Verbal Ability Reviewer - Part 35

Practice 20 Verbal Ability questions for the Civil Service Exam (CSE), each with the correct answer and an explanation.

20 questions80% passing markFree

Part 35 of our Verbal Ability reviewer has 20 practice questions in the style of the Civil Service Exam. Answer them in order, read the explanation after each one, and check your score against the 80% passing mark at the end. Questions and choices are reshuffled every time you retake the part.

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Sample questions from Part 35

Here are a few questions from this part. Take the full test to answer all 20 and get your score.

Sample question 1

Choose the best revision of: "The reason that the project was delayed was due to the fact that the funds were not released on time."

  • The project was delayed because the funds were not released on time.
  • The project was delayed due to the fact of the funds not released on time.
  • The reason of the delayed project was because funds were not released.
  • The project's delay was caused because of untimely release of funds.
Answer: The project was delayed because the funds were not released on time.
The first is concise and grammatical; the others keep the redundancy or misuse prepositions.

Sample question 2

Choose the best way to fix: "The consultant recommended several changes. Including a new filing system and a revised schedule."

  • The consultant recommended several changes. And including a new filing system and a revised schedule.
  • The consultant recommended several changes, including a new filing system and a revised schedule.
  • The consultant recommended several changes, and including a new filing system and a revised schedule.
  • The consultant recommended, several changes including, a new filing system and a revised schedule.
Answer: The consultant recommended several changes, including a new filing system and a revised schedule.
"Including ..." is a fragment; attaching it to the main clause with a comma fixes it.

Sample question 3

Which sentence contains an ambiguous (squinting) modifier?

  • The inspector examined the bridge that had collapsed carefully.
  • The inspector carefully examined the bridge that had collapsed.
  • The inspector examined the collapsed bridge carefully.
  • Carefully, the inspector examined the bridge that had collapsed.
Answer: The inspector examined the bridge that had collapsed carefully.
In the first, "carefully" could modify "examined" or "had collapsed".

Sample question 4

Choose the option that completes the sentence in parallel form: "The seminar was both informative and ___."

  • entertaining
  • it entertained
  • was entertaining the people
  • to entertain
Answer: entertaining
"both informative and ..." requires another adjective.

Sample question 5

Classify the sentence: We cleaned the room, arranged the chairs, and set the table.

  • compound sentence
  • complex sentence
  • compound-complex sentence
  • simple sentence
Answer: simple sentence
One subject ("We") with three verbs (compound predicate) and one clause: simple.

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