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?

Power play situations occur frequently.
Both sports feature passing.
Both sports feature the `eggbeater kick`.
Goals are scored by throwing the ball into a net defended by a goalie.
Question 2
73% answer correctly

The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States government. The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance; helping people outside the United States to understand American culture; and helping Americans to understand the cultures of other countries.


Which of the following activities would NOT fit the stated goals of the Peace Corps?

Setting up a computer network for an elementary school in Taiwan.
Teaching English to local business owners in Croatia.
Organizing a foreign exchange program for an American high school.
Organizing a protest against unfair labor laws in Bangladesh.
Question 3
55% answer correctly

Volunteer hosts went to the airport, picked up assigned students, fed them dinner, took them to the opening lecture at the Clay Center, put them in spare bedrooms for the night, then fed them breakfast this morning and will deliver the outstanding teens to buses that convey them to the mountain retreat where they undergo a month of intensive science training and outdoor fun.

Luckily, this year, enough local families volunteered to host all the brilliant youths. In the past, the number of guest homes sometimes fell short, and some of the visitors slept on cots and sleeping bags at local churches. They`re adventurous teens and don`t mind this makeshift camp-in but it`s better if friendly hosts give them a more personal welcome for their stay.


Which of the following topics would the next paragraph in this passage most likely cover?

An overview of what the student`s science training will cover
Instructions for how local families can enroll their children in a similar program
Instructions for how local families can volunteer to become hosts
The story of a time when one of the students stole from his host family