Texas Civil Service Exam Clerical Aptitude and Detail 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A clerk receives a batch of 500 applications. She approves 62%, denies 23%, and places the rest on hold. How many applications are on hold?
- 65
- 75 (Correct answer)
- 85
- 70
Correct answer: 75
Approved: 310, Denied: 115; On hold: 500 - 310 - 115 = 75 applications.
Question 2: Which of the following sentences contains a punctuation error?
- The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
- Please submit the form before 5:00 p.m.
- All employees must attend; however, managers are exempt.
- The Director approved the policy on June 15 2026. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The Director approved the policy on June 15 2026.
A comma is required after '15' before the year: 'June 15, 2026.'
Question 3: A clerk is cross-referencing two lists of case numbers. List A has: 2201, 2205, 2208, 2212. List B has: 2203, 2205, 2208, 2214. Which numbers appear on BOTH lists?
- 2205 and 2212
- 2205 and 2208 (Correct answer)
- 2208 and 2214
- 2201 and 2205
Correct answer: 2205 and 2208
2205 and 2208 appear in both List A and List B, making them the common entries.
Question 4: Which of the following represents the correct way to abbreviate 'Department of Motor Vehicles' after the first reference in a document?
- Dept.
- D.M.V.
- DMV (Correct answer)
- Dept. of MV
Correct answer: DMV
Standard government document style uses the acronym DMV without periods after defining it on first reference.
Question 5: A records system flags entries if a date field falls outside the range 01/01/2020–12/31/2025. Which entry would be flagged?
- 03/15/2022
- 11/30/2025
- 01/01/2020
- 02/28/2026 (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 02/28/2026
02/28/2026 falls after the allowed end date of 12/31/2025, so it would trigger the out-of-range flag.
Question 6: A civil service office mails letters at $0.68 each. They send 15 letters on Monday, 22 on Wednesday, and 18 on Friday. What is the total postage cost?
- $37.40 (Correct answer)
- $37.60
- $36.80
- $38.00
Correct answer: $37.40
(15 + 22 + 18) × $0.68 = 55 × $0.68 = $37.40 total postage.
Question 7: When filing by subject, a document titled 'Annual Report on Employee Benefits — 2025' would be filed under which primary subject heading?
- Annual Reports
- Employee Benefits (Correct answer)
- 2025 Documents
- Reports, Annual
Correct answer: Employee Benefits
Subject filing prioritizes the main topic of the document, which is 'Employee Benefits,' not the document type or year.
Texas Civil Service Exam Clerical Aptitude and Detail 5
A clerk receives a batch of 500 applications.
She approves 62%, denies 23%, and places the rest on hold.
How many applications are on hold?