Read the whole sentence first, then put each option in the word's place and keep the one that holds the meaning.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
These questions ask for a word's closest meaning or its opposite, and the sentence around the word shows the meaning. Children in Year 7 now sit Verbal Reasoning in Year 8, in June 2027 Expected.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 · How we check facts
Independent. Not affiliated with the Victorian Department of Education or ACER.
In our questions it gives a word inside a sentence and asks for the closest meaning or the opposite. ACER says Verbal Reasoning tests thinking and reasoning with words, concepts and logic, and these questions are the words part. The sentence around the word is there to help, so your child should read it every time.
The Department says the knowledge needed is no more than the Year 8 curriculum. In our view, that means words a keen Year 8 reader meets, not rare ones. These are our own questions, from easier to harder, and each one shows the answer and the working.
"The bushwalkers came across an ancient stone bridge hidden in the forest." Which word or phrase is closest in meaning to ancient?
Answer: B
Answer: B
Ancient means from a very long time ago, so "very old" is right. Try it in the sentence: "a very old stone bridge" keeps the meaning. "Forgotten" is tempting because the bridge was hidden, but the word ancient tells us its age, not whether people remember it.
"Jun was reticent about his plans for the holidays, so nobody knew where he was going." Which word is most nearly the OPPOSITE of reticent?
Answer: D
Answer: D
Reticent means keeping your thoughts or plans to yourself. Its opposite is talkative: someone who shares freely. Secretive is a trap because it means nearly the same as reticent. Reluctant sounds similar and is often confused with it, but it means not wanting to do something, so it is not an opposite either.
Which word is closest in meaning to ominous, as in "an ominous silence"?
Answer: A
Answer: A
Ominous means giving a feeling that something bad is about to happen, so an ominous silence is a threatening one. Enormous is a trap because it sounds similar. Peaceful is tempting because silence is often peaceful, but an ominous silence is the reverse of calm.
Read each sentence aloud together with a wrong option in it. Then put the right word in the same place, and talk about how the meaning changes.
Check what is asked, read the sentence, say the meaning in plain words, then test each option in place. This works because a meaning in your child's own words is fixed before the options can pull them off course. It's our method, not ACER's, and it guards against misreading the question and choosing a word that only sounds right.
Closest in meaning, or OPPOSITE? Mark the word in the question before reading the options.
The sentence can show the meaning. Nobody knew where Jun was going, so reticent means keeping things to yourself.
Before looking at the options, put the word into a short plain phrase.
The right word keeps the sentence's meaning. A wrong one changes it, even if it sounds fine.
Verbal Reasoning shares 55 minutes with Reading, so a word your child doesn't know isn't worth a long stare. When stuck, ACER suggests your child make an informed guess and come back to it at the end if there is time.
The wrong options in our questions are built to catch a quick reader. After the worked questions, go through these with your child and ask which one would have caught them. The fix for each is to put the tempting word back into the sentence.
Word sense grows from reading and talk more than from lists. Keep it light, and use each new word in a real sentence rather than copying out definitions.
ACER says these skills grow over time, through a culture of learning, varied engaging material and talking freely about ideas, which is why varied reading matters so much. The questions here show the method; a full practice test shows whether your child keeps reading the sentence when Reading shares the clock.
More worked questions are on our selective entry verbal reasoning sample questions page. Our selective entry practice tests keep the real timing, and Practice test 1 is free. Results by skill show whether word meaning or logic costs more marks.
Practice test 1 marks every answer and shows results by skill: what your child already does well and the three skills to work on next.
Practise for the real test
Practice test 1 is free. Then packs from A$109 for 12 months, or A$9 a week, per exam.