OLSAT Verbal Questions Explained

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• Number of Questions on the OLSAT
  
• OLSAT Verbal Comprehension
• OLSAT Verbal Reasoning
• OLSAT Question Types

The OLSAT is divided into two sections: Verbal and Nonverbal. Every test level has the same amount of verbal and nonverbal questions, except for the Level A for pre-K, which has fewer verbal questions. See the table below for an exact breakdown of verbal, nonverbal, and total questions for each level.

Number of Questions on the OLSAT 

Within the verbal sections, there are two subcategories of questions:

• Verbal Comprehension
• Verbal Reasoning

See the table below to understand how each section is separated into subcategories and question types.

OLSAT Verbal Comprehension

The Verbal Comprehension category includes four question types: Following Directions, Antonyms, Sentence Completion, and Sentence Arrangement. These questions assess a child's ability to observe and understand relationships between words, to understand different meanings of words based on context, and to be able to put words and sentences together in a meaningful way.

Following Directions questions test a child’s ability to listen and understand verbal directions read aloud by the proctor, and match a description to a picture. This will also assess the ability to understand relational terms such as “next to,” “below” and “between.”

Antonyms questions assess a child’s vocabulary, testing the ability to understand and identify words with opposite meanings. Identifying antonyms is similar to identifying synonyms, though understanding antonyms are considered to be more difficult.

Sentence Completion questions assess the ability to complete a sentence in a way that makes sense. Sentence Completion questions test the understanding of logical relationships between words to accurately select the missing words or phrases that make the sentence meaningful.

Sentence Arrangement questions test the ability to understand relationships between words to derive meaning from a sentence. Sentence Arrangement questions assess the ability to arrange a collection of words into a sentence.

OLSAT Verbal Reasoning

The Verbal Reasoning category includes seven question types: Aural Reasoning, Arithmetic Reasoning, Logical Selection, Word/Letter Matrix, Verbal Analogies, Verbal Classification, and Inference. These questions assess a child's ability to ascertain relationships between words, apply inferences to different scenarios, and observe differences and similarities.

Aural Reasoning questions test a child’s ability to visualize and understand a situation on both a large and small scale. They focus on the ability to piece together and infer relevant information from smaller details to form an understanding of the bigger picture. Aural Reasoning questions are read aloud by the instructor, additionally testing children’s ability to hear, understand and follow verbal instructions.”

Arithmetic Reasoning questions test problem solving abilities. Questions focus more on numerical reasoning and logic than they do on computational abilities. These questions assess the child’s ability to use numbers in order to infer relationships, deduce computational rules, and predict outcomes.

Logical Selection questions assess the ability to complete sentences and statements about everyday scenarios using simple logic.

Word/Letter Matrix questions are similar to fill-in-the-blank type questions and test a child’s ability to fill in the missing piece of the puzzle. Given a matrix of words or letters, a child has to be able to use basic logic to figure out the missing portion of the matrix.

Verbal Analogy questions test the ability to find the relationship between two words, and find a second pair of words that are related in the same way.

Verbal Classification questions test the ability to look at a group of words and figure out which one does not belong in the group, based on similarities or differences within the set of words.

Inference questions test the ability to infer the correct conclusion given a syllogism. A syllogism is a logical argument based on multiple propositions that are given and assumed to be true. A classic example of a syllogism is as follows: “All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.” On the test, children will be given the basic propositions and will have to infer the correct conclusion.

In total, the verbal section contains 11 different question types. Refer to the gallery above for a variety of verbal sample questions.

Find out more about OLSAT's verbal and nonverbal testing.