I would use the materials the other guys mentioned, but I would suggest not just reading but also taking notes on the key concepts and details, even the ones you think you know. Then read your notes to review. The actions of reading, note taking, and then reading your notes will get the stuff locked into your brain. A lot of questions are multiple choice, on minor details instead of broad concepts -- which means you could read all that stuff and still get a lot of Qs wrong. You might think that reading the materials, writing 10 or 15 pages of notes, and then reading them a couple times is a chore. But not as much as having to take the test two or three times! And you will remember a lot more than you would expect.
Probably has a tree ID section too for which they will lay out samples or photos. Go to a few different types of woods, as well as streets with lots of trees, and ID everything using a guide. Kinda fun anyway. If there is an arboretum with labeled trees, even better. Any arborist can improve tree ID skills; it will impress the hell out of clients, and it pays to know what you are dealing with when pruning trees for structure, as opposed to just removing crossers and dead wood.
Example: any species of birch usually rots if you cut 2 in. or bigger -- so do end weight reduction instead. If the client wants it "lifted way up" , including removing 4 - 5 in. limbs (which will definitely rot), inform then that you are doing something a little different, and why. Or tell them done their way, they will get a wildlife tree because it will be full of holes that birds and squirrels can nest in after the cuts rot out.
Example: client wants a maple reduced significantly for the view. Do this in more than one visit several years apart, or it will sprout like crazy and also lose bark to sun scald. Drop crotch it with lots of small cuts instead of making big heading cuts, and leave some crown to protect the thinner smooth bark. Or tell them it will sprout like crazy and get dead strips of bark and eventual decay. Maybe they don't care because the view is more important to them.
Besides, you want to learn this stuff, and not just for the test, right? The ANSI stuff may seem nitpicky, but it is developed based on actual field practices that work well or not so well. I should know--- I failed to secure myself properly (per ANSI), fell within a tree, and put myself in the hospital for a week followed by a month of rehab. Look up "uncontrolled pendulum swing". You should know what that is and how to avoid it!
