C IVIL SERVICE

E XAMS 3rd Edition

Shannon R. Turlington
An ARCO Book

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ISBN 0-7689-1832-4

Printed in the United States of America

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Third Edition
Contents
Before You Begin .......................................................................... vii
Who Should Use This Book?...................................................................... vii
How This Book Is Organized ..................................................................... vii

PART I: START WITH THE BASICS

1 Civil Service Jobs ........................................................................... 3
Federal Employment ................................................................................... 3
State and Local Government Employment .............................................. 10
Obtaining Job Information ........................................................................ 11
How to Apply .............................................................................................. 15
2 Exam Essentials ............................................................................ 23
What to Expect on the Federal Civil Service Exam ................................. 23
What to Expect on State and Municipal Exams ...................................... 25
Biographical and Achievement Inventory ................................................ 25
Preparing for the Exam ............................................................................. 26
How the Exam Is Administered ................................................................ 27
Exam Ratings ............................................................................................. 28
Test-Taking Strategies ............................................................................... 29

PART II: VERBAL ABILITY QUESTIONS

3 English Grammar and Usage ...................................................... 35
Essentials of English Grammar ................................................................ 35
Other Rules You Must Know ..................................................................... 38
4 Spelling ......................................................................................... 49
Essential Spelling Rules ............................................................................ 49
Common Spelling Questions ..................................................................... 51
5 Synonyms...................................................................................... 59
What Are Synonyms? ................................................................................. 59
Synonym Questions ................................................................................... 59
6 Sentence Completions ................................................................ 67
What Are Sentence Completions? ............................................................. 67
Sentence Completion Questions................................................................ 67
7 Verbal Analogies .......................................................................... 75
What Are Verbal Analogy Questions? ....................................................... 75
Verbal Analogy Questions .......................................................................... 76

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