Verbal reasoning development How would one go about improving their verbal reasoning ability?
Are there any specific exercises a person can practise to develop their verbal reasoning skillset?
Here is an example of a verbal reasoning problem:

"When will Joe Bloggs retire?"

"Joe Bloggs currently works as a civil servant"

"Those in the civil service generally retire at 65"

How does one figure out that Joe Bloggs will retire at approximately 65? You connect civil servant to civil service then use association to get an output. 

The LSAT is a Law School test for verbal reasoning, and the sections it tests you on are the components of verbal reasoning. 


Reading Comprehension - ability to understand complex language material like paragraphs or passages and able to answer questions regarding them.
Analytical reasoning - ability to understand relationships in language material like statements or passages and being able to draw reasonable conclusions from them.
Logical reasoning - Using critical thinking to assess and complete an argument given on the test.


So how do you build up these skills? Well reading comprehension is easy, you read and then think about what you just read. For analytical reasoning, do research and practice on annotating. For logical reasoning, look into Deductive Reasoning and any other forms of reasoning in the "See Also" section. 

It is very possible that you already have a good amount of practice in one or more of these skills. In that case, you want to practice what you have the least amount of experience in.