Marcus Delacor

Preparation for the EPSO Selection Procedure

Booklet 4

THE VERBAL REASONING TEST

PART I: THE PRINCIPLE OF
COMPLIANCE
 BOOKLETS

euphorum has published a range of booklets as prepara- Booklet 1

tion for the selection process of the European Person- EU open competitions: Overcoming the hurdles
nel Selection Office (EPSO).
Booklet 2
The pre-selection phase: The computer based tests

Booklet 3
The situational judgement test

Booklet 4
The verbal reasoning test: Part I: The principle of
compliance

Booklet 5
The verbal reasoning test: Part II: Methodical
approaches

Booklet 6
The numerical reasoning test: Tasks and strategies

Booklet 7
The abstract reasoning test:

Booklet 8
The accuracy and precision test

Booklet 9
The organising and prioritising test

Booklet 10
The assessment centre

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 OVERVIEW

The verbal reasoning test

The verbal reasoning test assesses your ability to quickly
comprehend and grasp texts. There are 20 short text
passages and each of them is accompagnied by a
question. They have to be answered within 35 minutes
so that there are 105 seconds per text and question on
average. In this booklet we are going to introduce the
principle of (non-)compliance which might help you to
quickly identify the patterns behind wrong answer
options. Adverbs, quantities, chronology, causal
relationships and the distinction between general and
individual incidents, these are the key elements in your
task to determine correct (and wrong) answer options.
This booklet focusses on how to identify deviations
between text and answer options whereas euphorum
booklet 5 concentrates on several different techniques
which might help you to solve the task more quickly.
The questions
The texts generally consist of 8 lines (ca. 130 words) and
cover different topics. Usually, the question is:
 Which of the following statements is correct?
To pass this test, it is not necessary to have a solid
general knowledge, it is solely important to track down
one answer option which is in accordance with the
meaning of the text. There are always three wrong
answer options therefore EPSO test developers have to
be creative to invent three “good” wrong answer
options. They rely on rather “typical” mistakes which
we are going to expose in this booklet.
The principle of (non-)compliance
The principle of (non-)compliance invites you to check
whether or not the answer options are in line with
statements of the text. Basically, an answer option is
correct if its meaning is in line with the meaning of the
corresponding text passage. Thus, you should always
analyse if geographic locations, quantities, definitions,
chronology or causal relations of answer options
comply with the text or not.
.

Can you read the following text?

"I cdn'uolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg: the phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan
mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rseearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl
mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Scuh a cdonition is arppoiatrely cllaed Typoglycemia . "Amzanig huh? Yaeh and
you awlyas thguoht slpeling was ipmorantt."

A similar effect will happen if you start reading selectively. If you only read every second word or just skim
through the text, you’ll nevertheless get a basic idea about the meaning of the sentence. Your mind is used to
read entire sentences so that it is always looking for a sense. If words are missing it will complete the sentence.

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 ADVERBS AND QUANTITIES

Adverbs
Many answer options are simply wrong due to a wrong
emphasis. This is mainly caused by the incongruence of
adverbs. If (for example), according to the text, an
incident occurs several times, but an answer option uses
a word which describes a one time situation, it is
obviously not in accordance with the text.
Quantities
If quantities (like km or l) are part of the answer
options, it is easy to check whether they are based on
the text or not, the same applies to adjectives.
Descriptions and characterisations of a person or an
animal or even definitions of a certain thing or topic
shouldn’t differ.

Keywords

Adverbs Quantities
mainly, km
only, l
especially, m²
always m³

Table: Keywords adverbs and quantities

Example
text passage (wrong) answer option

“In addition, the reporting about these tests is “The reporting about genetic data is always of poor
sometimes of poor quality.“ quality.”

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 CHRONOLOGY

Chronology Therefore, it is essential to be aware of certain keywords

It is also important to pay attention to the chronology. which give an indication about the chronology of events
Often, the sequence of various events becomes in the text.
confused in an answer option.

Keywords

Simultaneity Sequence of events

when, before,
while, after,
in year, month, on day, afterwards,
at the same time an hour ago

Table: Keywords simultaneity and sequence of events

Example
text passage (wrong) answer option

“When the legendary junker Frans conquered the city “After the legendary junker Frans had conquered
in 1488, Erasmus was already on his way to Rotterdam, Erasmus went to 's-Hertogenbosch, where
's-Hertogenbosch, where he - despite his significant he entered a monastery and became a monk.”
reluctance - should become a monk and was destined to
spend the rest of his life in the monastery.”

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 CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS

Causal relationships constitutes a causal relationship: to achieve A, the

Causal relationships describe a connection between two commission will do B. It should be noted that cause and
(or more) incidents whereby one incident must have effect are often swapped in answer options. Sometimes
caused the other(s). But also the setting of an objective you might even find causes or effects in an answer
and the choice of the appropriate method to achieve it, option which are not based on the text at all.

Keywords

Cause Effect
Because of, results in,
based on, as a result
due to

Table: Keywords causal relationships

Example

text passage (wrong) answer option

“Bear in mind the European Parliament meets 46 “According to MEP X, because so many working
weeks a year. Compare this with the lower house of visits have to be made, the European Parliament is
the Dutch Parliament, which meets no more than 34 barely able to do anything in the member states.”
weeks a year and it’s quite a lot”. Far too much, X be-
lieves. “We can’t do anything in the member states if
we have to be in Brussels so often.”

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 “GENERAL” INCIDENTS VS. “INDIVIDUAL” INCIDENTS

The distinction between general and individual
incidents
Take a special look on the description of incidents. They
might be described as a unique phenomenon or a
general case. Such a general case can’t be derived from
an individual case. It is similar with the distinction
between a “whole” and a “part” of something.
Whenever formulations in an answer option generalise
or individualise a case, please examine carefully whether
this is in accordance with the text or not.

Keywords

„An individual case“ (Keywords in the text) „A general case“ (Keywords in the answer option)
From an individual case a general case cannot be derived
Many all
several the majority
a part of the whole
some each, nothing, nobody
non quantifiable quantifiable
in general always
often, sometimes, rarely never

Table: Examples for the distinction between individual and general cases

Example

text passage (wrong) answer option

“I have been keeping record since the beginning “MEP X claims that all MEPs work 70 to 80 hours a week.”
of November and have come to the conclusion
that I work 70-80 hours a week..”

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