Sample Questions Peace Corps Placement Test

So, if you wanted to join the Peace Corps in the early days, here are a few of the questions you needed to answer (I’ll add the answers so you’ll know your grade) Good Luck!

# 1

VERBAL APTITUDE

Directions: Each question below consists of a word printed in capital letters, followed by five words or phrases lettered A through E. Choose the lettered word or phrase which is most nearly opposite in meaning to the word in capital letters. Since some of the questions require you to distinguish fine shade of meaning, be sure to consider all the choices before deciding which one is best.

LABORIOUS:
(A) stationary
(B) free
(C) automatic
(D) common
(E) easy

# 2

AGRICULTURE

Directions: Which of the following is most commonly used in the United States for feeding swine?

(A) Clover
(B) Wheat
(C) Alfalfa
(D) Corn
(E) Lespedeza

#3

HEALTH SCIENCES

Directions: Which of the following would be the most satisfactory nutritional substitute for fresh orange juice?

(A) Fresh apple juice
(B) Fresh carrot juice
(C) Bottled prune juice
(D) Canned pineapple juice
(E) Canned grapefruit juice

#4

LITERATURE TEST

‘Tis late to hearken, late to smile,
But better late than never;
I shall have lived a little while
Before I die for ever.

Among other things, in these lines the poet is expressing his belief that

(A) a man should counterfeit cheer in preparing himself for death
(B) life is bitter, but must be endured
(C) old age makes a man impatient for death
(D) it is never too late to repent one’s misdeeds
(E) there is no life after death

#5

WORLD HISTORY

The policy of the ‘open door’ in China was designed to

(A) divide Chinese territory among the great powers
(B) compel the Chinese to open their ports to foreign trade
(C) preserve equal trading rights for all foreigners in that country.
(D) give the United States control of Far Eastern markets
(E) restore full sovereign rights to China

# 6

MECHANICAL SKILLS

What does 28 feet of wire weight, if 154 feet weights 11 pounds?

(A) 2 lbs.
(B) 28/11 lb.
(C) 11/2 lb.
(D) 7 lb.
(E) 14 lb.

# 7

UNITED STATES HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS

Which of the following was the primary objective of the nations which signed the North Atlantic Pact?

(A)  To form an alliance for military conquest
(B)  To insure economic stability in democratic states
(C)  To replace the Marshall Plan with a new alliance
(D)  To destroy the effectiveness of the Soviet veto in the United Nations
(E)  To unite for collecive defense

# 8

MODERN LANGUAGE APTITUDE

The following item test your ability to understand the function of words and phrases in sentences.

Below you will find a key sentence in which there appears an underlined word in capital letters. Immediately following the key sentence is a second sentence containing certain underlined words or phrases. Look over the underlined choices in the second sentence and find the one which functions most nearly like the capitalized word or phrase in the key sentence.

Mary is cutting the APPLE.

My brother John is beating his dog with a big stick.

A                        B                     C      D             E

ANSWERS

# 1  E

# 2  D

# 3  E

# 4  E

# 5  C

# 6  A

# 7  E

# 8  D