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1. 1
Open Competition COM/B/1/01
Administrattive assistants (B5/B4)
Test (a)
A test comprising a series of multiple-choice questions to assess the
candidate’s general ability, in particular its verbal and numerical capacity.
Selection of 15 out of 30 questions from Open competition COM/B/1/01
and verbal and numerical reasoning test (a)
Time proposed: 22 minutes
We suggest that you print the test and do it on paper.

2. 1
Each question consists of a text and four statements. Your task is to indicate
which of the four statements can best be derived from the given text.
N.B. Sometimes a statement will be in entire or partial contradiction to the given text.
Sometimes a statement itself is true, but that fact cannot be derived from the sample
text. Base your answer exclusively on the information provided by the text. You may
only choose one statement for your answer.
1. A small group of scientists is claiming that the greenhouse effect is not such a
scientific certainty as, for instance, gravity (that is indeed true) and that for the
time being it should therefore be considered hypothetical or even untrue. The
vast majority of scientists, however, are of the opinion that enough indications of
the effect have been found that - putting it mildly - it would be irresponsible to
ignore them and to continue using energy resources in the same way as we are
presently doing.
a. As the greenhouse effect is still only hypothetical, nearly all scientists say that
you should exercise caution in linking decisions to the phenomenon.
b. As evidence for the greenhouse effect is far less definite than the evidence for
the existence of gravity, a small group of scientists are saying that we do not
need to do anything about today's massive use of energy resources.
c. As the greenhouse effect probably doesn't even exist, scientists feel that further
research should be carried out.
d. Many scientists are of the opinion that we should immediately start to take the
existence of the greenhouse effect into consideration.
2. China is too large and too many people live there. That is the complaint on
everyone's lips when traffic in China's congested cities once more comes to a
standstill, people worm their way through shopping streets, or criticism is levelled
at the impotence of China's leaders. But none of that mattered on the day that
Hong Kong was handed back. With the return of Hong Kong, China has become
even larger and that is an important fact for the merry-makers in Beijing.
a. When traffic in a congested Chinese city comes to a standstill, everyone says
that it is because China is over-populated.
b. On the day that Hong Kong was returned to China it was once more frantically
busy in Beijing.
c. On the day that Hong Kong once more became part of China, no-one was angry
with the Chinese leaders.
d. It does no good to complain about congestion in China, certainly not on a day of
celebration.

3. 2
3. Apartheid and Kruger Park, for a long time those were the two things which the
world associated with South Africa. After the abolition, in 1993, of the most
sophisticated system of racial discrimination which the world has ever known, all
that was left was Kruger Park, an institution which apparently had nothing to do
with the evil of the past. For a long time, the Park had been seen as a model of a
successful way to protect "good nature" against "evil man".
a. Kruger Park is a successful example of how "good nature" can be protected
against "evil man".
b. Two things can be mentioned which were long associated with South Africa. One
of them, Kruger Park, still exists.
c. Kruger Park, as we had known it until then, was closed down in 1993.
d. The things with which South Africa had been associated until 1993 have all
changed or been abolished.
4. It is expected that the social changes taking place in South Africa will also have
been incorporated into Kruger Park within a few years. Then, Kruger Park will be
seen to have become part of the new South Africa. The present, mainly black,
government is not planning to slaughter this goose that lays the golden eggs:
nearly a million people visit the park each year. A well-known politician even sees
the Park as having a constructive function: "Appreciation of the natural
environment and the conservation of nature can forge a link between all South
Africans and can become an aspect of political maturity of which we can all be
proud."
a. The present mainly black government is expected to introduce substantial social
changes in Kruger Park.
b. On the basis of nearly a million visitors each year, Kruger Park can rightly be
seen as the goose that lays the golden eggs.
c. A well-known politician thinks that Kruger Park is a model for South African
society.
d. Within a couple of years, policies concerning Kruger Park will need to drastically
change or it will cease to be such an important source of income.
5. All road, rail, air and inland shipping traffic in and around Breukelen came to a
standstill on Sunday when a British Second World War bomb had to be
deactivated. Inhabitants of houses inside the immediate danger zone had to
remain indoors with the windows open and curtains pulled shut. The police
invoked emergency byelaws to enable them to act against anyone found on the
streets.
a. People were not allowed on the street in Breukelen on Sunday because a
Second World War bomb had been found.
b. The lives of many inhabitants of Breukelen were disrupted on Sunday as a result
of the explosion of the bomb.
c. The police invoked emergency byelaws in Breukelen on Sunday, bringing traffic
to a standstill for several hours.
d. If you lived within the immediate danger zone around the site in Breukelen where
the bomb was deactivated last Sunday, you had to stay indoors but keep the
windows open.

4. 3
6. The bible was right. At least, it was in the sense of nature conservation. Adam
was told to give all the animals a name, and Noah filled a boat with them, but The
Netherlands has regulated nature in plans from A to Z. Man held, and still holds,
the life and death of the animal and plant world around him firmly in his hands, as
if by some divine mandate.
a. The Netherlands makes plans in which nature is regulated from A to Z.
b. Man has absolute power over life and death in nature.
c. Adam giving all the animals a name is an example of nature conservancy.
d. The bible was right, for man rules from A to Z in nature.
7. Except for misplaced ideologies, the over-indulged citizen is yet another threat to
the government's nature policies. Although scientists agree that good nature
conservancy depends on preserving as many species as possible, citizens prefer
to see their nature with plenty of parking spaces and playgrounds. Not all animals
and plant species are served by this desire. Nonetheless, this sort of public
desire is kept in mind for political reasons.
a. The citizen would like to see many parking spaces in nature, so that he can visit
nature reserves for instance.
b. Politicians take account of over-indulged citizens.
c. Scientists would dearly like to preserve as many species as possible, but the
over-indulged citizen is against this idea.
d. As the government has to take account of the citizen, with a view to his political
opinion and vote, parking areas are sometimes being created in nature areas
anyway.
8. European regulations contribute to a sensible protection scheme for nature,
because they are international. It would make little sense to try to protect Dutch
migratory birds, for instance, if they are only destined to be shot out of the skies
over France and served up as a delicacy. This can now be avoided because
France has committed itself to the same regulations.
a. The international migration of birds benefits from the protection offered in the
Netherlands.
b. European regulations prevent birds being served as a delicacy in France.
c. The protection of migratory birds in the Netherlands can be more effective if
migratory birds are no longer eaten as a delicacy in France.
d. Since the introduction of European guidelines, migratory birds avoid France.

5. 4
9. It is pretty rough going, up there on the mountaintop where Lhasa has been built.
Mobile phones don't work in the Tibetan capital. Slowly the travellers realise that
they have never strayed so far off the beaten track, and that here there are rats
even in the Holiday Inn. These unsuspecting tourists are being called the new
generation of Tibetan travellers; inspired by the film Seven Years in Tibet (with
Brad Pitt as leading man) they loaded their suitcases. The Brad Pitt effect has
done the travel agencies no harm at all, because the film was in the cinemas over
a year ago and people are still admitting that the film was the most important
inducement to make the trip.
a. As their mobile phones do not work in Lhasa, modern tourists in Tibet are caught
like rats in a trap.
b. Many participants in a trip to Tibet admit that they are doing so because of a film
they saw.
c. The fact that Brad Pitt had a role in a film about Tibet has induced many people
to visit that country.
d. Many visitors to Tibet are unsuspecting tourists who find it really rough going and
will probably never come back.
10. In Papua New Guinea it sounds a bit hackneyed if someone says that he was
born in the stone age and that his own lifetime has bridged ten thousand years of
history. Half a million people living in the valleys of the Highlands were only
discovered by western gold-diggers and missionaries in the nineteen thirties.
New tribes were being discovered right up to the nineteen sixties, and it is
claimed that an unknown tribe still lives in the border area between three
provinces. They are said to live in trees for fear of crocodiles, and to have had no
contact at all with western civilisation.
a. Western gold-diggers made it possible for many people in Papua New Guinea to
bridge the gap from the stone age and ten thousand years of history to the
present day.
b. Even now there are undiscovered tribes living in the trees of the Highlands of
Papua New Guinea.
c. New tribes were being discovered in Papua New Guinea as recently as the
nineteen sixties.
d. The fear of crocodiles makes the people live in trees.

6. 1
21. What is the ratio of the production of cattle farming to other agricultural
production in country X in the year 2002?
a. 2 : 1 b. 1 : 1 c. 3 : 1 d. 1 : 2
22. In which agricultural sectors does the lowest production occur in the year 2002 in
countries X and Y respectively?
a. arable and
horticulture
b. arable and
cattle farming
c. horticulture and
arable
d. dairy and
arable
23. If there is a development whereby half the beef cattle production disappears in
country X in 2003, and horticultural production doubles, what will then be country
X's total agricultural production in millions of euros?
a. 32 b. 34 c. 36 d. 38
24. Dairy production in country Y is the largest by far in 2002. By how much must the
dairy production in country X increase to reach the same level of production?
a. 16 million euros b. 12 million euros c. 8 million euros d. 4 million euros
25. If investments are made in country X so that beef and dairy production increases
by 25%, and arable and horticultural production by 50%, by what percentage will
that country's total agricultural production increase in comparison with 2002?
a. 25% b. 33 1/3% c. 40% d. 50%
Agricultural production in country X and country Y in 2002
in millions of euros
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Country X 12 12 8 4
Country Y 8 16 4 12
beef cattle dairy cattle arable horticulture

7. 1
Answers
1 D
2 A
3 B
4 B
5 D
6 A
7 B
8 C
9 B
10 C
21A
22 C
23 B
24 D
25 B