Want to join Mensa? Or work for the military, FedEx, or the NFL? Plan on taking an intelligence test. They’re supposed to be objective and consistent, but don’t believe it. By prepping for the verbal, numerical, and spatial problems on a typical psychometric test, you can boost your score. Philip carter, author of IQ and Psychometric Test Workbook, walked us through some sample questions.
V E R B A L | Question 1 What is the word with the nearest meaning? SCURRILOUS A wrong B defamatory C urgent D severe D unkind
| TIP Most IQ tests include synonyms, antonyms, and analogies. Focus on eliminating wrong choices. (Urgent? Probably not.) “You have a better chance of guessing the right answer out of just two or three,” Carter says.
| Question 2 
Which is the missing section? A 
B 
C 
D 
| TIP “Don’t panic,” Carter says. Search for patterns. Reading left to right, the grid skips one letter, then two, then one. Reading top to bottom, it skips two, then one, then two.
N U M E R I C A L | Question 3 
The value of each internal angle of a square is 90° 
What is the value of each internal angle in a pentagon? A 96° B 108° C 112° D 120°
| TIP Break it down. Draw a circle in the center and then five lines from the center to the corners to create five isosceles triangles. A circle has 360 degrees, so the angles in the center are all 72 degrees (360 divided by 5). The angles in any triangle add up to 180, so the other two angles are 54 degrees each. Add 54 and 54 to get 108.
| Question 4 What is 966 less 492?
| TIP Ah, basic math. Brush up on your multiplication tables. If possible, simplify numbers into round, easy-to-work-with figures. For this question, convert the problem into 966 minus 500, then add 8. Much faster that way.
S P A T I A L | Question 5 
Which tile is missing? A 
B 
C 
D 
E 
| TIP On spatial-aptitude tests with tiny pictures of odd shapes, it often helps to rotate the images in your mind. Here, the top-right horizontal diamond looks like the bottom-left one spun 180 degrees. Turn the top-left vertical diamond 180 degrees to get the answer.
Rollover the ??? to reveal the answers.
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