verbal and numericaverbal and numerical reasoning

8/21/2019 Verbal and NumericaVerbal and numerical reasoning

1/12

L i

A t ra in ing co urse o rg an ised by

R & D

Course tu tor : Ph i l

Gaskell

STRATEGY

& A P P R O A C H

' o joinR D Brussels:

Send this slip to R&D J-79 09/232

Tel: 55676, 93053, and 55656

or send a message via our website:

www.renouveau.org

Name: Adm in. Add ress:

For more information on R D consult the website:w ww.renouveau.org

To contact the R D training office:send a message to the address in the Outlook directory

REP

PERS R&D FORM ATIONS

The poHticalsecretariat:O. Profili /

C.

Sebastiani / H. Ferreira-R amo s (55656/9923 9/56676)

V & N :

S t ra tegy & App roach / Phi l Gaskell LED@ LearnEng l i sh .eu. com
http://www.renouveau.org/http://www.renouveau.org/


2/12

St ruc tu re o f t he Ve rba l and Numer i ca l Reason ing Tes t s

The tes ts in Verba l and Numer ica l Reason ing cons is t o f 40 ques t ions fo r wh ich you have 45

m inu tes . In the tes ts tha t have been produced in the las t yea r the tw o types o f ques t ions have

been mixed toge ther - 15 numer ica l and 25 verba l . They a re in g roups o f 2 o r 3 ques t ions

fo l l o w in g the nu mer ica l da ta o r tex t . A f te r each ques t ion there a re fou r poss ib le answers A, B, C

o r D f r o m w h i c h y o u m u s t c h o o s e o n e based on the in f o r m a t i o n g i v e n .

You may use the ques t ion paper as r o u g h p a p e r f o r w o r k i n g o u t y o u r a n s w e r s tha t shou ld

on ly be t rans fe red to the o f f i c ia l answer sheet , wh ich i s marked op t i ca l l y , when you are

su r e o f

y o u r c h o i c e . Y o u m a y n o t c h a n g e y o u r ch o i c e o n t h e o p t i c a l l y m a r k e d a n s w e r s h e e t

a n d y o u wil l n o t b e g iven a seco n d co p y

I t goes w i th ou t say ing th a t you ma y no t use d ic t i onar ies , ca lcu la to rs e tc . In fac t , you m ay

not

even take your own pen in to the compet i t i on .

20 out of 40 is the pass mark. Y o u d o n o t lo s e p o i n t s f o r w r o n g a n s w e r s .

In numbers in the Eng l i sh vers ion o f the tes t , the decimal p o i n t ' a n d t h e ' c o m m a ' a r e u s e d

i n t h e w a y t h a t i s n o r m a l i n t h e

U K: e .g . 2 .5 2 ,5 (m a in lan d Europ e) & 10 ,0 00

1 0 . 0 0 0 (m a i n l a n d Eu ro p e ) .

The da ta g iven in the ques t ions has been taken a lmo s t en t i re l y f rom EU doc um enta t ion

in

recen t

com pe t i t i on s . In com par i son w i th ear l i e r com pet i t i ons , th i s has the advanta ge tha t the tex ts

have no t been wr i t ten in a complex , l i te ra ry s ty le and so have less complex s t ruc tu res in te rms

of sequence o f events and in te rna l l i nks : these documents have been wr i t ten so tha t they can be

un de rs to od However , one recen t com pet i t i on used non-EU docu me nts as the source o f i t s tex ts

and da ta tab les .

Of course , there i s no guaran tee tha t the compet i t i on you s i t w i l l be as desc r ibed above; those

who dec ide on the shape and con ten t o f the compet i t i ons may change the fo rmat a t any t ime.

However , the desc r ip t ion above summar ises the s ty le o f recent compet i t i ons and th i s course i s

based on the assum pt ion tha t com pet i t i on s in the near fu tu re w i l l be s im i la r . One recent

compet i t i on had separa te par ts - one verba l and one numer ica l , and bo th par ts had 40

q u e s t i o n s . I n a d d i t i o n , m o re t i m e w a s a ll o w e d f o r t h e c o m p e t i t i o n .

P R AC T IC AL T IP S

You may use the question paper as

rough paper for working out your answers

Your answers should only be transfe rred to the official optica lly mark ed answer sheet when you are

sure of your choice.

If you erase an answer it may be identified as two answ ers when the she et

is optically scanned.

If you choose two answers you will autom atically be awarded 0 for tha t que stion.

You may

not change your choice

on the optically m arked answ er sheet and you w il l

not be given

a second copy

No dictionaries, calculators etc. - you may not even use you r own pen or pen cil.

Remember that com petitions are held in very large halls (e.g . at Heysel, in Brussels) and the

temperature may be high

in

summer and low in winter. For your own comfort

dress

appropr iate ly

Going to the toilet seems to be difficult, before, during and betwe en the various parts of the

compet i t ion. Plan strategically

Take some thing to

ea t

and

dr ink

with you - there may be t imes when concentration is hard.

V8d\l :

Str ate gy & App roach / Phi l Gaskel l L ED @L e a rn En g l i s h . e u . c o m
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


3/12

Overali

S t r a t e g y a n d A p p r o a c h

On average, out o f 20 quest ions , you w i l l be ab le to do between 10 and 12 a lmost immediate ly

w i t h a l i t t l e t ra i n i ng , t hus ga i n i ng t i m e tha t you can spend on the o the r 8 t ha t requ i re m ore

th ou gh t and t im e. Of those 8 there w i l l be 2 or 3 th at you could spend a very long t ime on

(espe c ia l l y in the ve rba l ques t ions) - so the b est s t ra te gy i s to m a k e a j u d i c i o u s g u e s s a n d

m o v e o n . Don ' t was te t im e i t 's t oo p rec i ous in t he com p e t i t i on

Because you are wo rk ing in Vo ug h ' f i rs t , you can a lways leave a ques t ion tha t you f ind d i f f i cu l t to

unders tand or so lve unt i l l a ter in the tes t and t ry i t aga in i f you have t ime le f t over . Y o u

will

g a i n m o r e p o i n t s b y a t t e m p t i n g q u e s t i o n s t h a t y o u c a n a n s w e r t h a n b y s t r u g g l in g w i t h

q u e s t i o n s t h a t y o u f i n d a r e a l c h a l l e n g e .

You

need to make th is s t ra teg ic dec is ion a t the

s tage where you a re p rac t i s i ng do i ng com pe t i t i on ques t i ons , and ce r ta i n l y be fo re you go i n to t he

hal l to s i t the tes t . You have to t ra in yo urs e l f not to panic because you hav e le f t undone

q u e s t i o n s b e h i n d y o u . S t i c k t o y o u r d e c i s i o n

S p e e d i s e s s e n t i a l .

Th is can be ga in ed by var io us mea ns -

p r a c t i c e

is the su rest way t o

i m p r o v e y o u r s p e e d

-

you w i l l l earn no magic formula here but a method that you w i l l need to

p r a c t i s e a t h o m e

-

'practice

makes per fec t they say ' - i t w i l l cer ta in ly he lp you to develop

speed and to see where your own

b l i n d s p o t s

a re .

T I M E T I P S

All que stions , difficult or easy, gain one poin t if correc t. It is best, ther efo re, to gain points on easy

questions rather than hard questions.

Leave question s that you find difficu lt until later in the test and try again if you have time left over -

score easier points f irst

There is not magic formula for speeding up your performance in the competit ion -

practicing

doing questions is the best way of improving both speed and performance.

As you prepare for the compe tit ion over a period of months you wil l see your own bl ind spots, and

so be able to avoid making

the.same

m istakes again - and you wil l work more quickly.

Set yourse lf a t imeta ble: 15 minutes to answer the first 10 questions, 30 minutes to answer 20 etc.

It may help you to keep to a steady speed and so finish within the time al lowed.

A genera l ru le i s to r e d u c e t h e c o m p l e x t o it s b a s i c , k e y e l e m e n t s and to d i s c a r d t hose

e l em en ts t ha t a re i r r e l e v a n t t o t he so l u t i on . Add i t i ona l i n fo rm a t i on is som e t i m es the re t o ob l i ge

you to m ake j ud gm en ts abou t wha t i s re l evan t and i r re l evan t .

I sugges t t ha t you b e g i n w i t h t h e n u m e r i c a l reasoning quest ions because they are more

obv ious ly cor rec t or incor rec t , whi le verba l reasoning quest ions are more open to d iscuss ion and

the w ord i ng o f these ques t i ons is m o re nuanced - t h ey can take m u ch m ore t i m e . You m us t

m a k e t h i s c h o i c e b e f o r e t h e c o m p e t i t i o n a n d s t i c k t o y o u r d e c i s i o n

when you s i t down to

s tar t the exam - th is i s not the t ime to hes i ta te .

V & N :

S t r a t e g y

&

Approach /

Phil Gaske LtD@Learn English.eu.com


4/12

2

Vsfl Lcd

fixe

A P P R O A C H T I P S

Decide whe ther to do the numerical or verbal questions long before the com petitio n - and practise

on that basis

We suggest that you beg in w i th num er ica l ques t ions

Do

notchange

your decision about this on the day of the competition

If you have thesame letter as your answer to three or four questions in a row, do not let th at

change your decision. Each question stands alone.

Make the mo st reasonable choice (or even a guess) based on a quick reading of the question for

questions you don't have time to do.

When you find a proposed answer that is clearly correct, you can take the risk of selecting i t as you

answer and moving on to the next

question;

It is a risk, but it saves

t ime

Don 't go back over questions you have already done - if there is a dou bt in you r mind tha t means

that the question is not so simple and may take to much time.

Copy up your answers from your rough working onto the off icial answer sheet at f ixed t imes du ring

the test. This gives you a break and makes sure that you don't have al l the questions to copy up at

the end of the tes t. You will not be allowed to fil l In th e answer sheet when the tim e is up and you

will lose the points.

As a gen era l ru le work f rom the f ron t o f the com pet i t i o n towa rds the back , and f ro m top to

bo t to m of each page - i t is fa i r l y c lear tha t the leve l o f d i f f i cu l ty inc reases as you advance

th rough t he ques t i ons .

T i p : i f y o u g e t t h e s a m e S e tt e r a s t h e a n s w e r t h r e e o r e v e n f o u r t i m e s i n a r o w , e . g . C CC ,

do not lose conf idenc e. When you have been thro ug h enou gh com pet i t i o n pape rs you w i l l see

th at th is happen s ra ther o f ten. I t is m ost probab ly done de l ibera te ly to make i t harder to guess

ans wer s . Nobod y who is s imp ly guess ing the answers wo uld take the r i sk o f g iv ing the s ame

le t ter in the answer in th ree qu es t ions one a f ter an othe r .

C O M P E T I T I O N S o n C O M P U T E R:

Th e fu tu re o f com pute r tes t in g i s not c lear - bu t com pu ter tes ts w i l l a lm ost ce r ta in ly

become the s tanda rd - the ques t ion i s when

Man y th ing s are chan ging in re la t ion to com pute r tes ts , so consu l t the EPSO web s i te

Put the keyboa rd on one s ide - you won ' t need i t

Make you rse l f com fo r tab l e

Read the ins t ruc t ions and ma ke sure you unders ta nd ever y th ing before s tar t ing

20 verba l & 20 nume r ica l ques t ions - in e i the r ord er but in sepa rate tes ts

20 min utes for num er ica l and 25 -30 for verba l

au tom at ic sw i tch o f f whe n t im e i s up

yo u can leave que s t ions undec ide d or rev iew answe rs before end o f tes t i f you w ish - i s

th is a good th ing or not?

sam e tex t or tab le Is not used for consec ut i ve que s t ions , bu t may appe ar la ter in tes t

every one has a d i f fe re nt rand om se lec t ion o f que s t ions

som et i me s eve ryone has a d i f f e ren t s t a r t t i me so peop le come and go

on-scre en ca lcu la tor - but i t doesn ' t wor k wel l

wh i te boa rd and fel t t ip pen - bu t dr ies up and di f f icul t to use

rev ie w ing que s t ions - d i f f i cu l t to nav iga te

> you d on ' t get a copy o f the answe r - can you ob je c t to ques t ions?

V&.N:

S t r a t e g y

.

App roac h / Phi l Gaskel i LED @ LeamEng l i sh .eu . com


5/12

Numerical

Ques t i ons

N U M E R I C A L T I P S 1

Many people panic at the thou ght of mathem atics. Don't panic

You often don't need to calculate at all - these questions are often ju st logical thin king in

mathematical form.

The most basic processes are used : add it ion, subtra ction, division, multipl ica tion, calculating a

percentage , average, ratio etc. - i t 's almost as easy as doing the shop ping.

Do the questions in the order they come in on the page.

W h a t a r e t h e q u e s t i o n s

like?

The re is usua l l y a tab le , or (ba r - ) gra ph wi th a m in im um of te x t exp la nat io n fo l lowe d by 2 or 3

ques t i ons ; f o r each ques t i on 4 poss i b l e answers a re g i ven .

The f i rs t quest ion i s o f ten eas ier than those that fo l low; the answer to one quest ion may he lp to

so l ve ano the r ques t i on . W i th i n each g roup o f ques t i ons i t is be t t e r t o

d o t h e q u e s t i o n s i n t h e

o r d e r in w h i c h t h e y a r e p r e s e n t e d .

T he m athem at i ca l p rocesses a re bas i c : add i t i on , sub t rac t i on , m u l t i p l i ca t i on & d i v i s i on , as we l l as

ca lcu la t ing an averag e or ra t io - these are rea l l y log ic in th e fo rm of ma the ma t ica l sym bols . The

process to be used is usual l y obv ious f rom the quest ion.

H o w t o a p p r o a c h a q u e s t i o n

1 R e a d t h e q u e s t i o n carefully f i r s t : under l i ne k e y n u m b e r s , f a c t s a n d w o r d s (you can

also c i rc le or en large them - see what works best for you)

2 Now

s c a n r e a d t h e d a t a

i n the tab le , graph or s ta t i s t i cs g iven above the quest ion and

u n d e r l i n e k e y n u m b e r s , f a c t s a n d w o r d s .

3 Before a t te mp t ing to so lve a qu est ion, d i f fere nt un i t va lue s used in the d a t a s h o u l d b e

c o n v e r t e d so that they are a l l expressed in the s a m e un i t s and

va lues .

4

N u m b e r s

should be

s i m p l i f i e d

i f poss ib le to fac i l i ta te s imple ca lcu la t ion s . Round

num bers up and down to

1 0 ' s , lOO s o r lOOO s

i f pos sible . Precis ion doe s no t usua l ly

g ive a bet ter answer b u t s p e e d ce r ta i n l y g a i n s t i m e a n d p o i n t s . The b igger the

round i ng up o r dow n , t he b i gge r t he r i s k bu t t he g rea te r t he t i m e s aved

5 T r a n s l a t e q u e s t i o n d a t a i n t o s i m p l e e q u a t i o n s o r e x p r e s s i o n s where approp r i a te .

6 N o w m a k e t h e ' c a l c u l a t io n ' ,

( o f t en an approx i m a t i on ) o r t he l og i ca l deduc t i on on t he

basis of

the'elements

you have ident i f ied in the quest ion and data and es tab l i sh which i s

the exac t answer o r nea res t app rox i m a t i on t o t he poss i b l e answers t ha t a re g i ven .

V & N :

S t ra te gy & App roach / Ph il

baskeil

LED@Leam Eng l i sh .eu .com


6/12

J v^^^^haitt

y

N U M E R I C A L T I P S 2

App roxim ating gains tim e and time is essential in gaining valuable points

App roxima ting is a risk, bu t the biggest risk is not to take any risks (and lose time )

Get used to approxim ating and begin to feel confident doing it.

RE-learn

you ari thmetical tables (1x9=9, 2x9=18 etc.) these wi l l help you to have quick

calculating reflexes

Revise the basic mathem atical processes such as calculating a percentage , average etc. All the

basic material is in the next section

Our trainin g courses offer other tips , shortcu ts and rules of thum b that may help yo u, or

perhaps we can help you to find your own shortcuts.

T ips fo r easy ca l cu la t i ons & a p p r o x i m a t i o n s :

Increase / decre ase:

x y=z

(w here x= 3 , y= 2 ) d i f fe rence i s 1 - ( th i s p rocess g i ves a

n u m b e r ) . Percen tage inc rease /dec rease g i ves a num ber expressed as a percen tage .

R a t io : x : y ( w h e r e x = l ;

y=2)

= 1:2 - ( th is process g ives a ra t i o , e . g . 1 : 2 , wh ich can

easi ly be

converted

in to a f r a c t i o n o r p e r c e n t a g e , thus V represen ts

or 5 0 % o f V )

Av e r a g e : x + y + )

n u m b e r 2

3 = average whe re

x = 3 ,

y = 2 ,

z = l

to ta l is

6

a n d

ave r ag e i s a

You may f i nd tha t i t i s wor th re - lea rn ing those ch i l dhood

m u l t i p l i c a t i o n t a b l e s

so tha t

answers to s imp le ca lcu la t i ons come spon taneous ly .

1 x 9= 9 2 x 9 = 18 3 9= 27 etc.

one p lace to the le f t to d iv ide and one p lace to the r ight to

m u l t i p l y .

E.g. 300

-=-10

=

3 0 . 0 ; 3 0 0 10

=

3000 , In who le num bers the dec ima l po in t i s no t sho wn , bu t don ' t

forg et tha t i t is s t i l l the re at the end of the nu m be r, so 50 can be show n as 50 . or 50.0 0 -

bu t th i s is no t usua l ly done . The sam e qu ick ca lcu la t i ons can be done wi t h 100 o r 1000 -

the number o f ze ros

tells

you the num ber o f p laces to mo ve the dec ima l po in t i n

either

direction?

If the re

are

no

figures

to le f t o r r i gh t to a l l ow you to move the dec ima l

point ;

then:you add zeros to c rea te thespaees.needed E.g. 300 4-1 0 0 = 3. 0 0 3 0 0 -1 0 0 0

. 300 (usua l l y rep resen ted as 0 .3) & 300

-f

10 000 = 0 ,03

300 x 1000 =

(Zeros

a t t h e e x t r e m e

left

of a number , and ze ros a t the ex t reme r igh t a f te r the dec ima l po in t

have no va lue . )

3

To s im p l i f y fr a ct io n, divide both top and bottom by the top number,

in this case 3 =

4

To m ke percent ge from, for example,

' x 100 = 300 divided by 12 = 25

12

V & N :

S trateg y & App roach / Phi l

Gaskell

[email protected],com


7/12

Youm y a lso f ind it he l p fu l to l earn these p e r c e n ta g e s ndt h e i r e q u i v a l e n t s in

f r a c t i o n s and the assoc ia ted num ber usedin d i v i s i on . Do not fee l t ha t you mu s t l ea rn

t h e m

all,

choose

a few

t h a t

you

f ee l

you

w i l l

be

ab l e

to

r e m e m b e r .

You can

make you r

own l i s toft hose you f i nd m ost u sefu l ,

1 = x = d i v ide by 100 (Seea b o v e - decimal p o i n t )

100

(For o ther percentages ,you canmu l t i p l y t h i s resu l t by 3 for 3 , 8 for 8 etc.)

2

2%=

100

3%= x

100

(For 9% multiply

4

4 = x

100

= x

= x

1

50

1

33.33

result by 3, 12%

= x

(For 8% multiply

by

2, for

5

= .

100

10%= x

1 0

100

X

= X

1

25

1 6 by

1

20

1

10

= divide by 50

= divide by 33

by 4 etc.)

=

divide by 25

4 etc.)

divide by 20

divide by 10

(Fo r pe rcen tages be tw een 10 and 20, 20 and 30 etc. use the resu l tfor 1 0 % ,fore x a m p l e ,and

a ddthe r esu l tfor the a d d it i o n a l n u m b e r : 13 of 660 = resu l tfor 10 = 66+ (3 x 6.6) 19.8 =

8 5 . 8 , For

3 0 % ,

70 etc.

mu l t i p l y resu l t

for 10 by 3, 7 etc.)

20

20 = x = x

100

1

5

(For 40 , 60 , 80 mulit iply the resi

25

25 = x = x

100

(For 75 multiply by 3)

30

30 = x

=

x

100

(Result will be slightly lower

33

33 = x = x

100

5 0 % = x

5 0

- x

100

1

4

1

3

than exact

1

3

1

2

divide by 5

Jit by 2, 3 and

divide by 4

divide by 3

answer)

divide by 3

divide by 2

P rac t ise see ing nu mb ers asvarious mu l t i p l es of o t h e r n u m b e r s

V & N :

S t r a t e g y

&

A pp roach

/

Phi l Gaskel l [email protected]


8/12

kx^

pvokr

dz xhf

l

L^L

e.g. 60 = 6 10 = 3 20 = 4 15

39 = 3 13 but also think of 40 as = 3 x 13 + a little extra

Which is bigger or ? o r ? Rem em ber tha t the bigger the num ber a t the

3 5 65 45

3 1

bot tom th e smal le r i s the va lue of the express ion, o r ? Divide both top and

60 30

3 - 1 1

bot tom num ber by th e top nu mb er to s impli fy: = ; i s therefore smaller .

60 20 30

In doing add it ions an d sub tracti ons it is of ten e asier to break the nu m be rs down into their

c ons t i t ue n t e l e me n t s :

2050+2410+2440+2300

( 4 x 2 0 0 0 ) + ( 2 x 4 0 0 ) + ( l x 3 0 p ) + ( 5 0 + 1 0 + 4 0 )

= 8 0 0 0 + 8 0 0 + 3 0 0 + 1 0 0 =

9 2 0 0

2 1 8 0 + 2 4 3 0 + 2 3 9 0 + 2 4 0 7

( 4 x 2 0 0 0 ) + (2 x 4 0 0 ) + ( l x 3 0 0 ) + 1 0 0 + ( 8 0 + 3 0 + 9 0 + 7 )

= 8 0 0 0 + 8 0 0 + 3 0 0 + 1 0 0 + 2 0 7 = 9 4 0 7

7 .4 + 10 .4 + 6 .2

(7 + 10 + 6 = 23) + (0.4 + 0.4 + 0.2 = 1) = 24

2.6 + 8.9 +

6.5

(2 + 8 + 6 =

16

+ (0.6 + 0.9 + 0.5

=

2)

=

18

Verba l Ques t ions

What are the quest ions l ike?

Each set of verbal quest ions begins with a text of about 8 or 9 l ines fol lowed by two or three

questions to each of which there are four possible answers in the form of statements, A-D, - you

mus t s e l e c t o n e .

The a ns w e r / s t a t e me n t m us t be c hose n

b a s e d o n th e in fo rm a t i o n g i v e n in th e t ex t , n o t o n y o u r

p r e v i o u s k n o w l e d g e o r o p i n i o n , o r t h e t r u t h o r un t r u t h of t h e t e x t o r s t a t e m e n t . It is

espec ia l ly impor tant to r emember th is in verba l ques t ions where your per sona l knowledge i s more

likely to insist on being listened to.

V&N: St rat eg y & App roach / PhilGaskell [email protected]


9/12

The cor r ec t answe r does not need to cor respond com ple te ly to the in f orm at io n in the te x t ; a l l tha t i s

req uire d is th at i t is the n e a r e s t e q u i v a l e n t t o an e l emen t i n t he t ex t . S ome s ta tem en ts may

som et i m es seem ve ry i nadequa te i n t e rm s o f con ten t w hen com pared w i t h t he t e x t .

M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y , t h e s t a t e m e n t m u s t n o t d i s a g r e e w i t h t he t ex t .

V E R B A L T I P S 1 :

Do not read the tex t f irst - you will not be able to hold on to the details and will only have to read it again and

again.

Th etrick is NOT to read the text, but rather to f ish out the im porta nt elem ents in i t .

Your choice of answer must be based on the information given in the tex t.

Bew are of this danger with verb al questions. Do not bring in your own op inion, outside knowledge, or any

judgment

on the correctness or otherwise of the information that you have been given.

You are not looking for exact equivalence between text and proposed answer, but the nearest equ ivalent -

synonyms or near synonyms are often used to make this more diff icult.

Remem ber, statemen ts must not disagree

H o w t o a p p r o a c h a q u e s t i o n

1 Read the q u e s t i o n a n d t h e f i r s t s t a t e m e n t and unde r l i ne t he k e y w o r d s a n d e l e m e n t s -

who? what? where? when? how? etc .

2 S c a n r e a d t h e t e x t and unde r l i ne t he k e y w o r d s a n d e l e m e n t s - who? wha t? where?

when? how? etc .

3 S e l e c t i v e r e a d i n g . Try to deve lop the techn ique o f ma k ing q u i c k v i s u a l f i x e s on the key

w ords and e l emen ts and l e t t he w ords in be tween fa l l i n to the background - th is is especial ly

i mpor tan t i n read i ng t he t ex t w h i ch t akes t oo much t i me t o read rea l l y t ho rough l y .

4 N ow compare key w ords and e l eme n ts i n t he s ta teme n t w i t h t hose in t he t ex t t o f i nd

equ i va l ence . Go t h rou gh t he same p rocedu re w i t h each s ta te me n t i n o rde r un t i l you f ind t he

b e s t e q u i v a l e n c e be tw een t he t ex t and one s ta tem en t - y ou can exc lude any s ta tem en t

th at i s obv iou s ly in conf l i c t w i th the tex t imm ed ia te ly , and con cen t ra te on the rem ain ing

s ta tem en ts . Y ou may no t f i nd a pe r fec t equ i va l ence - yo u mu s t

x

make t he bes t o f a bad j ob . '

So me th in g or som eone re fe r red to in one way in the tex t m ay be re fer red to in a d i f fe rent

w ay i n t he s ta tem en ts , ( i . e . *D ane ' may become

x

an i n h a b i t a n t o f D e n m a r k ' ; 'i n March '

m a y b e c o m e

in

t he t h i rd mon th o f t he yea r ' o r

4n

ear l y spr ing ' ) - not a l l exac t l y the same,

bu t none o f t he m con t rad i c t i ons . )

5 O m i s s i o n o f i n f o r m a t i o n d o e s n o t i n v a l i d a t e a s t a t e m e n t ,

e.g.

T e x t : '...Final se lec t ion o f t ra inees i s made by the DGs (D i rec to ra tes -Ge nera l ) and S e rv ices o f t he

C ommi ss i on unde r t he i r exc l us i ve respons i b i l i t y acco rd i ng t o t he i r ow n needs and requ i remen ts . '

Q u e s t i o n : Which o f the fo l low ing s ta tements i s cor rec t? '

P r o p o s e d answ er : The D Gs may choose acco rd i ng t o t he i r needs ' (The f ac t t ha t ' f i n a l ' &

'Services o f t he Commission'are bo th m i ss i ng doesn ' t i nva l i da te t he answ er . )

V & N :

S t r a t e g y &App roac h / Phi l Gaskeil L E D @ L e a r n t n g l i s h . e u . c o m


10/12

6 Iden t i f y wh at is g e n e r a l and what i s p a r t i c u l a r - the par t i cu la r be longs in a genera l

ca teg ory , bu t a genera l ca tegory does no t be long in a par t i cu la r exa mp le . (A bee is an

insect , but not a l l insects are bees.)

7 In search ing fo r equ iva len ce , pay par t i cu la r a t te n t io n to thos e fea tu re s i l l us t ra ted be low:

T h e

d i f f e r e n c e s i n m e a n i n g

b e t w e e n t h e t e x t a n d t h e s t a t e m e n t m a y b e

s u b t l e :

these

d i f fe rences may l i e i n the word ca tegor ies be low, so look ou t fo r these very care fu l l y :

D e t e r m i n e r s

Ex a m p l e :

Q u a n t i t i e s

Ex a m p l e :

n u m b e rs

a

one

all

each

none

100

200

s o m e

a m a j o r i t y

m o s t

few

part of

a h u n d re d

a b o u t t w o

Look ou t fo r qua l i f y ing adverbs :

a l m o s t

a p p r o x i m a t e l y

more or less

V e r b s

t i m e and modes : p resent , fu tu re & pas t

The ind ica t i ve i s used to

re fer to

rea l s i tua t ions .

Th e c o n d i t i o n a l , t h e s u b j u n c t i v e ,

a re used to re fe r to hypothe t i ca l

s i t u a t i o n s .

is ,

w i l l be,

m a y b e c o m e

A d v e r b s o f t i m e

Ex a m p l e :

never

a l w a y s

C a u s a l s u c c e s s i o n :

what caused what?

Eve nt 1 + eve nt 2 lead to

Ac t ion 1 + act ion 2 lead to

s o m e t i m e s

rare ly

event 3

act ion 3

C h r o n o l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e : what happened f i rs t? nex t? f i na l l y?

8 T ip fo r i den t i f y ing

s e v e r a l e l e m e n t s in a t e x t a n d s t a t e m e n t :

D i f fe ren t e lements in a tex t

can be numbered in bo th tex t and s ta tements in o rder to es tab l i sh a c lear l i nk be tween the two.

In th i s case do the number ing in the tex t f i rs t , then in the s ta tements , e .g .

1

V & N :

Strategy & Approach / Phi l Gaskel l

LtLKgjLearnEnglish.eu.com


11/12

T e x t :

...Requests m us t p rov i de t he f o l l ow i ng i n fo rm a t i on ; num ber o f pa r t i c i pan ts

[ 1 ]

(no fewer

than 10 ; g roups o f ove r 40 m ay g i ve r i se t o o rgan i sa t i ona l d i f f i cu l t i es ) ; age o f pa r t i c i pan ts

[ 2 ]

( m i n i m u m a g e : 1 8 ) ; n a t u r e o f y o u r g ro u p [ 3 ] and leve l o f knowledge of the European Union

[ 4 ] ; i n fo rm a t i on abou t you r o rgan i sa t i on [ 5 ] . . . '

Q u e s t i o n : 'What i n fo rm a t i on m us t be p rov i ded to reques t a v i s i t ? '

P r o p o s e d a n s w e r :

T he age o f t he pa r t i c i pan ts

[ 2 ] ,

t h e n u m b e r

[ 1 ] ,

t he t ype o f g roup

[ 3 ] ,

the i r leve l o f knowledge of the EU [ 4 ] and i n fo rm a t i on on t he o rgan i sa t i on [ 5 ] '

VERBAL TI PS 2

Iden tify wha t is

g en er a l

and what is

particular

- 'A bee is an insect, but not all insects

are bees.'

Watch out for differences in meaning that are found only in - determiners (a / so me) , quantit ies (100 / abou

10),

adverbs (usually / always), verb tenses (was / is; may / wil l), chronological order and cause and effect

Practise scan reading technique s and visual fixing - it gets easier with practice and save

a lot of t ime.

Do not read the proposed answers again and again. Just make an intuit ive choice.

Fur ther read ing and in format ion:

T he webs i t e o f

r enouveau

& Democrat ie ' has a lo t o f usefu l in format ion that may he lp you in

p r e p a r i n g

fo r

t h e c o m p e t i t i o n : w w w , r e n o u v e a u

.org

. You can also f ind many MCQs on the

European Un i on ' s h i s to ry , po l i c i es and i ns t i t u t i ons on R&D's Euro Quiz webs i te

N

www.quizzeuro.com .

The EPSO webs i te i s essent ia l for f ind ing in format ion on compet i t ions in genera l and on par t i cu lar

c o m p e t i t i o n s : http:/ /europa.eu.int/epso

Numerical Reasoning Tests - A S tep by S tep Guide to Learn ing the Bas ic Sk i l l s ' , He id i Smi th , (0

7 4 9 4 3 9 5 8 0 , Kogan Page)

'Numeracy

Reasoning Tests ' , Harry To l ley & Ken Thomas, (0 7494 3437 6, Kogan Page)

'

V e rb a l Reason i ng T es ts ' , Ha r ry T o ll ey & Ken T ho m a s , (0 7994

3436

8 , Kogan Page)

The thre e books above ma y mos t eas i l y be bo ug ht v ia the Ama zon UK web s i te -

www.amazon.co.uk o r v ia the Kogan Page webs i te - www.koqan-paqe.co.uk On both s i tes you

w i l l f i nd m any o the r s i m i l a r books t ha t m ay be he l p fu l f o r V&N Reason i ng and o the r p ro fess i ona l

sk i l l s .

'Verbal and Num er i ca l Reason i ng MCQ - fo r t he European Ins t i t u t i o ns ' com pe t i t i ons -

M e tho do l ogy and 160 Ques t i ons and Answ ers ' 2005 E d i t i on , E . He t ru & J .L. B i zeu r (2 -95 21 62 9-

2 - 1 , ORSEU)

11

V & N :

btrategy

& Approach /

Phil Gaskell

[email protected]
http://www.quizzeuro.com/http://www.quizzeuro.com/http://europa.eu.int/epsohttp://www.amazon.co.uk/http://www.amazon.co.uk/http://www.koqan-paqe.co.uk/http://www.koqan-paqe.co.uk/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.koqan-paqe.co.uk/http://www.amazon.co.uk/http://europa.eu.int/epsohttp://www.quizzeuro.com/


12/12

This book, and others usefu l in prepar ing for the compet i t ions , may be bought v ia the ORSEU

w e b s i t e : www.orseu.com o r by contac t ing Orseu d i rec t :

ORSEU,

3 rue Bayard ,F-59000 Li l le, FRANCE

Tel : +33) 3 .20 .47 .1 5 .24 . Fa x : + 33) 3 .20 .31 .91 .82

12

V & N :

S t ra tegy & Approach / Ph i l

Gaskeli LEDpLearnEngiish.eu.com
http://www.orseu.com/http://www.orseu.com/http://www.orseu.com/

verbal and numericaverbal and numerical reasoning

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