Language Skills Test, Slides of Law

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City of DeSoto

Police Officer

Entry Level Examination

Study Guide

OVERVIEW

One of the first steps toward becoming a Police Officer for the City of DeSoto is taking and passing a Civil Service written examination. This examination study guide was written specifically to assist you with test preparation, with understanding the different components of the written examination, as well as providing helpful hints on test taking, and lastly, to provide you with sample exam questions.

The Entrance Exam for police officers measures the basic skills necessary to perform successfully as a police officer. The test covers four areas: (1) math skills, (2) reading comprehension skills, (3) spelling and vocabulary skills, and (4) ability to understand logical sequences.

Upon arrival to take the written test, applicants will need to allot up to three (3) hours of time for the examination. Dress appropriately and comfortably; business attire is not required. You may want to dress in layers in the event the test room is too warm or too cold.

It is important to follow oral and written instructions that are given to you prior to and during the examination. Failure to follow test day instructions can be detrimental to your final score and you could be disqualified for failure to follow instructions. It is therefore, important to ask the examination administrator for assistance if you do not understand any of the instructions. It is each test taker’s responsibility to manage their time.

Scratch paper will be provided, but otherwise, examinees will not be allowed to utilize items of assistance, including, but not limited to, cell phones, PDA’s, calculators, dictionaries or any other aid.

EXAM TIME LIMIT

The examination is designed to provide a maximum of three (3) hours to take the exam. Wearing a wrist watch is recommended and you should check your time often during the exam. It is in the exam taker’s best interest to answer all of the questions. If you do not know the answer to a question, you should consider skipping it and return to that question later. As the exam time concludes, be sure you have answered all of the questions. If you have some extra time at the end of the exam, you should review your answers and be sure to answer any questions you skipped.

It is definitely an advantage to answer all of the exam questions. If you are not sure which answer is correct, eliminate choices you feel certain are wrong. If you can narrow the number of possible correct choices, you increase your chances of answering the question correctly.

CHEATING

Cheating on exams will not be tolerated. No exceptions. Applicants will be asked to leave the room immediately or disqualified at a later date.

GENERAL POLICIES

• Photo identification is required for testing.
• Snacks or drinks are prohibited in the testing area.
• No late arrivals. The testing room is closed when the examination begins.
• Cell phones and other electronics are not allowed in the examination room.

HOW THE EXAM IS SCORED

The exam is 100 multiple choice question, with four (A, B, C, or D) possible answer choices. The

exam is graded on the number of correct answers. You should not leave any answers blank. Any

unanswered question is automatically counted as wrong.

This examination uses a Scan Tron answer sheet. A good tip is to erase as

few times as possible; however, if it is necessary to change your answer,

erase carefully and completely, and then bubble in the correct response.

There should only be one answer marked for each question.

As stated above, if you do not know the answer to a question, you should consider skipping it and

return to that question later. As the exam time concludes, be sure you have answered all of the

questions. It is better to guess at an answer than to leave it blank. If you have some extra time at the

end of the exam, you should review your answers and be sure to answer any questions you skipped.

Each correct response will receive one point. The highest possible raw score is 100. Applicants must

make a minimum of 70% to successfully pass the examination.

Math Skills In the math portion of the exam, examinees are provided with situations that require the use of basic arithmetic. Examinees will be required to read a word problem, apply the appropriate arithmetic operations, and then select the correct multiple-choice answer.

Sample questions

1. Following the arrest of three drug dealers, police officers took cash from the arrested persons in the following bill amounts:

Johnson

100’s

20

50’s

2

20’s

10 Reed 50 Thompson 10 10 50

How much cash did the officers retrieve from suspect Johnson?

A. $2, B. $2, C. $5, D. $9,

2. Bail for Mr. Anderson was set at $25,000. In order to be released, he must pay 10% of this in cash. How much must Mr. Anderson pay?

A. $ B. $ C. $2, D. $2,

3. A car skidded 8 feet, 11 inches before coming to a complete stop. The accident report must list the distance in inches only. What distance should be entered on the report?

A. 12 B. 88 C. 107 D. 132

4. An appliance store is burglarized and 21 clock radios with a total value of $1050 are stolen. What is the average value of the radios?

A. $21, B. $50. C. $105. D. $22,

Reading Comprehension Skills In the reading comprehension portion of the exam, examinees will read passages relating to police duty and will then answer questions based on these passages. No prior knowledge of law or law enforcement will be needed to answer the questions. All the information needed to answer the questions will be provided in the passage. The passages in the exam are not intended to represent actual law. The passages present potential rules and laws relating to police work.

Sample questions

Read the sample passage below and then answer the sample questions. An example of each type of question is provided.

Questions 1-3 are based on the following passage:

Every inmate entering the jail must be considered a potential carrier of disease and contraband. In order to protect visitors, employees and inmates of the jail, a thorough search of each inmate must be conducted. This search should be performed after booking but before the person has had an opportunity to enter the cell area.

1. According to the sample passage, which of the following is the search specifically designed to protect?

A. inmates B. Visitors C. Employees D. All of the above are correct.

2. According to the sample passage, who of the following is a potential carrier of disease and contraband?

A. Inmates entering the jail B. Visitors C. Employees D. All of the above are correct.

3. According to the passage, a search should be conducted:

A. Immediately after the person has entered the cell area. B. After an inmate enters the holding cell. C. After an inmate has been booked. D. Immediately, upon an inmate’s arrival to the jail.

Reading Comprehension Skills (continued)

Questions 4-6 are based on the following passage:

Steve Lombardi, owner of Handyman Supplies at 1510 N. Nancy Bell Road, Houston, Texas called 9- 1-1 at 1600 hours, Friday, July 1 to report that his store had been burglarized that evening. Officers Taylor Brown and Mike Grayson arrived at the store at 1610 hours. to investigate the incident. Officer Grayson and Officer Brown noticed a green Chevrolet Malibu driving slowly from the area as they arrived, a yellow Ford truck parked out front of the business, and a red Oldsmobile Delta 88 in the driveway across the street. Mr. Lombardi reported that four high end drills, five hammers, and$198.64 from the cash register were missing. Mr. Lombardi found three impact wrenches, eight boxes of nails, and five tool boxes that were just inside the back door that the thieves apparently did not have time to come back and get.

4. Which of the following vehicles were the suspects positively identified to be in?

A. Yellow Ford truck B. Red Oldsmobile Delta 88 C. Green Chevrolet Malibu D. None of the above are correct.

5. The incident was reported to police on which of the following dates:

A. Thursday, July 15 B. Friday, July 1 C. Friday, July 21 D. Wednesday, July 11

6. How many total tools were stolen from the store?

A. Three B. $198. C. Nine D. Sixteen

Logical Sequence (Logical Reasoning) Skills In the logical sequence skills portion of the exam, examinees will be provided with different series of letters, words, symbols, events, etc. This section tests examinee’s ability to think logically and analytically. Examinees are required to assemble the data in a logical or meaningful order.

Sample questions

1. Arrange the following words in a meaningful order:
   1. Death 2. Marriage 3. Education 4. Birth 5 Funeral

A. 5,1,2,3, B. 4,2,3,1, C. 4,3,2,5, D. 4,3,2,1,

2. Arrange the following words in a meaningful order:
   1. House 2. Street 3. Room 4. County 5. City

A. 3,2,1,4, B. 3,1,4,2, C. 3,1,2,4, D. 3,1,2,5,

3. What number should come next?

42, 40, 36, 30, 22, _

A. 8 B. 16 C. 10 D. 12

4. What is the missing letter in this series?

Q P N M

A. Q B. O C. R D. S

Entrance Exam Study Guide Answer Key

Math Skills

#1 A #2 D #3 C #4 B #5 A #6 D #7 A #8 C #9 A

Reading Comprehension Skills

#1 D #2 A #3 C #4 D #5 B #6 C

Language Skills

#1 A #2 B #3 A #4 B #5 A

Logical Sequence (Logical Reasoning) Skills

#1 D (First of all a person is born (birth), then takes an education, after is married, then dies (death), and then a funeral.) #2 D (Someone lives in a room, in a house, on a street, in a city, in a county) #3 D (42- 2 =40; 40- 4 =36, 36- 6 =30, 30- 8 =22, 22- 10 =12) #4 B (Reverse order of alphabet. M-N-O-P-Q in reverse)