UCAT Verbal Reasoning Test
The UCAT Verbal Reasoning Test is the first part of the UCAT Exam for medical students.
The test includes 44 questions to complete within 21 minutes- less than 30 seconds for each.
Official UCAT practice tests are not difficult enough to prepare you for this challenging test- so read more about it, try some UCAT Verbal Reasoning questions, and get the full UCAT Preparation, including JobTestPrep's unique Doctor's Principles method.
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What is the UCAT Verbal Reasoning Test?
The Verbal Reasoning Test is the first section of the UCAT exam. This section measures your verbal reasoning skills- how well you can analyse and understand written information. The UCAT Verbal Reasoning section is comprised of 11 text passages, each followed by four questions, making a total of 44 questions. You have 21 minutes to complete this section (less than 30 seconds per question!)
On our PrepPack you'll find everything you need to ace this challenging UCAT section: a thorough VR guide, multiple practices to help you build your skills, and 4 full Verbal Reasoning practice simulations, with a time limit just like the real thing.
UCAT Verbal Reasoning Subtest Format
Some of the questions in the Verbal Reasoning section of the UCAT evaluate critical reasoning skills. For such items, it is necessary to arrive at a conclusion based on the provided information.
In the test, there are two multiple-choice question types:
Verbal Reasoning Question Type 1
You will be provided with passages which you will need to read carefully. After each passage, you will be presented with an item related to the passage, such as an incomplete statement or a question, each with four possible answers. You are to choose the best response (only one answer may be selected).
Each item may address a specific subject that was introduced in the passage. Alternatively, it may pose a question in a variety of phrasings:
- The author most likely agrees with all of the following except:
- Which of following claims is best supported by the passage?
- Which conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
- Which of the following assertions would strengthen/weaken 'some argument' that appeared in the passage?
- Which of the following statements is least likely to be true?
Your answer must be based on the provided information rather than on your previous assumptions and general knowledge.
Verbal Reasoning Question Type 2
The second question type may require you to determine if a provided statement is true based on the passage. The response options are as follows:
- True – Based on the provided information, the statement in the question is true.
- False – Based on the provided information, the statement in the question is false.
- Can’t Tell – Based on the provided information, you cannot determine if the statement in the question is true or false.
The UCAT Verbal Reasoning section is comprised of 11 text passages, each followed by four questions, making a total of 44 questions. You have 21 minutes to complete this section (plus one minute for instructions).
UCAT Questions - Verbal Reasoning
Here are some sample questions from our Preparation Pack's question bank. Try answering each question in 30 seconds- that's how much time you will have during the test.
Sample Question #1
A study, published in the Journal of Psychological Science, examined data from a national survey that followed more than 5,000 UK households and 10,000 adults between 1991 and 2008 as they moved house around the country. They asked participants to report on their own psychological health during that time to estimate the ‘green space effect’.
Results of the study suggest that mental distress and life satisfaction are correlated with living in greener areas. This was true even after the researchers accounted for changes over time in participants' income, employment, marital status, physical health and housing type.
Dr. White, one of the study's researchers, compared the scale of the effects of living in a greener area to ‘big-hitting’ life events such as marriage: ”We've found that living in an urban area with relatively high levels of green space can have a significantly positive impact on wellbeing, roughly equal to a third of the impact of being married'. The effect was also found to be equivalent to a tenth of the impact of being employed, as opposed to unemployed. Even when stacked up against other factors that contribute to life satisfaction, living in a greener area had a significant effect.”
This research could be important for psychologists, public health officials and urban planners who are interested in learning about the effects that urbanisation and city planning can have on population health and wellbeing."
Beth Murphy, information manager at the mental health charity Mind, said: ”For people living busy lifestyles in densely populated areas, being able to get outdoors and access green space is a great way to escape the stresses of day-to-day life'. We believe this is food for thought for any policymaker involved in urban planning, or local authority developing its public health strategy.”
Did you get it right in 30 seconds? The preparation pack is full of detailed solutions to allow you to increase your speed and accuracy on UCAT test day. It's full of UCAT questions that are realistic to the test's level, which will allow you to score highly and become a medical student.
Sample Question #2
More cellphones meet their demise from exposure to moisture than from any other cause - so we've all got a vested interest in waterproof phones. In the past, a user who wanted to protect his phone had to buy a watertight case, and thus double the size of the device. Last year, the company P2i introduced a less clunky approach: coating devices in invisible, water-repelling nano-polymers. But that solution only guarded against splashes, not submersion. Two companies, HzO in Utah and Liquipel in California, have now refined the technique to make devices resistant to both spills and dunks.
Both companies use similar application processes to bond the nano-polymers to phones. They place the devices, or their internal components, inside a sealed chamber, vacuum the air out, and inject a carbon-based gas. The vapour settles on the object and solidifies in a transparent layer that’s one thousandth the thickness of a human hair. When water hits a protected surface, it beads up and rolls off. The main difference between the companies is what they protect; HzO treats only internal parts, such as processors and sensors, whereas Liquipel coats both the interior and the exterior. In HzO’s tests, a treated Smartphone survived underwater for more than four hours.
TESTING
Liquipel will retro-waterproof any of a dozen cellphone models. Because the nanoparticles are so small, they can penetrate seams to reach and coat the internal parts of an already-assembled device.
The test: We sent the people at Liquipel a working Smartphone to treat. When the device was returned a few days later, looking indistinguishable from before, we powered it up and held it under a running faucet for about five minutes.
The results: The phone operated normally while under the faucet. Afterward, it took a couple of seconds to react to touch—probably because of droplets that hadn’t yet beaded up and rolled away—but then worked as if nothing had happened.
(Adapted from POPSCI)
Statement:
HzO specifically uses a nano-polymer coat, which is not as thin as a human hair.
The Cognitive UCAT also incldues abstract reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and decision making, which are all covered by the full UCAT Preparation Pack.
Why is the UCAT Verbal Reasoning test so hard?
Because of the tight time limit, and the complexity of the passages and questions, many consider this subtest to be the hardest UCAT section- getting a good score is a real challenge.
Many students try to skim-read to reduce their solving time, but then find out that they need to read the passage multiple times to answer the questions. Other students try to read carefully to make sure they answer each question correctly, but find that they run out of time before they reach the halfway point of the subtest.
To answer these questions correctly (and fast) – you need to practice a lot, master the Verbal Reasoning questions format, and have a solid technique for the whole section. In our dedicated PrepPack™, you’ll find 10 VR Practice tests, a VR study guide and a video tutorial to help you master the first UCAT section and start this test on the right foot.
For more free sample questions, check out our free UCAT practice test