Verbal Reasoning
What the section tests
Verbal reasoning at clerical level blends passage comprehension (often true / false / cannot say), vocabulary in context, synonyms and antonyms, analogies, and grammar, punctuation and spelling.
The controlling rule
For passage questions, the only permitted evidence is the text in front of you. True means the passage supports the statement. False means the passage contradicts it. Cannot say means the passage neither supports nor contradicts it - even if you know it to be true from real life. Exam writers deliberately include statements that are factually true but absent from the passage; those are Cannot say, not True.
Recurring traps
- Absolute wording: all, every, never, only, must - usually false unless the passage states it.
- Reversed roles: swapping who did what, or flipping cause and effect.
- Near-synonyms that shift meaning (“declined” versus “refused”, “may” versus “will”).
- Outside knowledge and plausible assumptions.
- Answering the passage’s general topic rather than the specific statement.
Worked example
Passage: “The office closes at 5pm, but staff handling the post may stay until 6pm.”
- “All staff stay until 6pm.” - False: the passage limits this to post staff.
- “Some staff may leave after 5pm.” - True.
- “Staff who stay late are paid overtime.” - Cannot say: pay is not mentioned.
Rule of thumb
Before choosing, put your finger on the sentence that decides it. If no single sentence settles the statement, the answer is Cannot say. Never reason from what “usually happens” in offices.