Civil Service Reading Comprehension Practice Test Results

Question 1
54% answer correctly

Six years ago, lawyer-banker-scholar Charles Morris wrote a prophetic book - `Two-Trillion-Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High-Rollers and the Great Credit Crunch` - that foresaw the 2008 Great Recession before it clobbered America and the world.

Now Morris has reversed course and sees good times ahead. His forthcoming book, `Comeback,` predicts that surging U.S. energy independence will bring a buoyant rise in American manufacturing and jobs.


The implication of this passage is that you should pay attention to Charles Morris because:

He`s an economic expert
His predictions have come true once already
His new book is a best seller
The U.S. is becoming more energy independent
Question 2
48% answer correctly

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870. Pragmatism is a rejection of the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Instead, pragmatists develop their philosophy around the idea that the function of thought is as a instrument or tool for prediction, action, and problem solving.

Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics - such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science - are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes rather than in terms of representative accuracy.


Pragmatism would best be described as a philosophy that focuses on:

Imagination and planning for the future.
Describing and understanding the nature of reality.
Reflection and learning from the past.
Practicality and present problem solving.
Question 3
81% answer correctly

Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew.


Which of the following does NOT go into the calculation of deadweight tonnage?

weight of ballast water
weight of passengers
weight of crew
weight of the ship