Free Texas Civil Service Clerical Aptitude and Detail Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You are given a set of four names to be filed alphabetically. Which name should be filed THIRD?
1. De La Rosa, Maria
2. D'Amico, Vincent
3. Dean, Samuel
4. Delarosa, John
- Dean, Samuel (Correct answer)
- De La Rosa, Maria
- D'Amico, Vincent
- Delarosa, John
Correct answer: Dean, Samuel
When alphabetizing, names are treated letter-by-letter. Prefixes like 'De La' are considered part of the surname. Punctuation like apostrophes is ignored. The correct order is: 1. D'Amico (DAMICO), 2. Dean, 3. De La Rosa (DELAROSA), 4. Delarosa. Therefore, 'Dean, Samuel' is filed third.
Question 2: A clerk is verifying a shipment invoice against the original purchase order. Identify the line item on the invoice that contains an error when compared to the purchase order.
**Purchase Order:**
- Item #: 401A, Desc: Safety Glasses, Qty: 24
- Item #: 822C, Desc: Work Gloves, Lg, Qty: 36
- Item #: 657B, Desc: Hard Hat, White, Qty: 12
- Item #: 911D, Desc: Steel Toe Boots, Sz 10, Qty: 8
**Shipment Invoice:**
- A) Item #: 401A, Desc: Safety Glasses, Qty: 24
- B) Item #: 822C, Desc: Work Gloves, Lg, Qty: 36
- C) Item #: 657B, Desc: Hard Hat, Yellow, Qty: 12
- D) Item #: 911D, Desc: Steel Toe Boots, Sz 10, Qty: 8
- Item #: 401A
- Item #: 822C
- Item #: 657B (Correct answer)
- Item #: 911D
Correct answer: Item #: 657B
The purchase order specified 'Hard Hat, White' for Item #657B, but the shipment invoice lists 'Hard Hat, Yellow'. All other items, descriptions, and quantities on the invoice match the purchase order exactly.
Question 3: A municipal department uses the following coding system for its internal forms: the first digit is the department number (2=Finance, 4=Parks, 6=Water), followed by a letter indicating the form type (A=Request, B=Report, C=Complaint), and ending with the last two digits of the current year. Which code is correct for a Complaint form filed with the Parks department in 2026?
- 4C26 (Correct answer)
- 4B26
- 6C20
- 2A26
Correct answer: 4C26
The code is built in three parts: Department (Parks = 4), Form Type (Complaint = C), and Year (last two digits of 2026 = 26). Combining these parts in the correct order results in the code 4C26.
Question 4: Which of the following lines is an EXACT duplicate of the source information below?
**Source:** Robertson, Stephen G. - Acct #78-40119-B; P.O. Box 9235, Austin, TX
- Robertson, Stephen G. - Acct #78-40119-B; P.O. Box 9235, Austin, TX (Correct answer)
- Robertson, Steven G. - Acct #78-40119-B; P.O. Box 9235, Austin, TX
- Robertson, Stephen G. - Acct #78-40119-B; P.O. Box 9325, Austin, TX
- Robertson, Stephen G. - Acct #78-41019-B; P.O. Box 9235, Austin, TX
Correct answer: Robertson, Stephen G. - Acct #78-40119-B; P.O. Box 9235, Austin, TX
This option is the only one that perfectly matches every letter, number, and punctuation mark from the source line. The other options contain subtle errors: a misspelled first name ('Steven'), a transposed number in the P.O. Box ('9325'), and a transposed number in the account number ('41019').
Question 5: In the list below, how many pairs of employee ID numbers are identical?
- 84511092 / 84511092
- 6739021B / 6739021B
- 44582G71 / 44582G17
- 9012-45A3 / 9012-45A3
- 337618P0 / 33761BP0
Correct answer: 3
There are exactly three identical pairs. The first pair (84511092), second pair (6739021B), and fourth pair (9012-45A3) are exact matches. The third pair has transposed characters (71 vs 17), and the fifth pair confuses a letter and a number (8P0 vs BP0).
Question 6: A clerk's office files documents first chronologically by year, and then alphabetically by last name. A new document for 'Cynthia Garcia' from 2025 needs to be filed. Which existing file should this new document be placed immediately behind?
- 2024 - David Williams
- 2025 - Frank Miller
- 2025 - Michael Chen
- 2025 - Henry Ford (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 2025 - Henry Ford
The filing system prioritizes the year first (2025), and then alphabetically by last name. Within the 2025 files, 'Garcia' comes after 'Ford' but before 'Miller'. Therefore, the 'Garcia' file would be placed immediately behind the 'Ford' file.
