Verbal Reasoning: Word Problems, Logic, and Analogies
Verbal Reasoning is where OLSAT Level C asks a child to reason with language and numbers together: arithmetic reasoning (short word problems), logical selection (choose the statement that must be true), verbal analogies, and letter patterns such as how far apart two letters sit in the alphabet.
Arithmetic reasoning
Translate the sentence into operations before computing. "Three more than twice as many" means 2 × n, then + 3 - order matters. Underline what the question asks ("how many are left?") so you do not stop at an intermediate number.
Logical selection
Exactly one answer is guaranteed by the facts given. If all poets in the club read daily, and Ravi is a poet in the club, then "Ravi reads daily" must be true; "Ravi writes a poem every day" is only a guess. Test each option with "could this be false while the facts stay true?" If yes, eliminate it.
Analogies
Name the relationship in a sentence before choosing: a thermometer measures temperature; a scale measures weight. Keep the direction - if the first pair runs small to large, the answer must too.
Worked example. Maya has 3 more than twice as many stickers as Leo. Leo has 7. How many does Maya have? Twice 7 is 14; three more is 17. The distractor 10 comes from adding before doubling (7 + 3 = 10, then × 2), and 14 is the "twice only" trap.
Traps
- Matching an analogy by topic (both words concern weather) instead of by relationship.
- Accepting a "probably true" answer in logical selection.
- Stopping at a halfway value in a word problem.
- Reversing the analogy pair, as in choosing temperature : thermometer after thermometer : temperature.