11+ Verbal Reasoning: Words and Meanings

Half of an 11+ verbal reasoning paper is really a vocabulary test wearing a disguise, and this practice takes that half head-on. There are synonyms and antonyms, where the wrong options are chosen to be the ones a child reaches for without thinking — unable next to reluctant, which sound alike but mean different things, one being about not wanting and the other about not being able. There are two odd ones out, both checked so that only one grouping actually works, since a set of four where two different answers can be argued teaches a child to distrust their own reasoning. There are two analogies, and their explanations spend most of their time on the near misses: a lion is a member of the cat family but a kitten does not grow into one, and a shoe goes with a sock everywhere except in this particular rule, which asks for a body part. The set finishes with the word fine used in four different senses in four sentences, and with a word to be identified from its definition. The habit worth taking away is the one the explanations keep repeating: say the rule out loud before you look at the options. Zestly is an independent study tool. It is not affiliated with any exam board and it is not an exam centre.

• Pick the closest synonym and reject a word that is merely related
• Pick a true opposite and spot options that point the same way as the given word
• Find the odd one out by naming the property the other three share
• State the rule of an analogy in words before testing it on the options
• Recognise the near miss in an analogy: the right kind of answer to a different rule
• Tell apart the different meanings of a word that has several, using the sentence around it
• Match a word to its definition and rule out words with a related but different meaning

Glove is to Hand as Sock is to which word? — foot. Shoe is the trap, because shoes and socks belong together in everyday life, but a shoe is another piece of clothing, not a body part, so it breaks the rule.