Selective Mock Test 1 — Thinking Skills (Year 6)
A free NSW Selective High School placement test practice paper for Year 6 in the format of the real test: 40 questions in 40 minutes, covering Section A — Critical thinking; Section B — Problem solving. 40 minutes — about one minute per question. Choose the best answer. Answer every question — there is no penalty for a wrong answer. Attempt it online — every question is marked instantly and the correct answers are shown at the end.
Free · attempted online · no download
Q1. Rosa: “Our Year 6 class should start a vegetable garden. Growing vegetables teaches us where our food comes from, and it gets us outside and moving. Some people say a garden takes too much time to look after, but if we made a roster, each student would only need to help for a few minutes a week.”
Which statement best expresses the main idea of Rosa’s argument?
Q2. Mr Chen: “Our class should plant tomatoes in the school garden this term. Tomato plants grow best in warm weather, so they will do well.”
Which assumption has Mr Chen made?
Q3. In March, the council put brighter street lights along Park Road. In April, there were fewer car accidents on Park Road than in February. The council says the brighter lights caused the drop in accidents.
Which statement, if true, most weakens the council’s claim?
Q4. Researchers found that students who have lots of books at home usually get higher reading marks. Ms Patel says, “So if the school gives every student ten books to take home, everyone’s reading marks will go up.”
Which statement best describes the flaw in Ms Patel’s reasoning?
Q5. At Wattle Grove School, every student who went on the museum excursion had handed in a permission note. Every student who handed in a permission note was given a sticker. Jack was not given a sticker.
If these statements are true, which of the following must also be true?
Q6. Information: Every member of the school orchestra must go to practice on Tuesday afternoons. Some students who go to Tuesday practice also go to Thursday practice.
Ava says: “Lena goes to Thursday practice, so she must be a member of the orchestra.”
Ben says: “Tom does not go to Tuesday practice, so he cannot be a member of the orchestra.”
If the information is true, whose reasoning is correct?
Q7. Ms Rahman: “If students choose their own seats in the library, the library will become noisier, because students will sit with their friends and chat.”
Which statement, if true, most strengthens Ms Rahman’s claim?
Q8. Grace: “My brother started drinking a glass of milk every night, and this year he grew 8 centimetres. So drinking milk every night makes children grow taller.”
Which statement best describes the flaw in Grace’s argument?
Q9. Zara: “Pelican Island has the best beaches in the state. I know this because no other place in the state has beaches as good as the ones on Pelican Island.”
Which statement best describes the flaw in Zara’s reasoning?
Q10. Omar claims that plants grow taller when music is played to them.
Which experiment would be the best way to test Omar’s claim?
Q11. Principal: “We should stop printing the school newsletter and send it by email instead. That way, every family will read the school news.”
Which assumption has the principal made?
Q12. In a class spelling bee, Nia scored more points than Otto, and Otto scored more points than Pip. Quinn scored fewer points than Nia but more than Pip. No two students scored the same.
Which of these cannot be true?
Q13. A sign in the school library says: “A student may borrow a laptop only if they have signed the laptop agreement.”
If the rule on the sign is always followed, which of these must be true?
Q14. Liam noticed that the ants in his backyard come out much more on warm days than on cold days. He concluded that ants cannot survive in cold weather.
Which statement, if true, most weakens Liam’s conclusion?
Q15. Information: The swimming carnival will go ahead only if the pool temperature is at least 24 °C. If the carnival goes ahead, all Year 6 students must bring a hat.
Kai says: “The pool was 26 °C this morning, so the carnival definitely went ahead.”
Lucy says: “The Year 6 students did not have to bring hats, so the pool must have been colder than 24 °C.”
If the information is true, whose reasoning is correct?
Q16. Information: Every student who finishes the reading challenge gets a certificate. No student who gets a certificate has to do the holiday homework sheet.
Nora says: “Sam has to do the holiday homework sheet, so he did not finish the reading challenge.”
Felix says: “Tia did not get a certificate, so she did not finish the reading challenge.”
If the information is true, whose reasoning is correct?
Q17. Researchers found that towns with more public libraries have fewer children who struggle with reading. They say that building more libraries will improve children’s reading.
Which statement, if true, most strengthens the researchers’ argument?
Q18. Coach Dee: “Either we train every single day of the holidays, or we will lose the grand final. We do not want to lose, so we must train every day.”
Which statement best shows the flaw in Coach Dee’s reasoning?
Q19. Last year, 20 students from Greenhill School joined the chess club, but only 10 students from Bayview School joined. Rafi concludes that Greenhill students are more interested in chess than Bayview students.
Which statement, if true, most weakens Rafi’s conclusion?
Q20. Rules at the science fair: Every project that uses electricity must be checked by a teacher before it is put on display. Teachers do not start checking projects until 10 am. Priya’s project was put on display at 9 am.
If all the rules were followed, which of these must be true?
Q21. Five friends sit in a row of seats numbered 1 to 5 from left to right.
• Ben sits somewhere to the left of Eli.
• Ada sits next to Dev.
• Cara is not in an end seat, and she does not sit next to Ben.
• Eli is not in seat 5.
• Dev sits somewhere to the right of Cara.
• Ada is not in an end seat.
Who sits in seat 4?
Q22. Which of these nets will not fold to make a cube?
Q23. In a secret code, each letter of a word moves forward in the alphabet by its position in the word: the 1st letter moves forward 1 place, the 2nd letter 2 places, the 3rd letter 3 places, and so on. For example, BOOK is written as CQRO.
How is LAMP written in this code?
Q24. Both scales are balanced. How many triangles would balance 4 squares?
Q25. Someone left the classroom tap running. It was one of Amy, Ben, Cal and Dan. Exactly one of them is telling the truth.
Amy: “Ben did it.”
Ben: “Dan did it.”
Cal: “I didn’t do it.”
Dan: “Ben is not telling the truth.”
Who left the tap running?
Q26. This solid is made from identical cubes standing on a table. Each stack goes all the way down to the table with no gaps. How many more cubes are needed to turn it into a solid 3 × 3 × 3 cube?
Q27. What number comes next in this sequence?
2, 6, 3, 9, 6, 18, 15, ?
Q28. Which picture shows the reflection of the pattern in the mirror line?
Q29. In a certain year, 3 March is a Wednesday. What day of the week is 1 May in that same year?
Q30. Six runners finished a race with no ties.
• Ivy finished exactly two places ahead of Gus.
• Hal finished behind Kim but ahead of Jo.
• Fay finished immediately after Jo.
• Gus was not last.
• Kim did not win.
Who finished fourth?
Q31. The pattern is turned a quarter turn (90°) clockwise. Which picture shows the result?
Q32. Mei has only 20-cent and 50-cent coins. She has 14 coins worth $4.60 altogether. How many 50-cent coins does she have?
Q33. The net is folded to make a cube. Which two letters are on opposite faces?
Q34. An old kitchen clock loses 4 minutes every hour. It was set to the correct time at 8:00 am. Later that day, the clock shows 3:00 pm. What is the correct time?
Q35. The first four pictures follow a pattern. Which picture comes next?
Q36. Hana, Ivo, Jess and Kit each do a different activity (art, coding, drama or soccer) on a different day from Monday to Thursday.
• Hana does not do soccer or drama.
• Coding is the day after soccer.
• Ivo’s activity is on Thursday, and it is not art.
• Jess’s activity is earlier in the week than Hana’s.
• Drama is not on Monday.
• Kit does not do soccer, and Kit’s activity is the day after Jess’s.
What does Kit do, and on which day?
Q37. The solid is made of identical cubes standing on a table. Which picture shows what you would see if you looked at the solid from the front, in the direction of the arrow?
Q38. Four dice are stacked in a tower on a table. On each die, the numbers on opposite faces add up to 7. The top of the tower shows 2.
What is the total of the numbers on the faces that are hidden where the dice touch each other and where the bottom die touches the table?
Q39. A square sheet of paper is folded twice as shown, and then one hole is punched through all the layers. What does the paper look like when it is unfolded?
Q40. A lock has a three-digit code that uses three different digits. Here are some guesses and clues:
547 — one digit is correct and in the correct place.
961 — one digit is correct but in the wrong place.
309 — two digits are correct, but both are in the wrong places.
802 — no digit is correct.
What is the code?
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