Excel Crash Course for Wall Street Prep Learners 100 Original Practice Questions with Answers and Rationales 2026/2027

Excel Crash Course for Wall Street Prep Learners 100 Original
Practice Questions with Answers and Rationales

Practice Questions
1. Which symbol begins a standard Excel formula?
A. @ alone
B. #
C. & alone
D. =
Correct answer: D. =
Rationale: Excel normally interprets an entry beginning with an equals sign as a
formula. Text and numerical constants do not require that prefix.
2. What does $B$3 represent?
A. A reference to another workbook necessarily
B. A relative reference
C. An absolute row and column reference
D. A currency value
Correct answer: C. An absolute row and column reference
Rationale: Dollar signs anchor both reference components when a formula is
copied. They do not format the cell as currency or fix its value.
3. What does B$3 lock when copied?
A. Row 3 only
B. Column B only
C. Both components
D. Neither component
Correct answer: A. Row 3 only
Rationale: The dollar sign before the row anchors that row. The column remains
relative and can change when the formula moves across columns.




Independent Practice Exam | Page 1

,4. What does $B3 lock when copied?
A. Neither component
B. Both components
C. Column B only
D. Row 3 only
Correct answer: C. Column B only
Rationale: The column is anchored while the row remains relative. Mixed
references are useful when a formula must move in one direction only.
5. Copy =B2*C$1 from D2 to D3. What results?
A. =B2*C$2
B. =B3*C$2
C. =B3*C$1
D. =B2*C$1
Correct answer: C. =B3*C$1
Rationale: Moving one row down changes relative row 2 to 3. The anchored row in
C$1 stays at 1, and columns do not move.
6. Copy =$B2*C$1 from D2 to E2. What results?
A. =$B3*C$1
B. =$B2*D$1
C. =$C2*D$1
D. =$B2*C$1
Correct answer: B. =$B2*D$1
Rationale: Moving one column right leaves anchored column B unchanged. The
relative C reference moves to D while its anchored row stays 1.
7. Which formula adds cells B2 through B10?
A. =SUM(B2:B10)
B. =COUNT(B2:B10)
C. =AVERAGE(B2:B10)
D. =SUM(B2,B10) only
Correct answer: A. =SUM(B2:B10)
Rationale: The colon describes an inclusive range. Listing only the endpoints would
omit the intermediate cells rather than sum the whole range.




Independent Practice Exam | Page 2

, 8. What does AVERAGE generally ignore in a referenced range?
A. All decimals
B. Empty cells and text
C. Numeric zeros
D. All negative values
Correct answer: B. Empty cells and text
Rationale: AVERAGE includes numerical values, including zero. Empty cells and
text in referenced ranges are generally ignored rather than counted as zero.
9. Which function counts numeric cells?
A. SUM
B. COUNT
C. LEN
D. COUNTA
Correct answer: B. COUNT
Rationale: COUNT counts numbers in its arguments or references. COUNTA counts
nonempty values more broadly, so the functions can produce different results.
10. Which function counts nonempty cells, including text?
A. SUM
B. COUNTA
C. COUNT
D. ROUND
Correct answer: B. COUNTA
Rationale: COUNTA includes text and other nonempty values. A formula returning
an empty string may still be counted, so apparently blank cells need care.
11. A range contains 10, 0, and one truly blank cell. What is AVERAGE?
A. 0
B. 3.33
C. 5
D. 10
Correct answer: C. 5
Rationale: The two numeric cells total 10 and count as two observations. The
genuinely blank cell is excluded, so the average is 5.




Independent Practice Exam | Page 3