2. What Is a Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT)?
A Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) is a diagnostic
test designed to assess how people think
and learn.
They measure a person’s ability
to solve problems.
CAT tests are graded according to age.
3. What Is Verbal Reasoning?
Verbal reasoning refers to the way people think
about, comprehend and make connections
with words.
A verbal reasoning question measures a person’s
understanding of language through:
• verbal comprehension (understanding words)
• reasoning and logic (problem solving and
critical thinking)
4. Let’s look at some verbal reasoning
questions aimed at children
eight to ten years of age.
See if you can work out
the answers.
5. A flock of birds, a pack of…
1
cats
dogs
flies
people
dogs
6. Which of the following is
the opposite of generous?
2
giving
abundant
bountiful
stingy
stingy
7. Rearrange the words
to create a sentence:
wet the on sat the carpet dog
Is it True or False?
3
true
false
unable to answer
a sentence cannot be formed
unable to answer
8. Fingers are to hands
as toes are to…
4
feet
legs
toenails
arms
feet
9. As thunder clapped loudly
and bolts of lightning streaked
across the sky, the boy felt…
5
scared
sad
cold
wet
scared
10. Which of the following
words is the odd one out?
6
rock
stone
pebble
marble
marble
11. The following three words are
related in some way:
racecar, reviver, radar
Which of the words below is
also related to these words?
7
room
wow
remember
travel
wow
12. Which of the following
is not the opposite of heavy?
8
light
thin
dense
wispy
dense
13. Rearrange the words below
to form a sentence
felt the I cold bus on
Which of the words follows ‘cold’?
9
the
I
on
felt
on
14. Smell is to smelt, hear is to…
10
hearing
smelling
saw
heard
heard
15. These three words go together:
train, bus, plane
Which of the words below fits
best with the words above?
11
car
taxi
motorbike
bicycle
taxi
16. Which of the letters can
be added to the word HEAD
to create a new word?
12
R
L
T
I
R
17. Ate is to eat, brought is too…
13
hearing
smelling
saw
bring
bring
18. Which letter can be removed
from the word STREAM to
create a new word without
rearranging the letters?
14
R
E
A
M
R
T
S
19. cricket, baseball / bird, moth
Which of the words below
goes equally well with both
of the pairs above?
15
donkey
bat
yoga
athletics
bat
cat
20. Find the odd one out in the
following series of words:
16
sought
caught
cough
rort
cough
21. These three words go together:
wolf, star, sleep
Which of the words below fits
best with the words above?
17
nip
pop
stay
night
night
22. Which of the following word
pairs is the odd one out?
18
creak / creek
ball / bawl
tort / taught
steer / stare
steer / stare
23. A word of three letters is hidden at the
end of one word and the beginning of the
next word. Which pair of words contains
the hidden word?
she realised her earrings were lost
19
she realised
her earrings
earrings were
were lost
she realised
24. These grouped words are connected:
elegant man / a gentle man
school master / the classroom
conversation / voices rant on
Which of the grouped words
below are also connected?
20
dirty room / household things
funeral / real fun
eating dinner / breakfast time
slowly stand / move up
funeral / real fun
25. Now it’s your turn!
Write a verbal reasoning question of
your own on a piece of paper.
Mark the correct answer.
Place the question in a box.
Take turns picking questions out of the
box and reading them out to the class.
