CBEST Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: A

An appeal to popularity, urging readers to do what many others are doing: Correct. "Thousands of families" and "the only one left behind" pressure readers to follow the crowd (a bandwagon appeal).

A testimonial from an expert who has evaluated the tutoring program: No expert or personal endorsement is quoted in the advertisement.

Statistical evidence showing that the program improves students' grades: The ad cites a number of customers, not any evidence of results.

An appeal to tradition, suggesting that the program has always been used: The ad stresses that families are switching now, not that the program is long established.

Bandwagon (appeal to popularity) argues that something is good because many people do it; it offers no evidence of quality.

Answer: A

Giving students a few more seconds after a question can improve class discussion.: Correct. The passage describes the benefits of a longer pause and concludes they are "worth the brief discomfort."

Teachers should call on quiet students more often than on talkative students.: The passage says quiet students volunteer more with wait time; it does not tell teachers whom to call on.

Researchers disagree about how long teachers should wait after asking questions.: No disagreement among researchers is described.

Students give shorter answers when teachers ask questions that are too difficult.: Question difficulty is never discussed; the passage is about the length of the pause.

The main idea is the point that all the sentences support; in this passage it is stated as a claim and reinforced at the end.

Answer: C

The student answered 72 percent of the questions correctly.: Percent correct and percentile rank are different measures; a percentile compares the student with other test takers.

The student earned a raw score of 72 points on the test.: A percentile is not a point score; the raw score could be any number.

The student scored higher than about 72% of the comparison group.: Correct. A percentile rank tells what percent of the norm (comparison) group scored below the student.

The student ranked 72nd among all students who took the test.: A percentile is a percent of the group, not a place in a ranked list.

Percentile rank = percent of the norm group scoring below a given score; it is not percent correct.

Answer: C

50: This divides the full $398 by 8 (about 50) and ignores the $150 bus fee.

69: This adds the bus fee instead of subtracting it: (398 + 150) ÷ 8 ≈ 69.

31: Correct. 150 + 8s = 398, so 8s = 248 and s = 31. Check: 150 + 8(31) = 398.

19: This divides the bus fee by 8 (about 19), which has no meaning in the problem.

Model "fixed fee + rate × number" as an equation, subtract the fixed amount, then divide by the rate.

Answer: B

Any student who received a certificate completed the summer reading list.: This is the converse; certificates might also be given for other reasons.

Any student who did not receive a certificate did not complete the list.: Correct. This is the contrapositive: if completing the list guarantees a certificate, a student with no certificate cannot have completed it.

Any student who did not complete the list did not receive a certificate.: This is the inverse; the statement does not rule out certificates for other achievements.

Some students who completed the list did not receive a certificate.: This contradicts the statement, which says all such students receive one.

"If P, then Q" is logically equivalent only to its contrapositive, "If not Q, then not P"; the converse and inverse do not follow.

Answer: C

The writer contradicts herself by reporting a decline and then denying that it occurred.: The second sentence does not deny the decline; it draws a conclusion from it.

The writer is unclear because "checkouts" is a technical word most readers will not know.: "Checkouts" is an everyday word, and the meaning of the sentence is clear.

The writer draws a sweeping conclusion that one statistic cannot support.: Correct. A 10% drop in checkouts could have other causes (such as e-books or schedule changes), so it does not prove students do not care about reading.

The writer loses focus by shifting from the library to the subject of reading.: Library checkouts and reading are closely related; the problem is the logic, not the focus.

An unwarranted conclusion goes beyond what the evidence shows; ask what else could explain the facts.