Verbal Reasoning

These Eleven Plus questions come from a 1963 book: “Essentials of Verbal Reasoning” by O.B. Gregory.

Use the letters of the word in capitals to make words which match the definitions below:

FURNITURE

The hair covering certain animals
A bird of the gull family
A melody
To move quickly on the legs
False, incorrect or unfaithful.

Each of the following pairs of definitions refers to the same word Write down what the words are:

The underneath of a part of a shoe
A flat fish

A slap
A small fishing vessel

A black substance made from tar
A piece of ground on which a game is played

A natural, flying animal
A piece of wood used for hitting a ball.

Write down the words which would complete the following analogies:

Britain is to British as Holland is to
Kilometre is to length as kilogram is to
Day is to daybreak and night is to

Arrange the following words in pairs, putting a harder word next to an easier word of a similar meaning:

Difficult, diminutive, incorrect, ancient, circular, generous, contented, intoxicated, colossal, courageous.

Old, happy, brave, round, hard, drunk, huge, small, kind, wrong.

It looks as if the thought behind verbal reasoning questions has not moved on all that much in the years between 1963 and 2008. I know that if it works don’t try to change it – but surely we have made great strides in the education and assessment over the last fifty years that there could be a case for a re-think?