Civil Service Exam Reviewer with Answers: 20 sample CSE questions
Twenty exam-style questions, four from each subject, written for the 2027 Civil Service Exam (CSE) scope. Answer each one first, then open the answer and the explanation.
20 sample questions with answers
Verbal Ability
1. Choose the word most nearly opposite in meaning to the word in capital letters.
The two forms look alike, but they serve DISTINCT purposes.
- different
- separate
- distant
- identical
- important
Show the answer
Answer: D. identical
Distinct (adjective) means clearly different or separate. The opposite is "identical": identical means exactly the same, the reverse of distinct. "different" and "separate" mean the same as distinct, so they are planted traps; the biggest other trap is "distant" (look-alike): Distant looks like distinct, but it means far away.
2. Choose the best replacement for the underlined part. If it is already correct, choose No change.
Where is the copies of the signed contracts?
- Where was the copies
- Where the copies are
- Where are the copies
- Where is the copy
- No change
Show the answer
Answer: C. Where are the copies
In a question the verb comes before the subject. Find the subject after the verb — “the copies” (plural) — and agree with it: Where are the copies. The trap is agreeing with “Where” as if it were the subject.
3. Choose the underlined part that contains an error. If the sentence has no error, choose No error.
The receptionist placed a wooden large table near the entrance and hung a beautiful old clock above it for visitors to see.
- a wooden large
- a beautiful old
- above it
- to see
- No error
Show the answer
Answer: A. a wooden large
The error is a wooden large. English adjectives follow an order: opinion – size – age – shape – color – origin – material – purpose. Size comes before material, so it is a large wooden table. The planted part "a beautiful old" is in the right order (opinion before age).
4. Choose the word closest in meaning to the word in capital letters.
The flyer DISTORTED the facts about the new garbage fee, making it seem twice as high.
- printed
- twisted
- clarified
- extorted
- summarized
Show the answer
Answer: B. twisted
Distort (verb) means to twist facts or shapes so they give a false picture. The answer is "twisted": twisted means changed so it gives a false picture, the same as distorted. The biggest trap is "printed" (related idea): Flyers are printed, but printed says nothing about making facts false.
Numerical Ability
5. Evaluate 7 + 6² × 5.
- 845
- 907
- 67
- 187
Show the answer
Answer: D. 187
The answer is 187. Exponent first: 6² = 36. Multiply: 36 × 5 = 180. Add: 7 + 180 = 187. The main trap is "845": (7 + 6)² × 5 = 845.
6. An envelope holds 40 bills, all ₱20 and ₱50 bills, worth ₱1,280 in all. How many ₱50 bills are there?
- 16
- 24
- 25.6
- 480
Show the answer
Answer: A. 16
Let x = the number of ₱50 bills; then 40 − x are ₱20 bills. Value: 50x + 20(40 − x) = 1,280 → 30x + 800 = 1,280 → 30x = 480 → x = 16. Check: 16 × 50 + 24 × 20 = 800 + 480 = 1,280 ✓. The trap 24 is the number of ₱20 bills; 480 stops before dividing by 30.
7. A sari-sari store owner buys a bottle of cooking oil for ₱40 and sells it for ₱52. What is her percent gain based on the buying price?
- 23.08%
- 12%
- 130%
- 30%
Show the answer
Answer: D. 30%
Gain = 52 − 40 = ₱12. Percent gain = 12 ÷ 40 = 0.30 = 30%.
8. Which number completes the analogy?
4 is to 64 as 6 is to ______
- 216
- 36
- 343
- 18
- 1296
Show the answer
Answer: A. 216
64 is 4 cubed: 4 × 4 × 4 = 64. Cube 6 the same way: 6 × 6 × 6 = 216. The square 36 is the main trap: it stops one multiplication early.
Analytical Ability (Professional)
9. Complete the analogy with the best word.
EAT : FOOD :: DRINK : ______
- thirst
- cup
- leverage
- beverage
- sip
Show the answer
Answer: D. beverage
Bridge: Food is what you eat. Apply it to drink: A beverage is what you drink. Only "beverage" passes; each other choice breaks the bridge. Relationship: action : thing it is done to. Biggest trap: "cup" (same topic, no bridge): a cup holds a drink, but you do not drink the cup; it is the container, not the object.
10. If the payroll is approved, the checks are printed. If the checks are printed, a cash advance is not needed.
Which conclusion must be true?
- If a cash advance is needed, the payroll was approved.
- If the checks are printed, the payroll was approved.
- The payroll can be approved while a cash advance is still needed.
- If the payroll is approved, a cash advance is not needed.
Show the answer
Answer: D. If the payroll is approved, a cash advance is not needed.
Chain the rules: approved → printed, and printed → no cash advance needed. The middle step "checks printed" drops out: if the payroll is approved, a cash advance is not needed (hypothetical syllogism).
11. Statement: Mang Rudy brought an umbrella to the barangay hall this morning because the weather bureau forecast rain for the afternoon. Which assumption does the statement rely on?
- It will rain heavily the whole afternoon.
- Mang Rudy bought his umbrella at the public market.
- Mang Rudy will stay dry because he carried an umbrella.
- Mang Rudy has learned to ignore weather forecasts.
- Mang Rudy thinks the forecast of rain could be correct.
Show the answer
Answer: E. Mang Rudy thinks the forecast of rain could be correct.
Acting on a forecast assumes he thinks it could be right, so "Mang Rudy thinks the forecast of rain could be correct." is assumed. The trap "It will rain heavily the whole afternoon." demands far more than a reason to carry an umbrella.
12. Which word completes the analogy below?
PHOTO : CAMERA :: PAINTING : ______
- brush
- painter
- frame
- gallery
- portrait
Show the answer
Answer: A. brush
Bridge: A photo is made with a camera. Apply it to painting: A painting is made with a brush. Only "brush" passes; each other choice breaks the bridge. Relationship: product : instrument that makes it. Biggest trap: "painter" (look-alike): painter echoes painting but names the person; a camera is the tool, not the photographer.
Clerical Ability (Sub-Professional)
13. Choose the correct spelling to complete the sentence.
The supplier gave a one-year ______ on the new printers.
- garantee
- guarentee
- guarantee
- guarrantee
- gaurantee
Show the answer
Answer: C. guarantee
Guarantee starts with gua- (silent u), has one r, and an a in the middle: guar-an-tee. Look out for "guarentee" and "gaurantee".
14. How many times is the digit 5 immediately followed by an odd digit?
5 3 2 5 8 5 5 9 1 5 0 5 7 4 5 1
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Show the answer
Answer: C. 5
There are 7 fives followed by a digit. The digits after them are 3, 8, 5, 9, 0, 7 and 1. The odd ones are 3, 5, 9, 7 and 1 — remember that 5 itself is odd (the pair 5 5). So the answer is 5.
15. Which of these words formed with a suffix is spelled correctly?
- copyed
- hopeing
- achievment
- merciful
- triing
Show the answer
Answer: D. merciful
Mercy ends in consonant + y, so y changes to i before -ful: merciful. The others break a rule: copy + ed = copied (y to i), hope + ing = hoping (drop e before a vowel suffix), achieve + ment = achievement (keep e before a consonant suffix), try + ing = trying (keep y before -ing).
16. Choose the correct spelling to complete the sentence.
Small purchases such as tape and batteries are recorded under ______ expenses.
- miscelaneous
- miscellanious
- miscellaneous
- misellaneous
- miscellaneus
Show the answer
Answer: C. miscellaneous
Miscellaneous (of various kinds) is mis-c-el-la-neous: a silent c, a double l, and the ending -eous. The usual slip is a single l.
General Information
17. A foreign government offers several things to a provincial health officer. Which one may she accept under R.A. 6713, Sec. 7(d)?
- Expensive jewelry offered as a personal souvenir
- A paid resort holiday within the Philippines
- A fellowship grant for advanced study abroad
- An interest-free loan for personal use
- A cash gift for approving its license
Show the answer
Answer: C. A fellowship grant for advanced study abroad
Sec. 7(d) lists the foreign-government gifts an official may accept: nominal souvenirs or marks of courtesy; scholarship or fellowship grants or medical treatment; and travel entirely outside the Philippines with the head of office's permission. A fellowship grant for advanced study abroad is in the second group. The biggest traps are half true: jewelry is a souvenir but not nominal, and the holiday is travel but inside the Philippines.
18. Executive Order No. 163, series of 2022, is about:
- creating the Commission on Human Rights
- protecting refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons
- creating the Department of Migrant Workers
- declaring adolescent-pregnancy prevention a national priority
- prohibiting child marriage and its facilitation
Show the answer
Answer: B. protecting refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons
EO 163 s.2022 (February 2022) institutionalized protection services for refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons. A different order, EO 163 s.1987, created the CHR, so always check the series year. The biggest trap is creating the Commission on Human Rights.
19. A passenger ship throws potentially infectious medical waste overboard into the sea. Under which law is this specifically listed as a prohibited act?
- R.A. 9275, the Clean Water Act
- R.A. 9729, the Climate Change Act
- R.A. 8749, the Clean Water Act
- R.A. 9512, the Environmental Education Act
- P.D. 1586, the EIS System decree
Show the answer
Answer: A. R.A. 9275, the Clean Water Act
The answer is R.A. 9275, the Clean Water Act. Its prohibited acts include the disposal of potentially infectious medical waste into the sea by vessels. The biggest trap is the right name paired with R.A. 8749, which is the Clean Air Act.
20. Which situation is a prohibited acceptance of a gift under R.A. 6713?
- An employee accepts a birthday cake from her own sister
- A teacher accepts a fellowship grant from a foreign government
- A clerk accepts a nominal souvenir from a foreign delegation
- A records officer accepts a costly watch from a pending applicant
- A trainer accepts a plain thank-you card from a seminar participant
Show the answer
Answer: D. A records officer accepts a costly watch from a pending applicant
Sec. 7(d) bars accepting gifts or anything of monetary value from anyone whose transaction may be affected by one's office. A records officer accepts a costly watch from a pending applicant is the classic case: the giver has a matter before her office and the watch is not nominal. The traps are the allowed foreign gifts (fellowship grant, nominal souvenir) and gifts the ban does not reach (a family gift unconnected with official duties, a card of no value).
What next
Got most of them? Try the diagnostic test to see your score per subject, or read exam tips for pacing and test-taking rules.
Preview a lesson
ReviewTayo has 51 lessons that follow the official scope of the exam, each with rules, worked examples, common mistakes and practice. Open one and read the first part.
Frequently asked questions
Are these actual Civil Service Exam questions?
No. They are original practice items written to follow the official scope and the question formats of the Civil Service Exam. The CSC doesn't release actual exam items.
How many questions are in the Civil Service Exam?
170 items in 3 hours 10 minutes for Professional, and 165 items in 2 hours 40 minutes for Sub-Professional, including 20 Examinee Descriptive Questionnaire (EDQ) items that are not graded.
Where can I practice more CSE questions with explanations?
ReviewTayo has practice questions for every topic, each with a step-by-step explanation, plus timed mock exams.