ASVAB AFQT For Dummies Book + 8 Practice Tests Online

Score higher on the ASVAB AFQT

Having a stable and well-paying career in the military can change your life for the better—and this book makes it easier than ever to pass the ASVAB AFQT so you can serve your country and set your future up for success.

Inside, you’ll find all the guidance and instruction you need to practice your way through the Math Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Word Knowledge, and Arithmetic Reasoning sections of the exam so nothing comes as a surprise on test day. Plus, you get a one-year subscription to the online companion, where you can take additional full-length practice tests and focus your study where you need it the most. 

• Updated guidelines and tools to analyze test scores and understand how to master these critical sections of the exam
• Advice and tips for becoming more confident with vocabulary, word knowledge, and reading comprehension skills
• A review of math basics, including algebra and geometry instruction
• Four full-length practice exams with complete explanations and answers to track your progress 

Your future in the military awaits! Get there faster and more confidently with ASVAB AFQT For Dummies!

Angie Papple Johnston joined the U.S. Army in 2006 as a CBRN specialist. Currently, she's the CBRN noncommissioned officer-in-charge of an aviation battalion in Washington, D.C. Rod Powers served more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a first sergeant.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with the ASVAB AFQT 5

Chapter 1: Examining the AFQT 7

Getting a Close-Up View of the AFQT 7

Reaping the Benefits of Getting the Highest Possible Score 9

Establishing a Study Program 10

Guessing Smart 11

Using the Practice Exams to Your Advantage 11

Chapter 2: Facing the AFQT Head-On 13

Looking at the Big ASVAB Picture 13

The computerized ASVAB (CAT-ASVAB) 14

The pencil-and-paper test 15

Scoring the AFQT 16

Understanding raw scores 17

Computing the verbal expression score 17

Getting the AFQT score formula 17

Normalizing the percentile score 17

Making Sense of Minimum Qualifying Scores 17

Considering the AFQT tier categories 18

Making the military cut 18

Retaking the Test 19

Army 20

Air Force 20

Navy 20

Marine Corps 21

Coast Guard 21

Chapter 3: Arming Yourself with a Study Plan 23

Do You Have Enough Time? 23

Planning Your Study Strategy 24

8 weeks out: Figure out what you need most 24

6 weeks out: Take another test 25

4 weeks out: Surprise! Time for another test 25

2 weeks out: Five tests down (and three to go) 25

1 week out: Crunch time 26

The day before the test: Last-minute prep 26

Chapter 4: Mastering the Art of Studying and Test-Taking 27

Reading for Study 27

Checking out the survey, question, read, recall, and review method 28

Taking and reviewing notes 28

Putting Study Strategies to Work for You 29

Working with your own learning style 29

Getting the most out of your study time 31

Taking the Test: Putting Your Best Foot Forward 34

The day before 34

Test day 34

Part 2: Expressing Yourself and Understanding Others 37

Chapter 5: Developing a Solid Vocabulary 39

Growing Your Vocabulary 39

Reading more to learn more 40

Talking to people 40

Adding words to your vocabulary 40

Using puzzles and games to improve your vocabulary 41

You’re on my list: Working with word lists 41

Getting flashes of memory with flashcards 43

Building a Word from Scratch 43

Rooting around for roots 44

Attaching prefixes and suffixes 45

A Word by Any Other Name: Surveying Synonyms and Antonyms 47

Getting Homogeneous with Homonyms 48

Flex Your Lexicon: Vocabulary Exercises 50

Practicing synonyms? It’s all the same to me 50

Antithetic antonyms: The opposite of synonyms 50

Digging around word roots 51

Parsing prefixes: Defining the beginnings of words 52

Suffering through suffixes: The ends of words 52

Defining words from their context 53

Answers and Explanations 54

Chapter 6: The Word Knowledge Subtest 61

Getting Acquainted with the Test Format 61

Bumping Up Your Test Score 62

Keeping an eye on the clock 63

Watching out for the evil homonym 63

Considering guessing 64

Trying On Some Sample Questions 65

Answers and Explanations 66

Chapter 7: Reading for Comprehension 67

Taking Pointers about Points 67

Picking out the main point 68

Simplifying subpoints 69

Analyzing What You’ve Read 69

Say what? What does that passage mean? 69

Say it again, Sam: Paraphrasing 70

Improving Your Reading Comprehension Skills 70

Taking the time to read 70

Skimming and scanning 71

Looking for the main ideas and subpoints 72

Building your vocabulary 72

Paraphrasing 72

Remembering by reflecting 73

Speaking about Speed 73

Diving for Facts: Paragraph Comprehension Practice 73

Finding the main idea 73

Going on a fact-finding mission 74

Drawing conclusions on your own 76

Answers and Explanations 77

Chapter 8: The Paragraph Comprehension Subtest 79

Tackling the Test Format: Types of Questions 79

The treasure hunt 80

Getting the point 81

Dictionary 81

Deep thinking 82

Planning Your Attack 82

Surveying Sample Test Questions 83

Answers and Explanations 85

Part 3: Calculating Better Math Knowledge 87

Chapter 9: Knowing Your Math 89

Making the Most of Math Terminology 90

The Heart of Math: Exploring Expressions and Equations 91

Keeping equations balanced 91

Obeying the order of operations 91

Mental math: Mixing it up with the commutative, associative, and distributive properties 92

Having Fun with Factors 94

Understanding types of factors 94

Finding prime factors 95

Looking at Least Common Multiples 95

Conquering the Fear of Fractions 96

Defining parts and types of fractions 97

Simplifying fractions 97

Multiplying fractions 98

Dividing fractions 98

Adding and subtracting fractions 99

Performing multiple operations 100

Converting fractions to decimals 100

Comparing fractions 101

Getting rational about ratios 102

Dealing with Decimals 102

Converting decimals to fractions 103

Adding and subtracting decimals 103

Multiplying decimals 104

Dividing decimals 104

Rounding 106

Perusing percents 106

Playing with Positive and Negative Numbers 106

Rooting for Roots and Powers 107

Advice about exponents 107

Roots 108

Scientific notation 110

Alphabet Soup: Tackling Algebra Review 110

Visiting variables 110

Following the rules of algebra 111

All Is Not Equal: Examining Inequalities 112

Solving Quadratics 114

Method 1: The square-root method 114

Method 2: The factoring method 114

Method 3: The quadratic formula 116

Knowing All the Angles: Geometry Review 116

Knowing all the angles 117

Common geometric shapes 117

Famous geometry formulas 119

You Got a Problem? Math Knowledge Exercises 120

Math terminology practice 120

Order of operations practice 121

Converting fractions and decimals 122

Solving equations and inequalities 122

Identifying formulas 123

Answers and Explanations 123

Chapter 10: The Mathematics Knowledge Subtest 127

Taking Stock of the Test Structure 127

Direct math questions 128

Math law questions 128

Combined questions 129

Planning Your Test Attack 129

Keeping an eye on the all-important clock 129

Doubling your chances by double-checking 130

Using the answer choices to your advantage 130

Playing the guessing game 131

Practice Makes Perfect: Sampling Some Practice Questions 132

Answers and Explanations 133

Chapter 11: Working with Word Problems 135

Making Sense of Word Problems 135

Setting Up the Problem 136

Getting organized 136

Understanding the problem 136

Identifying the information you need 137

Translating the problem 138

Trying Out Typical Word Problems 141

Age problems 142

Geometric problems 143

Coin problems 144

Travel problems 145

Investment/loan problems 147

Mixture problems 148

Percent problems 149

Work problems 150

Number problems 150

Practical Mathematicals: Arithmetic Reasoning Exercises 151

Fact-finding to figure out which formulas to use 151

Real-world formula problems 152

Putting together tables to make calculations easier 153

Answers and Explanations 154

Chapter 12: The Arithmetic Reasoning Subtest 157

Looking at the Test Structure 157

Developing a Test Strategy 158

Keeping track of the time 158

Choosing an answer and checking it twice 159

Using the answer choices: There’s more than one way to skin an equation 160

Logical guessing 160

Taking Arithmetic Reasoning out for a Spin 161

Answers and Explanations 163

Part 4: AFQT Practice Exams 165

Chapter 13: Practice Exam 1 167

Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 1 169

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 171

Part 2: Word Knowledge 175

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 178

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 182

Chapter 14: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations 185

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 185

Part 2: Word Knowledge 196

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 199

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 201

Answer Key 208

Chapter 15: Practice Exam 2 209

Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 2 211

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 213

Part 2: Word Knowledge 217

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 220

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 223

Chapter 16: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations 227

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 227

Part 2: Word Knowledge 235

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 238

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 240

Answer Key 246

Chapter 17: Practice Exam 3 247

Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 3 249

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 251

Part 2: Word Knowledge 255

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 258

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 261

Chapter 18: Practice Exam 3: Answers and Explanations 265

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 265

Part 2: Word Knowledge 273

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 276

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 277

Chapter 19: Practice Exam 4 285

Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 4 287

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 289

Part 2: Word Knowledge 293

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 296

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 299

Chapter 20: Practice Exam 4: Answers and Explanations 303

Part 1: Arithmetic Reasoning 303

Part 2: Word Knowledge 310

Part 3: Paragraph Comprehension 313

Part 4: Mathematics Knowledge 315

Answer Key 321

Part 5: The Part of Tens 323

Chapter 21: Ten Tips for a Better AFQT Score 325

Take Your Time Studying 325

Make a Study Plan 326

Use the Practice Exams to Your Advantage 326

Memorize Basic Math Formulas 326

Know the Math Order of Operations 327

Boost Your Vocabulary 328

Comprehend What You Read 328

Arrive at the Test Site Refreshed and Prepared 328

Watch the Clock 329

Guess Smart 329

Chapter 22: Ten Topics to Explore 331

For More about the ASVAB 331

For More about the Military 331

For More about Math 332

For More about Math Word Problems 332

For More about Vocabulary 332

For More about Reading Comprehension 333

For More about Test-Taking 333

Playing at Public Libraries 333

Consorting with Colleges 334

Trying Out a Tutor 334

Appendix: Matching ASVAB Scores to Military Jobs 335

Army Enlisted Jobs 335

Air Force Enlisted Jobs 340

Navy Enlisted Jobs 342

Marine Corps Enlisted Jobs 345

Coast Guard Enlisted Jobs 349

Index 351

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