Since the NFL offseason is filled with camps, tests and drafts to pass the time, this weekend we actually get to watch a training camp for undrafted rookies that want to prove their worth to NFL teams with strength and agility tests at the NFL Combine.
One aspect that always seems to cause a stir is the Wonderlic exam, a 50 question test that has to be completed in 12 minutes is designed to test a player’s ability to problem-solve and capacity to learn.
While the results of the test correlating to on the field NFL success is debatable, it’s interesting to know how players perform on the test itself. Guys like Peyton Manning received a 28, Ryan Leaf a 27 and Terry Bradshaw, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino all scored a 15 on their tests.
Vince Young was famous for scoring a 6 while Alex Smith scored a commendable 40 out of 50 . We all know Young hasn’t done anything significant in their NFL career (tell coach) and Smith will almost certainly be traded/released this offseason despite the significant difference in scores.
So if the test means absolutely nothing, then what’s the point right? No one really knows but what’s still fun is to take sample questions from the test and see how we each would stack up.
Wonderlic Test Questions
1.CREDIT CREDENCE These words:
A: Have similar meanings.
B: Have opposite meanings.
C: Have neither similar nor opposite meanings.
2.VINTAGE NOVELTY These words:
A: Have similar meanings.
B: Have opposite meanings.
C: Have neither similar nor opposite meanings.
3. ASPIRE SPIRE These words:
A: Have similar meanings.
B: Have opposite meanings.
C: Have neither similar nor opposite meanings.
4. PRODUCE REDUCE These words:
A: Have similar meanings.
B: Have opposite meanings.
C: Have neither similar nor opposite meanings.
5. ABSTAIN RETAIN These words:
A: Have similar meanings.
B: Have opposite meanings.
C: Have neither similar nor opposite meanings.
6. What is the next number in the sequence: 24, 12, 6, 3…?
7. Which of the following numbers represents the greatest amount: 6, 6.0, 0.600, 60?
8. Which of the following numbers represents the smallest amount: 0.400, 0.04, 4.0, 40?
9. Which of the following numbers represents the smallest amount: 3.26, 0.54, 89.00,0.09?
10. Which of the following numbers represents the smallest amount: 3899, 629, 89001, 9867?
11. A physical education class has three times as many girls as boys. During a class basketball game, the girls average 18 points each, and the class as a whole averages 17 points per person. How many points does each boy score on average?
12. Randolph has 8 ties, 6 pairs of pants, and 4 dress shirts. How many days could he possibly go without wearing the same combination of these three items?
13. John is a mechanic. He makes $8.50 an hour, plus $3 extra for every oil change he performs. Last week he worked 36 hours and performed 17 oil changes. How much money did he make?
14. A box of staples has a length of 6 cm, a width of 7 cm, and a volume of 378 cm cubed. What is the height of the box?
15. What is the average of all of the integers from 13 to 37?
16. A basketball player averaged 20 points a game over the course of six games. His scores in five of those games were 23, 18, 16, 24, and 27. How many points did he score in the sixth game?
17. Arnold is about to go on a 500-mile car trip. His mechanic recommends that he buy a special highway engine oil that will save him 50 cents in gas for every 25 miles of the trip. This new oil, however, will cost $20. Is it worthwhile for Arnold to buy the oil if he has a coupon for $4 dollars off the price?
18. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one…
- True
- False
- Not certain
The boy plays baseball. All baseball players wear hats. The boy wears a hat.
19. Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will four pads cost?
20. In printing an article of 48,000 words, a printer decides to use two sizes of type. Using the larger type, a printed page contains 1,800 words. Using smaller type, a page contains 2,400 words. The article is allotted 21 full pages in a magazine. How many pages must be in smaller type?
ANSWER KEY
Don’t cheat!!
1. Answer: A, Have similar meanings. Both credit and credence can refer to a belief in the truth of something.
2. Answer: B, Have opposite meanings. Vintage refers to something old, while novelty refers to something new.
3. Answer: C, Have neither the same nor different meanings. To aspire to something is to set it as a goal, while a spire is the pointed top of a building, especially a church.
4. Answer: B, Have opposite meanings. To produce something is to bring it into existence, while to reduce it is to take part of it out of existence.
5. Answer: B, Have opposite meanings. To abstain from something is to refuse it, while to retain something is to keep it with oneself.
6. Answer: 1.5. The next number is found by dividing each number by 2.
7. Answer: 60.Be sure to identify the position of the decimal point.
8. Answer: 0.04. Be sure to identify the position of the decimal point.
9. Answer: 0.09. It may be helpful to say the numbers out loud: “9 hundredths” is clearly smaller than “54 hundredths.”
10. Answer: 629. Make sure to note the number of place values rather than simply looking at the value of the first digit in the number.
11. Answer: 14. Since the class has three times as many girls as boys, the class is composed of 75% girls and 25% boys. To find the number of points each boy scores on average, we solve the following equation: 0.75*18 + 0.25*X = 17, where X is the number of points each boy scores on average. Solving for X gives X = 14, so the boys average 14 points per game.
12. Answer: 192 days. There are 48 different combinations of ties and shirts (8 different ties for each of the 6 pairs of pants), and then four different shirts for each of these combinations. In numerical form: 8 x 6 x 4 = 192.
13. Answer: $357. John’s base wage can be figured by multiplying his pay per hour by the number of hours he worked: $8.50 x 36 = 306. His bonus for oil changes is calculated by multiplying the payment per oil change by the number of oil changes performed: 17 x 3 = 51. These two products can then be added together.
14. Answer: 9 cm. Volume is calculated as the product of length, width, and height, so if height is set as Y: 6 x 7 x Y = 378. This can be rearranged to 378 / 42 = Y = 9.
15. Answer: 25. This kind of problem can be easily solved by simply finding the average of the two extremes in the range: (13 + 37) / 2 = 25.
16. Answer: 12 points.
17. Answer: No. Arnold will only save $10 by using the oil (.5 x (500 / 25)), and this is still $6 less than the cost of the oil.
18. True
19. 84 cents
20. 17
Questions and answers provided by Test Prep Review and Walter Football
So how did you do? Let us know in the comments if you think you can beat out Alex Smith or at the very least, Vince Young.
