CLT Sample Questions

Verbal Reasoning

There are 7 basic types of questions on the CLT's Verbal Reasoning section (according to... us, NOT the test writers).

1. Main Idea of the Passage
2. Inference
3. Finding Details
4. Vocab in Context
5. Structure of the passage
6. Evidence
7. Analogies

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Main Idea of the Passage

1. The primary purpose of this passage is to

A) examine a psychological phenomenon through the lens of a personal anecdote.
B) discuss three famous artists and the way in which their work is related.
C) tarnish the reputation of a people group by examining their personal habits.
D) reminisce about the author traveling with a stranger to Italy where they saw famous frescoes.

Understanding "Main Idea" Questions

As the question states, the purpose of these questions is to see if a students understands what the main idea of the passage is.

So, some of the answer choices might contain details from the passage that are completely true, but, since the question is about the
Main Idea of the passage (not a minute detail), that answer choice would be wrong.

Here's what that means:

This sample question is taken from a set of questions about Sigmund Freud's Psychopathology of Everyday Life. In the passage, Freud
actually does discuss three famous artists and the way their work is related (Answer Choice B).

However, that is just a detail from the story. And... it's really not the point of the passage.

The correct answer is A) examine a psychological phenomenon through the lens of a personal anecdote because that's the point of the
passage. It's pretty general... but it's an accurate description of why the passage was written... the main idea.

Inference Questions

2. Based on the passage, the author believes

A) the customs of the Turks in Bosnia cause them to be forgetful people.
B) false recollection, the substitution of false names, is not an observable phenomenon.
C) forgetting names happens, at least sometimes, due to the interruption of streams of thought.
D) Botticelli's work was much more profound than Signorelli's.

Understanding "Inference" Questions

Inference questions require the student to interpret the author's point of view or a character's point of view.

So, you can't just search the text for a concrete fact and answer these questions correctly.

You're probably going to need to interpret a few sentences of the passage accurately in order to get these questions correct.

In the Sample Question above, C) is the correct answer because the author expresses this belief over the course of multiple paragraphs.

Finding Details

3. The artist who created the frescoes mentioned in this passage is

A) Signorelli.
B) Botticelli.
C) Boltraffio.
D) not mentioned in the passage.

Understanding "Finding Details" Questions

Finding Details questions are objective. There is no need for interpretation. You just have to track down the right line in the passage
containing the detail.

Vocab in Context

4. As it is used in Paragraph 4, Sentence 1, the word "strangeness" most nearly means

A) lack of familiarity
B) confusing pronunciation
C) awkward spelling
D) foreign origin

Understanding Vocab in Context Questions

Often, the answer choices for Vocab in Context questions give definitions of the word that could be a reasonable definition in another context.

Of course, the correct answer is the one that describes the context of the question.

Here's the full context for this question:

"The reason for the escape of the name Signorelli cannot be found in the strangeness of this name. The forgotten name was just as familiar to me as one of the substitutive names"

The author is discussing his familiarity with names in this context, and even though the other answer choices would be a reasonable definition of "strangeness" in other contexts, the correct answer is A) lack of familiarity.‍

Structure of the Passage

Structure questions test many things, including: Understanding of Literary devices, Sequence of events, the Type of passage you are reading.

For example:

5. From the narrator's perspective, this passage would best be considered

A) a collection of maxims.
B) a persuasive argument.
C) an entertaining legend.
D) a historical account.

This question is from a passage where the narrator is telling the tale of his real life, so the correct answer is D) historical account. It's not a legend, because, to the narrator, it's his real life.

Evidence Questions

Evidence questions ALWAYS follow a question that they are related to. In the following sample questions, the "evidence question" is the second question, which asks for the evidence to support the answer to the first question.

Students must determine the correct answer to the first question and which line from the passage provides the evidence for that answer.

6. The author of the passage believes that forgetting the name Signorelli

A) happened despite the author wanting to forget something else.
B) was an accidental occurrence.
C) was due to the company he was keeping on his journey.
D) could happen at any time with no possible explanation.

7. Which of the following lines provides the best evidence in support of the answer to the previous question? (Evidence Question)

A) Paragraph 7, Sentence 1 ("I can no… occurrence.")
B) Paragraph 7, Sentence 5 ("To be sure… Orvieto.")
C) Paragraph 4, Sentence 3 ("The forgetting.. Herzegovina.")
D) Paragraph 2, Sentence 1 ("Now.. path.")

Analogies

Analogies on the CLT can be very difficult.

Students must determine which answer choice has the same relationship as the proposed analogy in the prompt.

8. Master : Frescoes of Orvieto ::

A) physician : diagnosis
B) forgetfulness : false recollection
C) Frescoes of Orvieto : Dome of Orvieto
D) Dalmatia : Herzegovina

A) is the correct answer because the master is a person who made the frescoes, and a physician is a person who makes a diagnosis.

Grammar / Writing

There are too many Grammar / Writing question types to do a sample question of all of them in this article,
and most of the Grammar questions on the CLT are similar to what you would see on other standardized tests.

But, here's a basic list of Grammar topics on the CLT:

1. Punctuation
2. Syntax
3. Subject-verb agreement
4. Pronoun-antecedent agreement

We know that's not very specific, but really, Grammar on the CLT is similar to other Grammar tests.

Writing is where things get different.

Every standardized test has "Writing Standards."

And even if they say they're the exact same as the other standardized tests...
the "Writing" questions on the CLT, ACT, and SAT are completely different from a student's perspective.
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Writing Questions

There are five types of Writing Questions:

1. Tone of the Passage
2. Conciseness and Clarity
3. Insertion / Evidence
4. Transition Words
5. Word Choice

Tone of the Passage

Every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators. Some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice. [44] However, God's hand shows up in every translation, and his hand will get us together again once we're gone.

44. Which of the following best matches the tone of the passage?

However, God's hand shows up in every translation, and his hand will get us together again once we're gone.

A) NO CHANGE
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B) However, God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another. (correct answer)
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C) However, God's hand is in every translation, and his hand will really just go around picking up our scattered leaves again and bind us together just like you could with a book.
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D) However, God's hand is seriously there for every change, and his hand will totally gather us up like pages and physically place us into the books that are opened up in the eternal library.

Conciseness and Clarity

There was a contention (in [45] who both piety and dignity were mingled) as to which of the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the morning; it was determined they should ring first that rose earliest. [46] If we understand aright the dignity that tolls this bell for our evening prayer, we would, rising, gladly, early, make it ours.

46. Which of the following represents the clearest and most concise way to convey all of the information in the following sentence?

If we understand aright the dignity that tolls this bell for our evening prayer, we would, rising, gladly, early, make it ours.

A) NO CHANGE

B) If we understand aright the dignity of this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to make it ours by rising early. (correct answer)
C) If we understand aright this bell, we would be glad to make it ours by rising early.

D) If we understand aright the tolling of this bell for our evening prayer, we, of dignity, would be making it ours, gladly rising early.

Insertion / Evidence

Therefore, never send to know for whom the bells tolls; [49] it marks the hour. Neither can we call this a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house.

49. it marks the hour.

A) NO CHANGE

B) it rings in spring.

C) it tolls for thee. (correct answer)D) it is but a whisper.

Transition Words

Another man may be sick too, and this affliction may lie in his stomach, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him. [50] Yet this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me, if by this consideration of another's danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.

50. Yet

A) NO CHANGE (correct answer)

B) Unless

C) Despite

D) Before that

Word Choice

The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; though it should [47] intimidate again, from that minute, he is united to God.

47. intimidate

A) NO CHANGE

B) intermingle

C) intern

D) intermit (correct answer)

Quantitative Reasoning

There are three concepts included on the Quantitative Reasoning section of the CLT:

1. Algebra
2. Geometry
3. Mathematical Reasoning

The CLT tests students on concepts that almost every single high school student has learned.

There are no advanced statistics questions, because many students don't learn that in high school. But that doesn't mean all of the questions are easy.

It just means the underlying concepts are things that almost every student has learned.

Example Algebra Question

15. A ball is thrown and travels with the given formula as its trajectory:

ℎ(𝑡)= –0.5𝑡² - 2𝑡 + 30

where 𝑡 is the number of seconds after the ball is thrown and ℎ(𝑡) is the ball's height in feet at time 𝑡. After how many seconds will it hit the ground?

A) 6 seconds
B) 4 seconds
C) 10 seconds
D) 15 seconds

Example Geometry Question

17. If 𝐴𝐵 = 𝐴𝐷, what is the area of the isosceles trapezoid below? (Note: The figure is not necessarily drawn to scale.)
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A) 204 inches squared
B) 174 inches squared
C) 120 inches squared
D) 264 inches squared

Example Mathematical Reasoning Question

3. How many integers between 1 and 100 (inclusive) are divisible by 5?

A) 20
B) 19
C) 10
D) 21