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Practice verbal reasoning tests – blogpost 2 (business)
This is second in a daily series of blogposts giving practice at verbal reasoning tests for law students. Everyday we choose a new subject topic. Today it’s business. You may well have to do an online verbal reasoning test (psychometric test) as part of your training contract application.
In a verbal reasoning test, you are usually provided with a passage of information and required to evaluate a set of statements by selecting one of the following possible answers:
A – True (The statement follows logically from the information or opinions contained in the passage)
B – False (The statement is logically false from the information or opinions contained in the passage)
C – Cannot Say (Cannot determine whether the statement is true or false without further information)
In the example below, give your answer to each question by clicking on either A, B or C. You will be told whether your answer is correct or not.
Passage:
Over 60 years ago, evolutionary biologist Bernhard Rensch calculated that males are typically the larger sex in big-bodied species such as humans, whereas females outdo them in small-bodied species such as spiders. Now it turns out that many plants obey Rensch’s rule too. Most plants produce both male and female sex organs, but around 7 percent are dioecious, meaning individuals are purely male or female. Recent results provide that female stems also must be large enough to display the fruit and support the animals that spread the pollen or seeds. If metabolism, predators or climate promote the evolution of smaller plants, however, males can shrink because their gametes are smaller.
The questions might be as follows.
1. Over 80 years ago, Bernard Rensch calculated that males are typically the larger sex in big-bodied species.
CANNOT SAY – the passage says that Bernard Rensch calculated this over 60 years ago, but it is not possible to say from the passage whether he calculated this over 80 years ago.
2. Around 7% of plants are dioecious, but it is not necessary for female stems to be large enough to display the fruit.
FALSE – whilst the first part of the statement is true according to the passage, the second part of the statement is clearly false, making the entire statement false.
So what’s the best way to prepare for your verbal reasoning test?
You are advised to practice any available good-quality example questions, and any books you can get your hands on with similar questions, and read our advice here. If you prepare properly for your test you will have nothing to worry about. Being prepared and knowing what to expect in your verbal reasoning test will go a long way to helping you perform your best. These verbal reasoning tests used by employers in their selection process aim to measure your ability to read, comprehend and interpret written information. Verbal reasoning tests are designed to test your powers of comprehension and logic.
You will be tested on whether you jump to conclusions or you appreciate the limitations of a statement. If a passage says “it has been reported…” it does not follow that the fact is necessarily true, only that it has been reported. Another classic example is: “if the lights in a house come on, does that mean there is someone inside the building?” Not necessarily.
“If A is bigger than B, does that mean B is small?” Not necessarily. You will be tested to sort fact from inference, a lot like what’s required in a real work environment. You can therefore see why lawyers almost always have to pass a verbal reasoning test.
Through practice, you will develop your own technique for answering verbal reasoning questions to the best of your ability, however for most people the best way to approach them is to read the entire passage through once, then turn to the questions. Read the first statement and refer back to the relevant part of the passage to carefully consider if the statement is true, false, or impossible to determine without further information. It will often come down to just one or two sentences within the passage.
You should have an idea of how much time to allow yourself for each question and know when to move on. Concentration is essential, especially when every second counts. Base your answers on only the information contained in the passage. This is crucial, and if you don’t do this you will probably get a lot of the questions wrong. Verbal reasoning tests are not tests of what you know, they are tests of how well you understand written information.
PASSAGE
Barclays management has suffered a significant revolt by shareholders, after 26.9% of those who voted, said no to the company’s executive pay package. The vote came after Barclays’ chairman, Mr Marcus Aguis, apologised for the firm’s failure to communicate over the issue. His speech at the annual general meeting (AGM) prompted heckles and mocking laughter from shareholders, some of whom have been angered by high pay. It is one of the biggest shareholder rebellions of recent history. Including those abstaining, the result showed 32% of shareholders refused to back the company’s remuneration report. “There is a significant minority of shareholders who feel that we got some of these judgements [on remuneration] wrong for 2011 and that we have not sufficiently taken their views on board,” Mr Agius said at the bank’s annual meeting.
Mr Aguis was speaking at an extraordinary general meeting.
FALSE. Mr Aguis was speaking at an AGM.
The article refers to one of the biggest shareholder rebellions of recent history.
TRUE. This is clearly stated in the fourth sentence of this passage.
PASSAGE
Two of the UK’s biggest banks have admitted denying some customers their right to cancel recurring payments. Customers seeking to cancel “continuous payment authorities” have been told by banks such as Lloyds TSB and Santander that only the Payee can agree such action. Since 2009, banks have been legally required to cancel CPAs when a customer asks. Two different parties are involved, payor and payee. Customer guidance from Lloyds and Santander did not reflect this. The new rights were enshrined in the Payment Services Regulations, which came into force in November 2009, but have been subject to ongoing discussions between the banks and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). As a bank customer, you have the right to cancel one of these continuous payment authorities and you can go to your bank, they can’t put up any hurdles, but in practice, some are being denied this right.
Only the Payor can agree to continuous payment authorities.
FALSE. Only the Payee can agree to such action. The Payor is never the Payee.
In practice, some are being denied the right to cancel one of these continuous payment authorities.
TRUE. This is a clear conclusion from the final two sentences of this Passage.
PASSAGE
Samsung Electronics has overtaken Nokia to become the world’s largest maker of mobile phones. Nokia took the top spot in 1998 from Motorola, but in the first quarter of 2012 Samsung shipped 93m phones compared to almost 83m by Nokia. Samsung also reported its highest quarterly profit since 2008. Net profit was 5.05tn won ($4.5bn; £2.8bn) in the quarter ending 31 March, up 81% from 2.78tn won last year. Samsung is also the world’s biggest TV and flat screen maker. The firm said its IT and mobile communications division, which manufactures the smartphones, made an operating profit of 4.27tn won during the period, as revenues in the division surged 86% from a year earlier. The Galaxy range has been very popular and helped Samsung overtake Apple to become the world’s biggest seller of smartphones.
Nokia has been the world’s largest maker of mobile phones.
TRUE. This is a correct conclusion from the first sentence.
During the first quarter of 2012, Nokia shipped around 10m phones more than Samsung.
FALSE. The Passage states the opposite in fact.
PASSAGE
US carmaker Ford has reported lower quarterly profits following weak sales in Europe and higher tax charges. Ford said about half the drop was due to it paying a higher tax rate. Ford made a loss of $149m in Europe where many economies are struggling. The carmaker’s sales in Europe were down by 60,000. Ford also reported losses in Asia, Africa and South America. However, in North America pre-tax profits rose 17% to $2.1bn, which was its best performance in the region since 2000. The company’s results contrast with others this week from leading car firms. Volkswagen, Daimler, Honda, Hyundai and Chrysler all reported an increase in profits for this quarter. Ford has also been boosting its manufacturing capacity in China, as part of its effort to raise global sales by nearly 50% to about 8 million cars by 2015.
The fall in profits also affected Ford in Europe.
TRUE. This is stated in the third sentence.
Volkswagen reported a decrease in profits for the quarter being discussed.
FALSE. The passage states the opposite in the penultimate sentence.
PASSAGE
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has said it has ended its exclusivity agreement with the Co-operative Group over the sale of 632 bank branches. The Co-op had entered exclusive talks over the sale of the branches in December, but Lloyds will now also consider talks with rival suitors. Earlier this month, banking venture NBNK put forward a fresh bid proposal for the branches. Lloyds has to sell the branches for regulatory reasons. Lloyds – which is 40%-owned by the government – has a deadline of November 2013 to complete the sale in order to meet European Commission competition rules. Given the renewed interest in the Verde business shown by NBNK, LBG will now consider detailed discussions with other parties but only once LBG is satisfied that any proposal is likely to achieve the appropriate regulatory clearances.
It is optional for LBG to sell these branches.
FALSE. LBG “has to sell the branches for regulatory reasons”.
40% of Lloyds is owned by the Government.
TRUE. This is stated in the Passage.
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A free systematic way to prepare for the online verbal reasoning test for training contract applications
To be frank, you are most likely to have to sit an online verbal reasoning test at some stage in an application to a corporate firm for a training contract. Even if you manage to escape one at the time of submission of your online application form, you are likely to have to do one as a precursor to an interview, or part of an assessment day. You might even have to do two online verbal reasoning tests; one in your time, and one ‘under exam conditions’. It’s probably fair to say that the test will be administered on behalf of the corporate firm by SHL or Kenexa; this test has a ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘cannot say’ format. Some, including one Magic Circle firm, have used the Watson-Glaser Critical Reasoning Test, which you are likely to do in the head office of that corporate firm instead. Here is a suggested route from ‘Legal Recruit’, an initiative by students in the BPP Legal Awareness Society, but it’s important to note that this training is not a product of BPP, nor endorsed by BPP. We hope, in our Society, hope that you find these free materials helpful, anyway.
Introductory video to an online verbal reasoning test
Factsheet on the online verbal reasoning test
Examples of questions of a verbal reasoning test
150 examples of verbal reasoning test questions
A free full-length practice verbal reasoning test for you to try [you can only do this if you are a graduate and speak English fluently.]
Answers to the trial (only to look at if you’ve done the trial)
Best of luck! We hope it goes well for you.
Practice for online verbal reasoning questions from 'Legal Recruit': biology
Biology is a subject area in the brand new innovative, independent, platform for practising online verbal reasoning assessments called ‘Legal Recruit‘.
Hope you enjoy these questions.
1 Every day, we are bombarded with scientific and medical claims that are not based on good evidence: in advertising material, product websites, advice columns, campaign statements, celebrity health fads and policy announcements. Even where there is some regulation, in advertising or trading standards, such claims keep reappearing. “Sense About Science”, along with over 5,000 scientists, scientific bodies, research publishers and policy makers, don’t want people to continue getting away with making claims without supporting evidence. They want things to change, so that anyone making a claim expects to be challenged, and is made to stand by their words. The only way to do this is to get more people asking for evidence.
Q1 Campaign statements are never based on good evidence.
CANNOT SAY. ‘Campaign statements’ are given as examples of scientific and medical claims which are not based on good evidence.
Q2 “Sense About Science” wants people to continue getting away making claims without supporting evidence.
FALSE. The passage states the precise opposite.
2 We hear about bacteria for lots of different reasons, and it’s unusual for many of them to be ‘good’. Indeed, the last time most people probably remember seeing bacteria make headlines was the contamination of salad vegetables with a deadly Escherichia coli strain relatively recently. However, as any microbiologist will tell you, bacteria are an extremely diverse group of organisms, with equally diverse properties which make some of them indispensable for many aspects of our lives; including food production, digestion and water treatment. For example, Geobacter sulfurreducens is just one of many bacterial superheroes. In this case, its superpower is ‘bioremediation’; the use of its metabolism to remove pollutants from the environment.
Q3 There is a very narrow range of strains in the bacteria class.
FALSE. Bacteria are stated to be an extremely diverse group of organisms.
Q4 Bacteria are never used for water treatment.
FALSE. Bacteria are said to play an ‘indispensible’ role in many functions, including water treatment.
3 While some birds only migrate locally in response to extreme weather conditions, others undertake seasonal long-distance migration between land masses and sometimes hemispheres. The most impressive avian migrator is, by far, the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea). Weighing an average of 100g, with a average wingspan of 75 – 85 cm, the birds sometimes nest just once every three years, as so much of their 30 year life span is spent in flight. The bird has the longest seasonal movement than any other animal, and the birds move so consistently with the seasons that they only ever see long days; they experience more sunlight per year than any other creature.
Q5 80 cm is a reasonable estimate wingspan of the African tern.
CANNOT SAY. The information given only refers to the Artic tern.
Q6 It is rare for the Artic Tern to be exposed to sunlight, compared to other creatures.
FALSE. The passage states that the Artic Tern ‘experience more sunlight per year than any other creature’.
4 There’s actually 47 known species of ‘leafcutter ants’, endemic to South and Central America, which live in colonies of up to ten million individuals organised into a complex social structure. The leaf cutting ants don’t actually eat the leaves they harvest – this is part of an elaborate process of cultivating a mutualistic fungus, which in turn provides the ants with the nutrients on which they feed. Efficiency of fungal cultivation is dependent on roles played by distinct ‘castes’ of ants, based mostly on size. Large workers forage for leaves and defend the colony, while smaller workers farm the fungus and tend to the nest. There’s even a designated waste removal team.
Q7 There are currently over 50 species of ‘leafcutter ants’.
CANNOT SAY. The passage states that there are 47 ‘known species’ of ‘leafcutter ants’, but it is not known how many unknown species of ‘leafcutter ants’ there currently are.
Q8 Only the caste of ants determines the efficiency of fungal cultivation done by ants.
FALSE. The passage states that distinct ‘castes’ of ants determine the efficiency of fungal cultivation done by ants.
5 Obesity is a growing problem worldwide, but proper protein consumption can help keep it at bay. Researchers have found that, when subjects were fed a 10% protein diet, they consumed 12% more energy over four days than they did on a 15% protein diet. Moreover, 70% of the increased energy intake on the lower protein diet was attributed to snacking. When the protein content was further increased to 25%, however, the researchers observed no change in behaviour relative to the 15% protein diet. It had previously been suggested that protein content plays an important role in determining overall energy intake, and thus affects obesity, but until this study, experimental verification had been lacking.
Q9 Obesity is only a problem in the U.S.
FALSE. Obesity is said to be a ‘growing problem worldwide’.
Q10 Protein content plays an important role in determining overall energy intake.
CANNOT SAY. No definite conclusion can be drawn from this study. Despite the findings of this study, the statement could still be true.
6 The anti-obesity properties of resveratrol have been demonstrated for the first time in a primate. Researchers recently studied the compound, generated naturally by plants to ward off pathogens, which has received much interest as a dietary supplement for its supposed life-extending effects. A team of researchers from Paris have decided to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with resveratrol on the weight, metabolism and energy intake of six mouse lemurs. The physiological benefits of resveratrol are currently under intensive investigation, with recent work suggesting that it could be a good candidate for the development of obesity therapies. The team found that lemurs eating a diet supplemented with the compound decreased their energy intake by 13% and increased their resting metabolic rate by 29%.
Q11 Based on research in the rat, resveratrol could be a good candidate for the development of anti-obesity therapies.
CANNOT SAY. The research described used a sample of lemurs (primates).
Q12 In this study, lemurs eating a diet supplemented with the compound increased their energy intake by an average of 13%.
TRUE. This is a finding from this study.
The training contract interview
Of course getting to the training contract interview is dependent on you showing enough theory in the theory test. So start practising those SHL Direct Verbal Reasoning tests!
Once you get into your interview, you may accidentally sit down without being asked to. This is a mistake. If you find yourself doing that, you must do an emergency stop.
You may be asked why you wish to pursue a career in corporate law, having achieved a good First at Oxford in classics. Consider this a ‘setpiece manoeuvre’ like an hill start.
You may then be given another set-piece manoeuvre, like a discussion of a recent commercial issue. If you pick the wrong one, stop digging your grave, and do the ‘commercial awareness’ equivalent of a ‘three point turn’.
Good luck!
