Sample Verbal Comprehension Questions

These questions consist of a short passage of text and some related questions. Verbal comprehension questions will often be about a topic which is unfamiliar to you, but this is an advantage rather than a disadvantage because you need to answer the questions based only on the information that you are given - not using any knowledge that you already have.

You should read through each passage and evaluate the statements which follow it according to these rules below. Remember to answer the questions based only on the information that you are given.

True - The statement is true given the information in the passage.
False - The statement is false given the information in the passage.
Can't Say - There is insufficient information to say whether the statement is true or false.

These types of question appear in all levels of verbal ability tests but may be more detailed and technical in graduate and management level tests.

Sample Comprehension Questions

Glaciers begin to form where snow remains year-round and enough of it accumulates to transform into ice. New layers of snow compress the previous layers and this compression forces the icy snow to re-crystallize, forming grains similar in size and shape to cane sugar. Gradually the grains grow larger and the air pockets between the grains get smaller, meaning that the snow slowly becomes more dense. After about two winters, the snow turns into firn, an intermediate state between snow and ice. Over time the larger ice crystals become more compressed and even denser, this is known as glacial ice. Glacial ice, because of its density and ice crystals, often takes a bluish or even green hue.

1) Glaciers cannot form where snow does not remain all year round.

2) Firn is less dense than snow but more dense than ice.

3) Glacial ice is always greenish or bluish in color.

4) Snow falls every year in areas where glaciers form.

5) The increase in density is caused by the grains becoming smaller.

A power of attorney or letter of attorney in common law systems or mandate in civil law systems is an authorization to act on someone else's behalf in a legal or business matter. The person authorizing the other to act is the "principal" or "grantor", and the one authorized to act is the "agent" or "attorney-in-fact". The attorney-in-fact acts "in the principal's name," signing the principal's name to documents and filing suit with the principal's name as plaintiff, for example.

As one kind of agent, an attorney-in-fact is a fiduciary for the principal, so the law requires an attorney-in-fact to be completely honest with and loyal to the principal in their dealings with each other. If the attorney-in-fact is being paid to act for the principal, the contract is a separate matter from the power of attorney itself, so if that contract is in writing, it is a separate document, kept private between them, whereas the power of attorney is intended to be shown to various other people.

The power of attorney may be oral, such as asking someone else to sign your name on a cheque because your arm is broken, or may be in writing. Many institutions, such as hospitals, banks, and the I.R.S., require a power of attorney to be in writing before they will honor it, and they usually want to keep an original for their records.

6) The agent grants the principal the power to act on behalf of the grantor.

7) All contracts between the principal and the agent must be made public

8) The power of attorney may be granted verbally.

9) Only a legal professional can be granted the power of attorney.

10) In civil law systems the power of attorney is referred to as a mandate.

Answer to sample verbal comprehension questions.

Most people find that the best way to tackle comprension questions is to scan the text fairly quickly to get the general idea and then to attempt each question in turn, referring back to the appropriate part of the text. This is obviously more important when the passage of test is fairly lengthy and complex as it is in the second example above.

Download sample verbal comprehension questions       

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