Verbal reasoning test practice: free True / False / Cannot say questions

A verbal reasoning test gives you a short passage and a statement, and you decide whether the statement is True, False or Cannot say using only the passage; employers use it to screen graduate and job applicants. Start with 5 free questions with explanations, then take two full timed tests of 30 questions in 19 minutes, the length and time of SHL's Verify Verbal Reasoning test, with original passages and your score per question type.

• 5 free questions
• 2 timed tests, 60 questions
• Real pace: 30 in 19 minutes
• Every answer explained
• Practice certificate PDF

Verbal reasoning test format

Sources: SHL Verify Verbal Reasoning fact sheet and SHL Direct verbal reasoning example page, checked 2 November 2026. Other publishers, such as Aon (cut-e), IBM Kenexa and Korn Ferry (Talent Q), use their own lengths and time limits; ask your employer or read the invitation for the exact test you will take.

True, False or Cannot say: the three answers

• True: the passage says it, or it follows directly from what the passage says. Example: a passage says adult tickets cost $12 and children pay half price; 'a child's ticket costs $6' is True.
• False: the passage says the opposite. In the same passage, 'adult tickets cost $10' is False.
• Cannot say: the passage does not settle it either way, even if it sounds likely. If a café was offered a new lease, 'the café signed the new lease' is Cannot say.

The test is about reading logic, not vocabulary or general knowledge: what you know about the topic does not count. The most common traps are words that change the claim (most, all, only, offered, expects), a cause read into two things that happen together, and figures for one period applied to another.

What you practise on MyLevel

Every passage on MyLevel is original, written in plain everyday English about work and public life (pay rules, schedules, surveys, prices), with one keyed answer and an explanation that points to the line in the passage that decides it. Each test has 30 questions in 19 minutes: 8 passages with 3 statements each (24 True / False / Cannot say, 8 of each answer) and 6 shorter questions where you pick which of four statements is true, false, must follow or cannot be judged. After each test you see your score per question type.

SHL offers free example questions on its own site. MyLevel is a different, independent product: 2 timed practice tests for $9.99, a one-time payment with no subscription and no time limit, which also unlocks every other MyLevel job test, such as the Watson Glaser test practice.

How to pass a verbal reasoning test

• Use only the passage: treat it as true, even if you know better, and add nothing from outside.
• Ask 'does the passage settle it?': if it neither says nor rules out the statement, the answer is Cannot say.
• Watch the small words: some, most, all, only, may, must, expects and offered change what a statement claims.
• Do not read in causes: a fall after a change does not show the change caused it unless the passage says so.
• Check the numbers: work out percentages and differences instead of estimating them.
• Train under the clock: 38 seconds per question; read the statement first, then find the lines it is about. Take a full MyLevel test, read every explanation you missed, then retake.

MyLevel's score bands are our own practice guide, not a publisher percentile or an employer's cut-off.

MyLevel is independent and not affiliated with, or endorsed by, SHL, Aon (cut-e), IBM Kenexa, Korn Ferry (Talent Q) or any employer. Brand names are used only to describe the style of test and belong to their owners. All passages and questions are original practice questions written by MyLevel, not real test questions, and a practice score is not an employer test score.

Sample question with explanation

Frequently asked questions

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