passage says plainly: "The training is optional." It also says the supplier "has not yet decided whether to make the billing course compulsory." Both sentences contradict the statement.
Statement 8. Extending opening hours on weekday evenings will reduce customer waiting times.
Answer: Cannot Say
Why: The passage mentions the plan to extend opening hours and, separately, that long waits lead to lower scores. It never links the two. Assuming longer hours spread calls out and shorten waits is outside knowledge; the text neither confirms nor rules it out.
Passage 3: Waste Reduction Pilot
Since January, the Harbour Street office has run a pilot to reduce waste. Individual desk bins were removed from all three floors and replaced with shared recycling stations, one per floor. Each station has separate containers for paper, plastics and general waste. Over the first four months, the volume of general waste collected from the building fell by 30 per cent compared with the same period last year. Some employees reported that the walk to the station was inconvenient, and a few teams on the second floor asked for an additional station near their meeting rooms. In May, the facilities manager installed a second station on the second floor. The pilot is due to end in June, after which the results will be presented to the board. If the board approves, the same approach will be introduced at the company's two other offices.
Statement 9. The pilot is scheduled to continue until the end of the year.
Answer: False
Why: The passage states: "The pilot is due to end in June." June is not the end of the year, so the statement contradicts the text.
Statement 10. All employees at Harbour Street found the walk to the recycling station inconvenient.
Answer: Cannot Say
Why: The passage says "Some employees reported that the walk to the station was inconvenient." "Some" tells you that at least a few people complained. It does not tell you how the rest felt. Candidates often choose False here, reasoning that "some" means "not all". In verbal reasoning, "some" only means "at least some"; it does not exclude "all".
Statement 11. After the change in May, the second floor had two recycling stations.
Answer: True
Why: Two sentences combine. "Shared recycling stations, one per floor" gives the second floor one station at the start. "In May, the facilities manager installed a second station on the second floor" adds one more. One plus one makes two.
Statement 12. The shared recycling approach will be introduced at the company's two other offices.
Answer: Cannot Say
Why: The final sentence is conditional: "If the board approves, the same approach will be introduced." The passage does not say whether the board will approve. The statement drops the condition and presents the roll-out as certain. Because the outcome is unknown, neither True nor False can be justified.
Passage 4: Learning Budget
From April, every permanent employee at Corvane Software will receive an annual learning budget of £800. The budget can be spent on courses, books, conference tickets or professional exam fees, provided the line manager approves the expense in advance. Unused budget cannot be carried over to the following year. Contractors and temporary staff are not eligible for the budget, although they may attend internal workshops free of charge. In the previous scheme, employees had to apply to a central training committee, which met only once a quarter, and many applications were approved months after the course had started. The HR director has described the new scheme as simpler and faster. A staff survey last year found that 64 per cent of employees felt they had too little time for learning.
Statement 13. A temporary member of staff at Corvane Software can use the learning budget to pay for a conference ticket.
Answer: False
Why: The passage states: "Contractors and temporary staff are not eligible for the budget." A temporary employee cannot use a budget they are not eligible for, whatever they want to spend it on.
Statement 14. An employee who spends £500 of the budget in the first year can carry the remaining £300 over to the following year.
Answer: False
Why: Check the number first: £800 − £500 = £300, so the figure in the statement is correct. But the passage says: "Unused budget cannot be carried over to the following year." The £300 is lost, so the statement is contradicted. A correct calculation does not make a statement True if the rule it relies on is false.
Statement 15. Employees need their line manager's approval before using the budget to buy a book.
Answer: True
Why: Books are listed as an allowed expense, "provided the line manager approves the expense in advance." "In advance" means before the purchase, which matches "before using the budget". The statement is a paraphrase of the passage.
Statement 16. The new learning budget will reduce the number of employees who feel they have too little time for learning.
Answer: Cannot Say
Why: The passage gives the survey figure (64 per cent) but never connects it to the new budget. Assuming a budget helps (or does not) means adding your own reasoning. The text is silent, so Cannot Say.
Other Verbal Formats: Word Questions
Some employers add short word questions, especially in general ability tests. These test vocabulary and how precisely you see relationships between words.
Question 17 (Word analogy). Book is to library as painting is to:
A. Artist B. Gallery C. Canvas D. Frame
Answer: B
Why: First state the relationship in a sentence: a library is a place where books are collected and kept for people to see. Now test each option in the same sentence: a gallery is a place where paintings are collected and displayed. Artist (creator), canvas (material) and frame (holds one painting) break the relationship.
Question 18 (Sentence completion). The report was so ______ that readers could not work out its main recommendation.
A. concise B. convoluted C. persuasive D. brief
Answer: B
Why: The second half of the sentence tells you the result: readers could not find the main point. You need a word that would cause that. "Convoluted" means complicated and hard to follow, which fits. "Concise" and "brief" mean short and to the point, which would make the recommendation easier to find. "Persuasive" describes how convincing a text is, not how clear it is, so it does not explain the result.
Question 19 (Odd word out). Which word does not belong with the others?
A. Reduce B. Diminish C. Lessen D. Expand E. Decrease
Answer: D
Why: Reduce, diminish, lessen and decrease all mean "make or become smaller". Expand means the opposite: make or become larger. It is the only word that breaks the group.
Question 20 (Synonym). Which word is closest in meaning to "mandatory"?
A. Optional B. Compulsory C. Frequent D. Formal
Answer: B
Why: Mandatory means required by a rule. Compulsory means the same. Optional is the opposite. Frequent and formal do not mean "required".
What About a Verbal Reasoning Answers PDF?
Many candidates search for a PDF with "the real answers". It does not help. Publishers build their tests from large item banks, and each candidate gets a randomised selection of passages and statements. A leaked answer sheet from someone else's test will not match yours.
What does transfer is skill with the format: spotting the deciding sentence quickly and recognising the three traps. That is why every question here comes with an explanation rather than a bare answer key.
How to Practise Effectively
Name the deciding sentence. For every practice statement, write down or underline the exact sentence that decides it. If you cannot find one, the answer is almost always Cannot Say.
Log your traps. After each set, note which trap caught you: outside knowledge, some versus all, or cause versus correlation.
Watch absolute words. "All", "only", "always", "never" and "will" make a statement easy to contradict or impossible to confirm. Check them against the exact wording of the passage.
Practise under time pressure. Mix untimed sets (accuracy) with timed sets (speed) in the final week.
Learn the provider's style. SHL passages tend to be dense and short; Saville items are very fast. Our guides to the SHL test and the Saville assessment explain the timing and format of each.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between False and Cannot Say?
False means the passage says something that contradicts the statement. Cannot Say means the passage does not give enough information to decide either way. If you cannot point to a sentence that rules the statement out, it is not False.
Should I use my own knowledge in a verbal reasoning test?
No. Judge each statement only on what the passage says. A statement can be true in real life and still be Cannot Say in the test, because the passage does not confirm it.
How long do I get per question in a verbal reasoning test?
Most employer tests give roughly 30 to 60 seconds per statement, including reading time for the passage. Read the passage once carefully, then go back to the exact sentence each statement refers to.
Is there a PDF with the real answers to verbal reasoning tests?
No useful one. Test publishers draw items from large randomised banks, so a leaked answer sheet will not match the questions you get. Practising the question types is what raises your score.
How many practice questions should I do before my test?
Aim for at least 60 to 100 statements spread over two to three weeks, with at least a few timed sets. Review every mistake and note which trap caught you.
Conclusion
If you scored well on the 16 statements above, your main task now is speed: doing the same careful reading in 30 to 60 seconds per statement. If you lost points, look at which trap caught you and focus your practice there. Cannot Say is the answer most candidates get wrong, and our guide to True, False or Cannot Say questions goes deeper into that format.
For timed sets in the style of the major test publishers, with explanations for every item, use our verbal reasoning test practice.