Civil Service Reading Comprehension Practice Test Results

Question 1
53% answer correctly

Water polo, or Water ball, is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores the most goals.

Game play involves swimming, treading water (using a sort of kicking motion known as `eggbeater kick`), players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing the ball into a net defended by a goalie. `Man-up` (or `power play`) situations occur frequently.

Water polo, therefore, has strong similarities to the land-based game of team handball.


Which of the following is NOT a similarity between water polo and team handball?

Both sports feature the `eggbeater kick`.
Both sports feature passing.
Power play situations occur frequently.
Goals are scored by throwing the ball into a net defended by a goalie.
Question 2
70% answer correctly

The Mayan languages form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name, and Mexico recognizes eight more.

The Mayan language family is one of the best documented and most studied in the Americas. Modern Mayan languages descend from Proto-Mayan, a language thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago.


Based on this passage, which of the following statements is true:

The Mayan language family is well documented.
Not much is known about the Mayan language family.
Proto-Mayan is a modern variation of Mayan.
Mayan languages are mainly spoken in South America.
Question 3
52% answer correctly

Conan of Aquilonia is a collection of four linked fantasy short stories written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Robert E. Howard`s seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian.

The stories were originally published in Fantastic for August 1972, July 1973, July 1974, and February, 1975. The collected stories were intended for book publication by Lancer Books, but this edition never appeared due to Lancer`s bankruptcy. The first book edition was issued in paperback by Ace Books in paperback in May 1977.


Which author created Conan the Barbarian?

Lin Carter
Robert E. Howard
L. Sprague de Camp
Ace Lancer