OLSAT® Question Type:Verbal Comprehension Questions
/In this post, we start with an overview of "Verbal Comprehension" section, which includes 4 question types.
We provide links to sample questions and strategies for each of the 4 question types, which students can use to perform successfully on the Verbal Comprehension section of the official OLSAT® exam.
Verbal Comprehension Questions: What To Expect?
The verbal comprehension questions are aimed at measuring students’ ability to gather and manipulate information from language.
In particular, these questions seek to evaluate how students understand the way words and sentences relate to each other, and also how students interpret nuances in language.
The Verbal Comprehension section has four types of questions.
| Type | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Following Directions | A-C | Following Directions assess a child's ability to listen carefully and choose a representation (figural or pictoral design) of a description that is read out loud by a test administrator. These questions test students knowledge of relational concepts, including distinguishing between and understanding phrases such as as "below", "above" and "in between". |
| Antonyms | D-G | Antonyms require students to search for the opposite meaning of a given word. In particular, this group of questions aims to evaluate a student’s vocabulary skills. Ultimately, these questions require a sophisticated understanding of vocabulary because students have to not only comprehend a word, but also understand it enough so that they can recognize its true opposite. |
| Sentence Completion | D-G | With sentence completion questions, students are required to "fill in the blank(s)" and choose word(s) that create a complete, logical sentence. |
| Sentence Arrangement | D-G | Sentence arrangement questions provide students with sentences that have been mixed up. Looking at this jumbled set of words, students must piece the words together to compose a complete thought. These questions assess a student's ability to understand the structure of language by asking them to take fragmented parts and, from them, create a whole. |
Verbal Comprehension Section: Sample Questions
Try sample questions from every question type on the Verbal Comprehension section: Following Directions, Sentence Arrangement, Sentence Completion and Antonyms.
What's Next?
Learn more about the other areas of the OLSAT and check out sample questions from OLSAT sections on verbal reasoning, pictoral reasoning, figural reasoning, and quantitative reasoning.
If you think you need more information and guidance about the OLSAT, check out our in-depth article on the test, as well as our posts on the verbal and non-verbal section.
Also, learn everything you need to know about other tests that measure a child’s potential to learn in school, like the NNAT2 or the COGAT.
