Free SHL Deductive Reasoning Practice Test with Questions, Answers, and Explanations

1. Review the facts below.

• Tim lives in a big apartment.
• Abby lives in a small apartment.
• There are no big apartments in Tinyville.
• Small apartments have one bedroom.

Based on the information above, which of the following MUST be true?

A. Tim lives in Tinyville
B. Abby lives in Tinyville
C. Big apartment have one bedroom
D. Abby's apartment has one bedroom
E. Tim and Abby live in the same town

Answer: 

The correct answer is D.

Abby's apartment has one bedroom.

We know that Abby lives in a small apartment, and we know that small apartments have one bedroom. Therefore we can conclude that Abby's apartment has one bedroom.

Let's go over the rest of the answer choices:

Answer choice (A) – since we know Tim lives in a big apartment, and we also know that there are no such apartments in Tinyville, the conclusion that Tim lives in is illogical.

Answer choice (B) – all we know about Tinyville is that it has no big apartments. We do not have any information to contradict the suggestion that Abby lives there, but we cannot corroborate it, either.

Answer choice (C) – the fourth fact says that small apartments have one bedroom, but we cannot tell whether it is the same for big apartments or not.

Answer choice (E) – we know that Tim does not live in Tinyville. While it is perfectly possible that Abby lives elsewhere as well, we cannot be certain of that for sure, and even if we did, it is still impossible to deduce that they both live in the same place.

2. Five bears – Jinan, Knot, Lee, Mushu, and Nee-Hau – are kept in three adjacent rooms numbered 1-3 from left to right.

• There is at least one bear in each room.
• The knot is in a room to the left of Lee's.
• Mushu and Nee-Hau are not kept in the same room.
• Either Mushu or Jinan, but not both, are kept in room 2.
• Nee-Hau is kept in room 3.

A sixth bear, Osami, is brought into either room 2 or 3. If there are now two bears in each room, which one of the following must be true?

A. Knot is kept in room 1
B. Jinan is kept in room 2
C. Mushu is kept in room 2
D. Osami is kept in room 3
E. Lee  is kept in room 3

Answer: 

The correct answer is A.

If one of the answer choices must be true, we should deduce it based on the information we already have. The first thing to notice is that we know the exact position of N – room 3. The other conditions provide us with some information, but not enough to place any of the other bears in a specific room. Therefore we should look at what we know about the new bear: O can be either in room 2 or 3. Let's check both options:

If O is in room 2:

The second bear in that room can be either M or J since one has to be in room 2 (fourth condition). Now that room 2 is full; we can turn to the other two. According to the second condition, K is left to L. Since neither is in room 2, K is in room 1, and L is in room 3 (together with N). M/J takes the remaining spot in room 1:

​If O is in room 3:

Room 3 is now full. For K to be to the left of L (second condition), L must be in room 2, and K – in room 1. M and J are placed the same as before.

3. John, Kate and Lenny just came back from trips to the following countries: Mauritania, Nepal, Oman, Peru and Qatar.

• Each country was visited by at least one of the travellers.
• Each traveller visited either two or three different countries.
• Only one traveller visited Qatar.
• Every traveller who visited Mauritania went to Nepal as well.
• A traveller who visited Qatar did not visit Peru.
• John visited all of the countries Kate did.

If Kate visited three countries, then which one of the following must be true?

A. John travelled to Peru
B. Lenny traveled to Nepal
C. All three travelers traveled to Mauritania 
D. All three travelers traveled to Nepal
E. Kate and Lenny traveled to the same number of countries

Answer: 

The correct answer is A.

If Kate visited three countries, it means that John visited exactly the same countries - no more (second condition) and no less (last condition).

According to the last condition, if Kate had visited Qatar, John would have had to visit there too. However, this contradicts the third condition. Therefore we conclude that Kate did not visit Qatar and, therefore, neither did John, which leaves Lenny. Whoever visited Qatar could not have been to Peru as well (fifth condition); therefore it must have been Kate and John who visited Peru. Answer choice A states exactly that.

4. Four married couples – the Gordons, the Hindlers, the Ilgors and the Jareds – are the only guests in a hotel. Each couple consists of one man and one woman. Some of the hotel guests are signing up for a trip to the Grand Canyon offered by a travel agency.
The following rules are known about the participants of the trip:

• When a woman signs up, her spouse signs up too.
• At least two men and one woman are signed up.
• Mr. Gordon is signed up only if Mrs. Jared is signed up.
• If Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are signed up, then Mrs. Hindler is not signed up.

Exactly three men and two women are signed up for the trip;
which statement must be true?

A. Mr. Ilgor must be signed up for the trip
B. Mr. Jared must be signed up for the trip
C. Mr. Hindler must be signed up for the trip
D. Mrs. Gordon must be signed up for the trip
E. Mrs. Jared must be signed up for the trip

Answer: 

The correct answer is (B).
Mr. Jared must be signed up for the trip.

The correct answer to this question is the person who a three-man and two-woman trip cannot be held without.
Note: rule number two shows compatibility with what actually happened and represents a confirmation of actual events
The way to solve the question is to determine whether the scenario is possible without the person mentioned in the response.

Answer (A) - Could there be a trip of three men and two women without Mr. Ilgor? This means that all other men are signed up for the trip. In addition, Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Jared can also be signed up. The following group is not in conjunction with the rules:
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon
Mr. and Mrs. Jared
Mr. Hindler
This means that Mr. Ilgor is not necessarily signed up for the trip, and therefore this is not the correct answer.

Answer (B) - Could there be a trip of three men and two women without Mr. Jared? This means that all other men are signed up for the trip, but from the rules it is inferred that if Mr. Jared is not signed up, then Mr. Gordon is not signed up as well.
Mrs. J -> Mr. J => ~ Mr. J -> ~ Mrs. J
Only if Mrs. J -> Mr. G => ~ Mrs. J -> ~ Mr. G
Therefore, ~ Mr. Jà ~ Mrs. Jà ~ Mr. G 

This means that a trip with three men cannot be held without Mr. Jared being signed up for it. Therefore, the correct answer is (B).
After finding the correct answer, there is no need to examine the remaining responses.

Answer (C) - A possible trip of three men and two women without Mrs. Hindler could be:
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon
Mr. and Mrs. Jared
Mr. Hindler

Answer (D) - A possible trip of three men and two women without Mrs. Gordon could be:
Mr. and Mrs. Hindler
Mr. and Mrs. Ilgor
Mr. Jared

Answer (E) - A possible trip of three men and two women without Mrs. Jared could be:
Mr. and Mrs. Hindler
Mr. and Mrs. Ilgor
Mr. Jared

5. 

Fiona, Georgia, Heather, Ian, John, Kilgore and Lumina are standing in line to get concert tickets.

• Fiona is standing in front of Ian.
• John is standing in front of Heather.
• If John is not first in line, Lumina is standing somewhere in front of him.
• Ian is standing immediately in front of or immediately behind Kilgore.

If Georgia is standing first and Fiona is somewhere between John and Lumina, which statement must be true?

A. Lumina is 3rd
B. Fiona is 2nd
C. Heather is either 4th or last in line
D. John is either 4th or 6th in line
E. Kilgore is standing either 5th or 6th in line

Answer: 

The correct answer is (D).
John is either 4th or 6th in line.

The question’s requirement is to find the answer choice that must be true. This means that four out of the five answers could be false. Each answer choice suggests a certain placement for one of the people in line. Eliminating answer choices that cannot be or are not necessarily true is a valid way to find the true statement.
According to the information provided:

Since Georgia is the first in line, John is not the first, which means that Lumina is standing somewhere in front of him. Moreover, according to the data provided, Fiona stands somewhere between them.
Also, since Ian (and Kilgore) must be standing behind Fiona, and since Heather is behind John (who is also behind Fiona), it follows that four people must be standing behind Fiona. The only way this could work is if Fiona is third in line, which would make Lumina second in line:

Answers (A) and (B) aren’t true and are therefore eliminated.

The remaining plausible setups are:

Since Kilgore can be in any of the remaining four places and not just the fifth or sixth, answer (E) is also eliminated (as it suggests something that does not have to be true) leaving answer (D) as the correct answer: Since Ian and Kilgore must be standing together, and since Heather must be behind John, John has to be either fourth or sixth in line. If he was fifth, and Heather was somewhere behind him, Ian and Kilgore could not be together. If he was last, Heather couldn’t be standing behind him.

6. A sportswear store offers various brands of shoes for sale. Each salesperson in the store receives a base salary of 80 dollars per workday and can receive an additional bonus based on sales. For certain types of sales, a special tax deduction from the salesperson's paycheck is made, as follows:

• All sales above 155 $.
• All sales above 90 $, paid with a credit card.
• All sales paid with Bitcoins.

Which of the sales below is subjected to tax deduction?

A. $87 paid with a credit card
B. $120 paid in cash
C. $150 paid in a debit card
D. $72 paid with bitcoin
E. $90 paid with a credit card

Answer: 

The correct answer is (D).
$72, paid with Bitcoins.

It is the only answer that meets the criteria written above; all sales paid with Bitcoins are prone to a special tax deduction. Therefore, a $72 sale paid with Bitcoins is included.

•Note that a $90 sale paid with a credit card is not the correct answer since the rule refers to all sales above $90 paid with a credit card.

7. Review the facts below.

• Cleo is a good dog.
• Colonel is a bull.
• Good dogs are fast and keep the house safe.
• Bulls do not make noise.

Based on the information above, which of the following MUST be true?

A. Cleo is a quiet dog
B. Colonel can run very fast
C. Colonel moos almost every night
D. Cleo is a fast dog
E. Cleo and colonel help keep the farm safe

Answer: 

The correct answer is D.

Since we know that Cleo is a dog and that dogs are fast, we can conclude that Cleo is a fast dog.

Let's go over the rest of the answer choices:

Answer choice A – we know that Cleo is a dog, and we know that bulls do not make noise, but we do not know anything about how noisy dogs get. Therefore we cannot tell whether Cleo is quiet or not.

Answer choice B – Colonel is a bull. The only thing we know about bulls is that they do not make noise. We cannot say anything regarding how fast they are in general, nor about Colonel in particular.

Answer choice C – since we know that Colonel is a bull and that bulls do not make noise, this answer choice poses a contradiction and cannot be true.

Answer choice E – we know that dogs help keep the farm safe, so we can deduce that Cleo does so as well. However, we do not know anything about bulls' contribution to the matter. Therefore, we cannot tell whether this is a true statement or a false one.

• Employees who close over 6 deals or who are titled 'employee of the month' receive a 10% bonus.
• Employee A closed five deals.
• Employee B received a 10% bonus after closing seven deals.
• Employee C was 'employee of the month' last October.

Which statement must be true?

A. Employee A is about to receive a bonus
B. Employee C received a 10% bonus for last October
C. Employees of the month are selected after closing around five deals a month, several months straight
D. Employee C managed to close more than seven deals
E. Employees who close around five deals each month are titled 'employee of the month'

Answer: 

The correct answer is B.

Since we are told that 'employees of the month' receive a 10% bonus, and we know that employee C was 'employee of the month' last October, we can deduce he received a 10% bonus for that month.

Let's go over the rest of the answer choices:

Answer choice A – in order to receive a 10% bonus, employee A needs to close at least 6 deals, while he only closed 5, or be the 'employee of the month', which we do not know that he is. Theoretically, it is possible that there are also bonuses for less than 6 deals, but we have no information about it.

Answer choice C – the only thing we know about the 'employee of the month' title is that it credits the chosen employee with a 10% bonus. We have no information regarding the choosing process, and therefore we cannot say whether this statement is true or false.
Answer choices D and E are not the correct answer for the same reason.

9. 

Agronomists are hard at work developing a drought-resistant species of lawn grass. They contend that this is essential even if the agricultural project will not yield any new knowledge about grass's genetic engineering that could not be gotten by other means. For a future climate of increased global warming, they say, we will need the biotechnical knowledge that such an agricultural project will give us about grass's ability to grow in a hot, dry environment.

Which one of the following is an underlying assumption of the above argument?

A. People will continue to grow grass lawns in the future era of global warming
B. Global warming will turn regions of the world into drought-stricken areas
C. This agricultural project will succeed in developing a new species of grass
D. A drought-resistant species of grass will rarely need to be watered
E. The future climate will supply insufficient water in water grass

Answer: 

The correct answer is (A).

A question of the type Identifying the Assumption of the argument has two parts: You must first locate the argument (the conclusion) and then ask yourself what must be true (assumed) so that the argument is valid or true. This passage has two sentences only, and the argument is repeated in both: developing a drought-resistant species of grass is essential for the age of future global warming. Now, read through each answer choice and look for an assumption, or what must be true, so that developing a drought-resistant species of grass is essential. Do not be misguided by all of the answer choices that repeat valid claims from the passage; you are looking for an underlying assumption – precisely something that does not explicitly appear in the passage. The argument states that a future climate of global warming necessitates developing strains of drought-resistant grass. The assumption this argument rests on is that people will continue to grow grass lawns in the future era of global warming.

Therefore, the correct answer is A.

10. 

The factory manufactured a thousand soft toys in the last month, and eleven hundred in the month before that.

Therefore, raising employees' salaries helped improve the factory's productivity.

What is the assumption in the above argument?

A. Toy factories manufacture about a thousand toys each month
B. Two months ago, the factory made twelve hundred toys
C. Raising employees' salary always increases productivity
D. The factory used to manufacture less than a thousand soft toys a month
E. The factory produced a thousand computers last month

Answer: 

The correct answer is D.

The factory used to manufacture less than a thousand soft toys a month.

The factory's productivity improvement statement suggests that the factory was less productive in the past than it is now. We know that nowadays, the factory produces 1000-1100 toys a month. If this is an improvement, one has to assume that productivity used to be lower than 1000 toys a month in the past, as suggested in answer choice D.

Let's go over the rest of the answer choices:

Answer (A) – we cannot deduce a general rule about all toy factories from just this example.
Answer (C) is eliminated using the same reasoning – we cannot deduce a general rule about raising employees' salary from just this one example.

Answer (B) – the fact that there was a difference of one hundred toys between the previous and the one preceding it does not imply anything regarding the months before. Moreover, this suggestion contradicts the information given in the question. As we have just explained, we have to assume that productivity used to be lower, not higher, which makes this answer choice illogical.

Answer (E) – as far as we know, this company produces soft toys only. It may manufacture other products as well, but we have no way of knowing that for sure. Therefore, we cannot say whether this statement is true or false.

11. 

Citizens in the country of Patten want the TV License abolished. The cost of maintaining Public Television broadcasting is paid entirely out of revenue from the TV license. Patten's citizens are determined to maintain its public television broadcasting. Thus, it follows that if the TV license is abolished, then the entire cost of maintaining public television broadcasting will have to be paid for by raising the rates of general taxes.

Which one of the above is an underlying assumption of the argument in the passage?

A. The quality of public television broadcasting is not affected by the amount of its budget
B. If the TV license is not abolished, there will be no need to raise the rate of general taxes
C. Costs of running the public television channel will go up once the TV license is abolished because citizens will not know exactly how much of their tax money goes towards it
D. Public television broadcasting enjoys a broad, general consensus in Patten
E. The money saved by not having to collect the TV license fee would not be available to pay part of the cost of maintaining public TV broadcasting

Answer: 

The correct answer is (E).

Remember that we must first locate the argument clearly for the type Identifying an Assumption of an Argument. Earlier, we stated that the argument almost always consists of the first and the last sentence, where the first sentence is a claim, and the previous sentence is a conclusion (or the argument) drawn based on the claim. However, in the passage above, we will form the argument's logic based on allegations made in the first three sentences. Therefore, reread each sentence and attend to the claim it makes in its barest form:

Sentence 1: Citizens want TV License abolished.

Sentence 2: The entire cost of Public TV comes from the TV License.

Sentence 3: Citizens will save Public TV.

Sentence 4: Argument: The entire revenue for Public TV will have to be paid for by taxes. (Pay close attention to this argument, which is also the most complex sentence: The assumption here is that no money from any other source will help maintain Public TV).

Now, you are being asked to identify an assumption of the argument. That is, what has the author of the passage assumed to arrive at his conclusion that the entire revenue for Public TV must come from taxes. Go through each answer choice and examine it against the conclusion. It is E: The money saved by not having to collect the TV license fee would not be available to pay part of the cost of maintaining public TV broadcasting. We had already observed above that no money from any other source will help keep Public TV.

Therefore, the correct answer is E.

12. 

There are fewer wildflowers species than thirty years ago, mainly because people cultivate their gardens today rather than allow wildflowers to flourish there. Thus, the cultivated garden's popularity has been to the bee's detriment, for the decrease in the number of wildflowers has prevented the amount of readily available pollen from increasing as much as it otherwise would have done.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

A. The popularity of the cultivated garden has come at the expense of the wildflower
B. The proliferation of wildflowers is more important to the bee than the proliferation of cultivated gardens
C. The decrease in the number of wildflowers has resulted in a comparable decrease in the amount of pollen available
D. The cultivated gardens produce less pollen than wildflowers and bees would be better off if there were a greater amount of pollen available
E. Some people value their cultivated gardens more than they value the survival of the wildflowers

Answer: 

The correct answer is D.

In this type of question, it’s important first to understand the main idea presented in the paragraph. If we go directly to the answers after only reading it once, we might get confused. Therefore we should try to tell ourselves what the message is in our own words first.

The paragraph argues that the cultivation of flowers and a decrease in the number of wildflowers have been detrimental to the bee and states that the reason for this is a decrease in the amounts of pollen available. This argument builds on the assumption that bees need pollen and that wildflowers produce more pollen than cultivated flowers. Now we can look at the answers:

Answer A is a statement that describes exactly what we were told in the first sentence of the paragraph. Therefore it cannot be the answer we’re looking for (which should be an assumption rather than an explicit remark).

Answer B is incorrect since it simply repeats the same argument using different words.

Answer C could be misleading, but it is wrong since it does not relate to the paragraph's main argument: a decrease in wildflowers is damaging for bees. It is more of a conclusion than an assumption.

Answer D is the right answer: for us to argue that the decrease in wildflowers has been to the bee's detriment, we need to assume that bees need pollen and that wildflowers produce more pollen than cultivated flowers do.

We can also see that answer E is simply irrelevant and therefore conclude the answer is D.