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Become an Apprentice

Sample Test Questions

For Your Information

These tests are validated for use by sponsors of IBEW/NECA electrical apprenticeship programs. They have been developed to assist in the selection of apprentices for the respective apprenticeship programs.

The fact that an applicant is not scheduled for an oral interview, as a result of this test battery, does not speak for the applicant’s ability, or lack thereof, to be most successful in many other occupations. This test was specifically developed to assist our program sponsors, helping them to select those who are most likely to succeed in our apprenticeship programs.

Many apprenticeship programs receive large numbers of applicants – four, five, six or more times the number of new apprenticeship openings (as defined by the limited number of job and training opportunities being available at a given time). The validated testing instrument is a tool to assist in the selection of the very best applicants that have an aptitude matching the specified job performance requirements. In this way, the number of applicants brought to the interview table is based upon objective, equitable, job-related criteria.

Sample Test Instructions

As part of the selection process, you may be required to take an aptitude test battery designed to determine whether you possess the abilities that will help you succeed within the electrical construction industry. The following pages provide a description of each of the tests and some sample test questions. These questions are similar to those on the actual tests, allowing you to know what to expect on the day of your test session.

You may use these items as a sample test and then check your answers with the key that appears at the bottom of this page.

You should read the sample questions on each test carefully and then examine each of the responses. Only one answer is correct for each question.

If you find some of the sample items to be difficult for you, you may want to review material that is similar to the sample items.

SAMPLE ALGEBRA AND FUNCTIONS

This is a test of your ability to solve problems using algebra. There are four (4) sample questions.

Consider the following formula: A = B + 3 ( 4 – C ). If B equals 5 and C equals 2, what is the value of A?

  1. 7
  2. 11
  3. 12
  4. 17

Consider the following formula: y = 3 ( x + 5 ) ( x – 2 ). Which of the following formulas is equivalent to this one?

  1. Y=3x2+9x-30
  2. Y=X2+3x-1O
  3. Y=3×2+3X-1O
  4. Y=3×2+3X-30

Consider the following pattern of numbers: 110, 112, 107, 109, 104. What is the next number in the pattern?

  1. 97
  2. 99
  3. 106
  4. 109

Consider the following formula: a = 1/2b – 4. Which of the following statements is true for this formula?

  1. When the value of B is less than 8, A is negative.
  2. When the value of B is greater than 8, A is negative.
  3. When the value of B is less than 8, A is positive.
  4. When the value of B is greater than 4, A is positive.

SAMPLE READING COMPREHENSION

This test measures your ability to obtain information from written passages. You will be presented with a passage followed by a number of questions about it. A sample passage is shown below, followed by three sample questions. This passage is shorter than those on the actual test.

Passage

The timing of New Year’s Day has changed with customs and calendars. The Mayan civilization, on what is now called the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, celebrated the New Year on one of the two days when the noonday sun is directly overhead. In the equatorial regions of the earth, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the sun is in this position twice a year, once on its passage southward, and once on its passage northward. At the early Mayan city of Izapa in the southern Yucatan, the overhead date for the sun on its southward passage was August 13. The Mayans celebrated this as the date for the beginning of the New Year. Later at the more northerly Mayan site at Edzna, the corresponding overhead date is July 26. Analyses of Mayan pictorial calendars indicate that they celebrated the New Year on August 13 prior to 150 AD, and on July 26 after that year. This change has been explained by archaeological dating showing that 150 AD was the time that the Mayans moved the hub of their civilization from the southern to the northern site.

According to the passage, the sun at Edzna was directly overhead at noon on:

  1. July 26 only
  2. August 13 only
  3. July 26 and one other date
  4. August 13 and one other date

If the Mayans had moved their civilization’s center south of Izapa, their new date for the celebration of the New Year would probably have been closest to which of the following dates?

  1. January 1
  2. February 20
  3. March 25
  4. September 15

Based on the information in the passage, which of the following statements is true?

  1. Mayans made Edzna the capital because it was more temperate than Izapa.
  2. All Mayans moved to Edzna in 150 AD.
  3. Mayans used calendars to mark the passage of time.
  4. The Mayan city of Izapa was destroyed in 150 AD.

SAMPLE TEST ANSWER KEY

Algebra and Functions

  1. B
  2. A
  3. C
  4. A

SAMPLE READING COMPREHENSION

  1. C
  2. D
  3. C