Annotated practice and answer pack: ten worked items
Ten original Braintree Coaching Australia practice items grouped by skill: fractions, necessary assumptions, verbal analogies and persuasive openings. Each shows the question, the worked solution and why each wrong option attracts. Skill practice for Years 3 to 7, not official test items.
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About this resource
Quick Answer
This pack from Braintree Coaching Australia holds ten original practice items in four skill groups: comparing and ordering fractions, finding a necessary assumption, solving verbal analogies and opening a persuasive piece. Each item shows the question, a worked solution and the reason each wrong option attracts. They are skill practice, not official test items. The page is free, needs no sign-up and prints with each question and its solution on the same page.
Who does this pack help?
A parent or teacher of a child in roughly Year 3 to Year 7 who wants to see the reasoning step behind an answer, not only the answer. It suits a child who gets some questions right and cannot yet say why, and an adult who is checking a child's working at the kitchen table.
It does not replace a full timed paper, and it does not predict a score. For the real format of each test, use the administering body's own practice material: the NSW Department of Education publishes Opportunity Class practice tests and Selective High School practice tests, and EduTest lists its own practice tests.
How is the pack organised?
| Skill group | The reasoning move | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Fractions on a number line | Compare, order and rename fractions by the size of the part | 1 to 3 |
| Necessary assumptions | Make the assumption false and see whether the argument falls over | 4 to 6 |
| Verbal analogies | Say a bridge sentence, then keep its direction | 7 to 9 |
| Persuasive openings | State a position and one reason in the first two sentences | 10 |
Work on paper first. Open the answer only after your child has written a choice and a reason for it.
Skill group 1: fractions on a number line
These three items come from our ten-question fractions set, which has the other seven questions and two further worked models.
Item 1: which fraction is closer to 1?
Which fraction is closer to 1 on a number line: 5/6 or 7/8?
- A. 5/6
- B. 7/8
- C. They are the same distance from 1
- D. It is impossible to tell
Item 1 answer and worked solution: B, 7/8
Reasoning step: compare the size of the missing part, not the size of the denominator.
5/6 is 1/6 away from 1. 7/8 is 1/8 away from 1. An eighth is smaller than a sixth, so 7/8 is closer.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A (5/6) is chosen by children who think a smaller denominator always means a bigger fraction.
- C (the same distance) comes from noticing both are "one part short" without comparing the size of the part.
- D (impossible to tell) gives up too early. Changing both fractions to twenty-fourths (20/24 and 21/24) settles it.
Item 2: put three fractions in order
Which list shows 1/2, 3/8 and 3/4 in order from left to right on a number line?
- A. 1/2, 3/4, 3/8
- B. 3/4, 1/2, 3/8
- C. 3/8, 1/2, 3/4
- D. 3/8, 3/4, 1/2
Item 2 answer and worked solution: C, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4
Reasoning step: change every fraction to the same denominator before ordering.
Change all three to eighths: 1/2 = 4/8 and 3/4 = 6/8. In order: 3/8, 4/8, 6/8.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A puts 3/8 last because 8 is the biggest denominator.
- B is the correct order backwards (right to left).
- D places 3/4 before 1/2.
Item 3: repeated jumps along the line
A frog starts at 0 on a number line. Each jump is 2/5 long. Where is the frog after 3 jumps?
- A. 6/15
- B. 1 1/5
- C. 1 2/5
- D. 3/5
Item 3 answer and worked solution: B, 1 1/5
Reasoning step: add equal jumps, then rename the improper fraction as a mixed number.
Three jumps of 2/5 is 2/5 + 2/5 + 2/5 = 6/5. Five fifths make 1, with one fifth left over: 1 1/5.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A (6/15) multiplies the denominator by 3 as well as the numerator.
- C (1 2/5) is 7/5, one fifth too far.
- D (3/5) counts the jumps but forgets each jump is two fifths long.
Skill group 2: finding a necessary assumption
A necessary assumption is an unstated idea that must be true for the reason to support the conclusion. The test for each option is the same: make it false, then re-read the argument. If the argument stops working, the option was needed. These three items come from our eight-argument assumptions set, which also has the full worked model.
Item 4: a rival explanation
"Tom scored higher on this week's spelling test than on last week's. He must have studied harder this week."
Which option does the argument need to be true?
- A. Tom studies for every spelling test.
- B. Spelling is Tom's best subject.
- C. This week's test was not much easier than last week's.
- D. Both tests were held on a Friday.
Item 4 answer and worked solution: C
Reasoning step: the negation exposes a rival explanation for the same result.
Negate it: this week's test was much easier. Then a higher score is explained by the easier test, and we cannot conclude Tom studied harder.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A sounds supportive, but if he always studies, that says nothing about studying harder this week.
- B is irrelevant to a change between two weeks.
- D is a detail about the day that has nothing to do with how hard Tom studied.
Item 5: reliable, not perfect
"Monday is forecast to be wet and Friday is forecast to be dry. So our class excursion to the wetlands should move from Monday to Friday."
Which option does the argument need to be true?
- A. Weather forecasts are always correct.
- B. Wet weather would make the excursion worse.
- C. No student in the class has ever been away on a Friday.
- D. The excursion costs less on a Friday.
Item 5 answer and worked solution: B
Reasoning step: reject a plausible option that the argument does not actually need. It needs forecasts to be reasonably reliable, not perfect.
Negate B: wet weather would not make the excursion worse. Then there is no reason to move it away from the wet day, and the conclusion fails.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A is the trap. Negate it to "forecasts are sometimes wrong" and the argument still stands.
- C and D bring in ideas the argument does not depend on.
Item 6: a sample and a town
"A survey of 200 people leaving the science museum found that 90% enjoyed their visit. So most people in the town would enjoy the museum."
Which option does the argument need to be true?
- A. Two hundred is the largest number of people who have visited in one day.
- B. Entry to the museum is free.
- C. The people surveyed are similar to the rest of the town in what they enjoy.
- D. The other 10% of people surveyed dislike science.
Item 6 answer and worked solution: C
Reasoning step: link the surveyed group to the whole town.
Negate it: the people surveyed are not like the rest of the town. People who choose to visit a science museum may already like science more than most. Then their enjoyment does not tell us about everyone else.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A and B are facts about the museum that do not connect the survey to the town.
- D guesses at why 10% did not enjoy it, which the conclusion does not need.
Skill group 3: verbal analogies
Before looking at the options, join the first pair with a short bridge sentence, then carry it across to the second pair in the same direction. The most common wrong answers are words that merely "go with" the third word. These three items come from our twelve-analogy set.
Item 7: whole to part
Orchestra is to violinist as team is to:
- A. coach
- B. player
- C. game
- D. league
Item 7 answer and worked solution: B, player
Reasoning step: hold the direction (whole to part) and reject the reversed option.
Bridge: an orchestra is made up of members such as a violinist. A team is made up of players.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- D (league) is the trap: a team belongs to a league, which is part to whole, the reverse of the first pair.
- A (coach) directs a team, like a conductor, and is not one of the members playing.
- C (game) is what a team does.
Item 8: degree, from strong to mild
Furious is to annoyed as terrified is to:
- A. petrified
- B. brave
- C. angry
- D. uneasy
Item 8 answer and worked solution: D, uneasy
Reasoning step: place both words on the same intensity scale and keep the direction, strong to mild.
Bridge: annoyed is a weaker form of furious. Uneasy is a weaker form of terrified.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A (petrified) is on the right scale but even stronger, so it runs the wrong way.
- B (brave) is an opposite.
- C (angry) belongs to the first pair's scale, not the second.
Item 9: cause to effect
Drought is to famine as spark is to:
- A. match
- B. water
- C. fire
- D. cold
Item 9 answer and worked solution: C, fire
Reasoning step: cause to effect, and reject the option that runs effect to cause.
Bridge: a drought can cause a famine. A spark can cause a fire.
Why each wrong option attracts:
- A (match) is the trap: a match can cause a spark, so it runs effect to cause.
- B (water) and D (cold) are things we connect with putting fires out.
Skill group 4: opening a persuasive piece
A persuasive opening does three jobs in two to four sentences: it speaks to a specific audience, states a position and gives the main reason. This item is one of three annotated revisions in our persuasive opening workshop. The writing here was composed by us as a teaching example. It is not a child's response and has not been marked against any official criteria.
Item 10: the question with no answer
Prompt: The local council wants to close the skate park and build a car park. Write a letter to the council giving your opinion.
Weak opening:
Have you ever thought about skate parks? What would you do if there was nowhere to skate? Skate parks are fun and car parks are boring. That is why this is an important issue for everybody.
Item 10 annotated revision
Reasoning step: turn a question into a stated position with a reason.
Why the weak opening falls short:
- Two questions in a row hand the work to the reader. Neither is answered.
- "Fun" and "boring" are the writer's feelings. A councillor deciding about parking will not be moved by them.
- "An important issue for everybody" could end any opening on any topic.
Revised opening:
Dear Councillors, please keep the Hillview skate park open. On any afternoon after school there are thirty or more young people using it, and if it becomes a car park they will have nowhere nearby that is safe, free and away from traffic.
What changed:
- The questions are gone. The position arrives in the first sentence as a direct request.
- The reason is aimed at what a council cares about: how many people use the place, safety and cost to families.
- "Thirty or more" is the writer's own observation. In a test, a child can use a sensible, honest detail from their own experience, and should not invent statistics or pretend a survey was done.
How may educators reuse this pack?
You may link to this page and quote short excerpts with attribution to Braintree Coaching Australia. You may print it for your own child or class. Do not republish the question stems, worked solutions or this pack as your own product. These items are not official test material. This is not a Creative Commons grant; ask us if you need a written reuse licence.
How were the answers checked, and what has not been checked?
- Author: James Rush, content writer, Braintree Coaching Australia, wrote the items and worked solutions.
- Second solve: each of the four source pages states that its answers were solved a second time, independently of the author. The name or role of that second solver and the date are not recorded, so this pack does not credit a solver or a date.
- Teacher review: no named teacher review has been recorded for this pack or for its source pages.
- Originality: all ten items are original Braintree Coaching Australia material. None is taken from an official or third-party paper. Names and places in the writing item are made up.
If you find an error, please tell us and we will correct the page and the source page together.
Where should readers go next?
- Turn one marked mock into a week of targeted practice with the mock review planner.
- See which error patterns tutors flag most often in selective mocks in common practice errors.
- Use the generic sample questions for parent-led review of method and timing.
- Keep working on a skill with its full set: fractions, necessary assumptions, verbal analogies or persuasive openings.
Sources and review
Official sources (checked 2026-10-05 on the source pages): NSW Department of Education, Opportunity Class practice tests and Selective High School practice tests; EduTest, practice tests. They are linked for the real format only. This pack states no exam structure, date or score claim.
Author: James Rush, content writer, Braintree Coaching Australia.
Review status: second-solver name and date not recorded; named teacher review not yet recorded.
Last updated: 2026-10-14.
Questions parents ask about this resource
Sources and review
- Answer check not yet recorded.
- Named teacher review not yet recorded.
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