Free CBEST Reading Practice Test: Q&A with Explanations

 FLOWER is to BLOOM as _?_ is to AGE.

At a basketball game, Harris was sitting in seat 453 while Marlaine was sitting to the right of Harris in seat 454. In the seat to the left of Harris was Greg. Euan was sitting to the left of Greg. 

Which seat is Euan sitting in?

There were four friends sharing pizza. They decided that the oldest one will get the extra piece.

Rona is 2 months older than George, who is 3 months younger than Carl. 

John is one month older than George. Who should get the extra piece of pizza?

Carl is 10 years old. For 2 years, he has been asking his parents for a cat. His parents believed that cats would not be happy in an apartment, but they have given him permission to have a bird instead. Carl has not yet decided what type of bird he would like to have. 

Which statement is true?

Nurses work by shifts: morning, afternoon, and night shifts.  Nurse Colyn had worked more afternoon shifts in a row than Nurse Raelyn, who had worked five afternoon shifts. Nurse Marlaine had worked fifteen afternoon shifts in a row, more than Nurse Colyn and Raelyn combined. Nurse Aileen had worked eight afternoon shifts in a row, less than Nurse Colyn. 

How many afternoon shifts did Nurse Colyn have?

Claire is sleeping in the armchair behind Jason.

Jason is sleeping in the armchair behind Brian.

Brian is sleeping in the armchair behind Claire.

If the first two statements are true, so the third statement is?

“A lady walked into a building, straight to the front desk. She was applying for a secretarial position as her first job. The lady was then asked to proceed into a room for her interview and was asked various questions, the last being if she would be willing to work for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week.”

Question:

Should the lady choose to accept the job, how many hours would she be working in a week?

 “I would live here at Beale Memorial Library if it were any kind of viable option.

But it’s not like the classic book where the two kids run away from home and go to hide in a museum in New York City.

I know that I need a bed, and I like to take frequent baths and showers. Brushing my teeth is very important and not just because of the proven connection between poor oral hygiene and heart attacks. But as I walk through the double doors of this place I do wish that it were possible. Because:

books = comfort

To me anyway. And comfort is a thing of the past.”

    — Excerpt from Counting By 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Question:

Based on the excerpt, the speaker is most probably a…

“Mia, at the age of 24, is currently the CEO of her accounting firm. She is twice as old as her sister Mai. Growing up without a mother, all the sisters needed in their lives were each other, although their father had always been loving and very supportive of his daughters. The problem now, however, is that Mia is thinking of marrying her boyfriend of 3 years. The sisters are then faced with a dilemma: should Mai leave the couple be and face the world on her own, or choose to be selfish for once and fight for her sister’s affection?”

Question:

In 7 years, what would Mai and Mia’s respective ages be?

 “Mia, at the age of 24, is currently the CEO of her accounting firm. She is twice as old as her sister Mai. Growing up without a mother, all the sisters needed in their lives were each other, although their father had always been loving and very supportive of his daughters. The problem now, however, is that Mia is thinking of marrying her boyfriend of 3 years. The sisters are then faced with a dilemma: should Mai leave the couple be and face the world on her own, or choose to be selfish for once and fight for her sister’s affection?”

Question:

What could be the reason why the sisters are faced with such a problem?

“In 1905, Albert Einstein published his postulation that the speed of light was invariant; that it was the same whatever the motion of the observer. This is a key part of his special theory of relativity, which also includes the equation E = mc2.

In September 2011, a team of scientists in Italy working on a project in collaboration with CERN announced results that appeared to show neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light. If true, this would have turned physics on its head and heralded the end of Einstein’s theories of relativity. In November, the experiment was repeated and gave the same result. However, in March 2012 results from a different group at the same Italian laboratory showed neutrinos travelling at exactly the speed of light and it soon became clear there was a hardware problem with the first group’s experiments and a huge sigh of relief could be breathed by all.”

    — Excerpt from The Science Magpie, by Simon Flynn

Question: 

Based on the passage, a “neutrino” is most probably a…

PIROUETTE is to BALLERINA as _?_ is to BODYBUILDER.

GUN is to POLICE as _?_ is to NURSE.

SWORD is to BLACKSMITH as _?_ is to CARPENTER.

MARBLE is to ROLL as _?_ is to TURN.