EEI SOPD Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: C

True: Uses outside knowledge: the facts never say at what height nimbostratus clouds form.

False: Nothing in the facts places nimbostratus clouds at or above cirrus heights, so there is no conflict.

Indeterminable: Correct. The facts describe nimbostratus clouds only by the rain or snow they bring, not by height. The statement is true if nimbostratus are low clouds and false if they form as high as cirrus clouds; the facts allow both.

A statement may be true in the real world and still be Indeterminable if the facts do not cover it.

Answer: B

True: Reverses the facts: stratus clouds are low clouds, and low clouds never form at high-cloud heights.

False: Correct. Stratus clouds are low clouds, and no low cloud forms at the heights where high clouds form. Cirrus clouds are high clouds, so they form at high-cloud heights, where no stratus cloud can form.

Indeterminable: The facts do settle this: combining "stratus are low", "cirrus are high" and the "no low cloud" fact rules the statement out.

Link the categories first; a 'no' fact applied through a chain makes the statement false.

Answer: A

True: Correct. All cirrus clouds are high clouds, and every high cloud is made mainly of ice crystals, so cirrus clouds must be made mainly of ice crystals.

False: Nothing conflicts: the two "all" facts lead directly to this statement.

Indeterminable: Overlooks the chain: cirrus are high clouds, and high clouds are made mainly of ice crystals, which settles it.

If all A are B and all B are C, then all A are C.

Answer: C

The automated system was installed on only some of the circuits in the Ridgeway district.: Explains neither result: partial installation would shrink the effect, not produce opposite trends.

Total outage minutes also fell in nearby districts that did not install the new system.: Suggests another cause for fewer minutes but does nothing to explain more outages.

The system restores power within seconds, and each brief interruption counts as an outage.: Correct. The puzzle is fewer outage minutes but more outages; if the system turns long outages into short ones that are each counted, minutes fall while the count rises, which explains both facts.

Customers in the district now report outages more often by phone than they do online.: How outages are reported does not explain why the count rose while minutes fell.

The district had an unusually mild storm season in the period after the system was installed.: Would explain fewer minutes but predicts fewer outages, not more, so half the puzzle remains.

When two measures move in opposite directions, the best explanation accounts for both at once, often through how one of them is counted.

Answer: B

1. 1. Friday cannot be Crew 4 or Crew 5 (rules), or Crew 2 (Crew 4 must come later).
2. 2. So Crew 1 or Crew 3 covers Friday, and the other covers Thursday.
3. 3. Crews 2, 4 and 5 fill Monday–Wednesday; Crew 5 is not Monday and Crew 4 is not before Crew 2, so Crew 2 is Monday.
4. 4. The valid schedules (Monday to Friday) are 2-4-5-1-3, 2-4-5-3-1, 2-5-4-1-3 and 2-5-4-3-1.
5. 5. Crew 2 is on Monday in every one; each other statement fails in at least one.

Crew 1 covers Thursday.: Possible but not required: in Crew 2, Crew 4, Crew 5, Crew 3, Crew 1, Crew 1 covers Friday.

Crew 2 covers Monday.: Correct. Neither Crew 4 nor Crew 5 can cover Friday, and Crew 2 cannot be last because Crew 4 must follow it, so Crew 1 or Crew 3 covers Friday and the pair takes Thursday and Friday. Of Monday–Wednesday, Crew 5 cannot take Monday and Crew 4 must follow Crew 2, so Crew 2 covers Monday in all four valid schedules.

Crew 3 covers Friday.: Possible but not required: Crew 3 can cover Thursday with Crew 1 on Friday.

Crew 4 covers Tuesday.: Possible but not required: Crew 4 can cover Wednesday, as in Crew 2, Crew 5, Crew 4, Crew 1, Crew 3.

Crew 5 covers Wednesday.: Possible but not required: Crew 5 can cover Tuesday.

For a "must be true" question, list the valid arrangements; the answer is the only statement true in all of them.

Answer: C

1. 1. Crew 4, Crew 5, Crew 2, … puts Crew 4 before Crew 2.
2. 2. Crew 1, Crew 2, Crew 5, Crew 4, Crew 3 separates Crews 1 and 3.
3. 3. Crew 5, Crew 2, … puts Crew 5 on Monday.
4. 4. Crew 2, Crew 5, Crew 1, Crew 3, Crew 4 puts Crew 4 on Friday.
5. 5. Only Crew 2, Crew 5, Crew 4, Crew 1, Crew 3 meets all four rules.

Crew 1, Crew 2, Crew 5, Crew 4, Crew 3: Breaks the rule that Crew 1 and Crew 3 cover consecutive days.

Crew 4, Crew 5, Crew 2, Crew 1, Crew 3: Breaks the rule that Crew 2 covers an earlier day than Crew 4.

Crew 2, Crew 5, Crew 4, Crew 1, Crew 3: Correct. Crew 2 (Monday) is earlier than Crew 4 (Wednesday), Crews 1 and 3 cover Thursday and Friday, Crew 5 covers Tuesday, and Crew 4 is not on Friday.

Crew 5, Crew 2, Crew 4, Crew 1, Crew 3: Breaks the rule that Crew 5 does not cover Monday or Friday.

Crew 2, Crew 5, Crew 1, Crew 3, Crew 4: Breaks the rule that Crew 4 does not cover Friday.

Check each rule against every option; a correct option survives all of them.

Answer: D

Transformer prices have risen sharply over the past five years.: Addresses a different issue: cost does not affect whether the capacity will be needed.

All of the district's existing transformers were inspected last spring and found in good condition.: Inspection results describe present equipment, not whether future load will exceed capacity.

The district's peak load usually occurs on hot summer afternoons.: Tells when the peak occurs, not whether it will grow.

A large factory will connect to the district's lines next year.: Correct. The memo projects the next several years from five flat years; a large new load arriving next year means the past trend will not continue, which weakens the conclusion.

Several neighboring districts have added transformer capacity in recent years as their loads grew.: Concerns other districts, whose growth is irrelevant to Northfield's needs.

A forecast based on a past trend is weakened by evidence that conditions are about to change.

Answer: D

All of last year's switching errors occurred during the final two hours of a twelve-hour shift.: Restates the evidence; an assumption is an unstated premise, not the stated one.

No switching errors of any kind will occur once operators begin working eight-hour shifts.: Too strong: the memo claims only that errors will be reduced, not eliminated.

Switching errors cost the utility more money each year than any other single kind of operator error.: Addresses a different issue: the cost of errors does not affect whether shorter shifts reduce them.

The errors came from fatigue late in a shift, not from tasks done at those hours.: Correct. The conclusion (shorter shifts cut errors) rests on the evidence that errors cluster late in long shifts; it works only if the cause is time already worked, not something about those clock hours, and this option supplies that link.

Most operators at the control center would prefer eight-hour shifts to their current twelve-hour shifts.: Not needed: the argument is about errors, and it holds whether or not operators like the new schedule.

A necessary assumption bridges the evidence and the conclusion; here it rules out another cause for the late-shift pattern.

Answer: C

1. 1. 1.8 × 25 = 45
2. 2. 45 + 32 = 77

45.0: Multiplied 1.8 × 25 but did not add 32.

57.0: Added 25 and 32 but did not multiply by 1.8.

77.0: Correct. F = 1.8 × 25 + 32 = 45 + 32 = 77.

102.6: Added 32 before multiplying: 1.8 × (25 + 32); multiply first, then add.

None of the Above: The correct value, 77.0, is listed among A–D.

Substitute, then follow the order of operations: multiply before adding.

Answer: C

1. 1. 30 hands × 4 inches per hand = 120 inches
2. 2. 120 inches ÷ 12 inches per foot = 10 feet

2.5: Skipped the hand row and treated 30 hands as 30 inches before dividing by 12.

7.5: Divided by 4 instead of multiplying, then stopped.

10.0: Correct. 30 hands × 4 inches = 120 inches; 120 inches ÷ 12 = 10 feet.

120.0: Stopped at inches; one more step (÷ 12) gives feet.

None of the Above: The correct value, 10.0, is listed among A–D.

When the panel has no direct row, chain through a shared unit (here inches).

Answer: A

1. 1. 30 miles per hour × 5,280 feet = 158,400 feet per hour
2. 2. 158,400 ÷ 60 = 2,640 feet per minute
3. 3. 2,640 ÷ 60 = 44 feet per second

44: Correct. 30 × 5,280 = 158,400 feet per hour; ÷ 60 = 2,640 feet per minute; ÷ 60 = 44 feet per second.

88: Divided the feet per minute by 30 instead of 60.

2,640: Stopped at feet per minute; one more ÷ 60 gives feet per second.

158,400: Stopped at feet per hour; the time units were never converted.

None of the Above: The correct value, 44, is listed among A–D.

Convert the distance and the time separately; a smaller time unit means dividing the rate.

Answer: B

1. 1. 2 acres × 43,560 square feet = 87,120 square feet
2. 2. 1 square yard = 3 feet × 3 feet = 9 square feet
3. 3. 87,120 ÷ 9 = 9,680 square yards

4,840: Found the square yards in one acre but did not multiply by 2 acres.

9,680: Correct. 2 acres × 43,560 = 87,120 square feet; ÷ 9 = 9,680 square yards.

29,040: Divided by 3 as for a length; a square yard is 3 × 3 = 9 square feet.

87,120: Stopped at square feet; dividing by 9 gives square yards.

None of the Above: The correct value, 9,680, is listed among A–D.

Square units use the length factor squared: square feet to square yards is ÷ 9, not ÷ 3.

Answer: C

Compare which method of putting out an arc works best.: Paragraph 3 describes the methods and no paragraph ranks them.

Explain why a short circuit produces such a large current.: Paragraph 4 says faults cause the most wear but does not explain fault current.

Explain why contacts wear and how crews manage it.: Correct. Paragraph 4 says arcs wear the contacts, most of all during faults, and that crews track operations and inspect or replace contacts.

Describe how an arc forms as the contacts separate.: That is paragraph 1.

A paragraph's purpose should cover both what it explains and what it says to do about it.

Answer: A

Spraying cooling water onto the contacts.: Correct. Paragraph 3 names compressed gas, a chamber with almost no air and insulating gases; water is never mentioned.

Separating the contacts in a chamber with almost no air.: Described in paragraph 3.

Surrounding the contacts with insulating gases.: Described in paragraph 3.

Blowing compressed gas across the gap.: Described in paragraph 3.

Check each option against the list; the one not in the paragraph is the answer.

Answer: B

At the moment the two contacts first touch each other.: Contradicts paragraph 1: the arc forms as the contacts pull apart, not when they touch.

At an instant when the current passes through zero.: Correct. Paragraph 2 says the arc "briefly loses its energy" at each zero point, when the gap can be made to resist current.

After the arc has fully heated the gap between the contacts.: Unsupported: a hotter gap would carry the arc more easily, and the passage ties success to the current zero.

None of the Above.: Wrong because option B is supported by paragraph 2.

A cause question asks for the condition the passage links to the result; here the current zero lets the gap resist the arc.

Answer: D

The instant at which the current passes through zero.: That is the current zero described in paragraph 2.

The curved path the moving contacts follow as they swing open.: Uses the everyday meaning of "arc" (a curve), which the passage does not use.

A short circuit between two lines.: A short circuit is the large current a breaker may interrupt, not the arc itself.

Hot, glowing gas that carries current across the gap.: Correct. Paragraph 1 defines the arc as "a column of extremely hot, glowing gas that conducts electricity."

Technical passages often define a term right after using it; prefer that definition to the everyday meaning.