How the NPOST reading section works
You read passages about police duty, such as a city’s parking rules or a summary of constitutional rights, and blank incident report forms with a paragraph describing an incident. The rules in the passages are not real law. They are made up for the test, and every answer has to come from what is written, not from what you know or what seems sensible.
There are three kinds of question. True or false: a statement about the passage or form is either accurate or not. Answer according to the passage: choose which of five options the passage supports. Complete the sentence: choose the ending that matches the passage. Report form questions often ask whether the form can be fully completed from the paragraph, or whether a detail on it is right.
You have 25 minutes for 25 questions. Your score is the percentage right, with no penalty for a wrong answer, and you can go back within the section until time is called.
How to answer reading questions
A routine that works for every passage:
- Skim the questions first so you know which details to look for: times, days, categories, exceptions.
- Read the passage once properly, marking every "only", "except", "unless" and "must".
- For each question, find the sentence that answers it before you look at the options.
- For true or false, true means the passage says it. If any part of the statement is wrong or not stated, it is false.
- For "can the report be fully completed", go through the form box by box. One box the paragraph cannot fill makes the answer false.
Worked examples
Passage: "Riverside parks close to the public at 10 pm. Holders of an evening permit may stay until midnight, but only at the boat ramp. Fishing is allowed from 6 am to 9 pm." Statement: "A permit holder may fish at the boat ramp at 11 pm." True or false? The permit lets the holder be at the ramp at 11 pm, but fishing stops at 9 pm for everyone. One part fails, so the statement is false.
Report form question: a form has boxes for date, time, address, victim’s name, victim’s phone number, item stolen and value. The paragraph says "On Sunday, May 3, at 4:20 pm, Ana Ruiz reported that her bicycle, worth $300, was taken from outside 18 Elm Street." Can the form be fully completed from the paragraph? No. Every box can be filled except the victim’s phone number, which the paragraph never gives. The answer is false.
Tips for the real reading section
- Leave your own knowledge outside. If the passage says a rule that sounds wrong, the passage still wins.
- Watch for options that are true in the real world but not stated in the passage. They are wrong here.
- Spend about a minute a question. Passages take time to read, so do not reread one in full for every question; go to the sentence you need.
- On form questions, compare names, dates and numbers character by character. A transposed digit is a common trap.
- Answer every question. A true or false guess is right half the time.
Practise NPOST reading on CogniPrep
Our reading drill gives you 25 questions in 25 minutes across five sets of five: three rules passages and two incident report forms. That mix is our choice, as the real test does not publish one. All three question types appear, and on a computer the passage or form sits beside the question; on a phone it sits above, with a link back to it. You can move back and forth and change answers until time runs out. Your result is your percentage correct, beside the 70% minimum Iowa sets for each section, with true or false questions scored separately so you can see whether guessing flattered you.