ELSA / CPA / PHS / AU COMMS – English Language Skills Assessment consists of 2
parts (tests):
1. Accuplacer Reading Comprehension
2. Accuplacer Sentence Skills
Test 1 - ACCUPLACER READING COMPREHENSION TEST
The 20 questions in this test are of two main types:
1. Read a Passage: The first type of question consists of a reading passage followed
by a question based on the text. Both short and long passages are provided. The
reading passages can also be classified according to the kind of information processing
required, including explicit statements related to the main idea, explicit statements
related to a secondary idea, application, and inference.
2. Sentence relationships: The second type of question, sentence relationships,
presents two sentences followed by a question about the relationship between these
two sentences. The question may ask, for example, if the statement in the second
sentence supports that in the first, if it contradicts it, or if it repeats the same information.
READING COMPREHENSION SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Directions for Questions 1 to 6:
Read the statement or passage and then choose the best answer to the question. Answer the question
based on what is stated or implied in the statement or passage.
1. In the words of Thomas DeQuincey, “It is notorious that the memory strengthens as
you lay burdens upon it.” If, like most people, you have trouble recalling the names
of those you have just met, try this: The next time you are introduced, plan to
remember the names. Say to yourself, “I’ll listen carefully; I’ll repeat each person’s
name to be sure I’ve got it, and I will remember.” You’ll discover how effective this
technique is and probably recall those names for the rest of your life.
The main idea of the paragraph maintains that the memory
A. always operates at peak efficiency.
B. breaks down under great strain.
C. improves if it is used often.
D. becomes unreliable if it tires.
2. Unemployment was the overriding fact of life when Franklin D. Roosevelt became
president of the United States on March 4, 1933. An anomaly of the time was that
the government did not systematically collect statistics of joblessness; actually it did
not start doing so until 1940. The Bureau of Labor Statistics later estimated that
12,830,000 persons were out of work in 1933, about one-fourth of a civilian labor
force of more than 51 million. Roosevelt signed the Federal Emergency Relief Act
on May 12, 1933. The president selected Harry L. Hopkins, who headed the New
York relief program, to run FERA. A gifted administrator, Hopkins quickly put the
program into high gear. He gathered a small staff in Washington and brought the
, state relief organizations into the FERA system. While the agency tried to provide all
the necessities, food came first. City dwellers usually got an allowance for fuel, and
rent for one month was provided in case of eviction.
This passage is primarily about
A. unemployment in the 1930s.
B. the effect of unemployment on United States families.
C. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.
D. President Roosevelt’s FERA program.
3. It is said that a smile is universally understood. And nothing triggers a smile more
universally than a taste of sugar. Nearly everyone loves sugar. Infant studies
indicate that humans are born with an innate love of sweets. Based on statistics, a
lot of people in Great Britain must be smiling because on average, every man,
woman, and child in that country consumes 95 pounds of sugar each year.
From this passage it seems safe to conclude that the English
A. do not know that too much sugar is unhealthy.
B. eat desserts at every meal.
C. are fonder of sweets than most people.
D. have more cavities than any other people.
4. With varying success, many women around the world today struggle for equal rights.
Historically, women have achieved greater equality with men during periods of social
adversity. The following factors initiated the greatest number of improvements for
women: violent revolution, world war, and the rigors of pioneering in an undeveloped
land. In all three cases, the essential element that improved the status of women was a
shortage of men, which required women to perform many of society’s vital tasks.
We can conclude from the information in this passage that
A. women today are highly successful in winning equal rights.
B. only pioneer women have been considered equal to men.
C. historically, women have only achieved equality through force.
D. historically, the principle of equality alone has not been enough to secure
women equal rights.
5. In 1848, Charles Burton of New York City made the first baby carriage, but people
strongly objected to the vehicles because they said the carriage operators hit too many
pedestrians. Still convinced that he had a good idea, Burton opened a factory in
England. He obtained orders for the baby carriages from Queen Isabella II of Spain,
Queen Victoria of England, and the Pasha of Egypt. The United States had to wait
another 10 years before it got a carriage factory, and only 75 carriages were sold in the
first year.
Even after the success of baby carriages in England,
A. Charles Burton was a poor man.
B. Americans were still reluctant to buy baby carriages.
C. Americans purchased thousands of baby carriages.
D. the United States bought more carriages than any other country.
parts (tests):
1. Accuplacer Reading Comprehension
2. Accuplacer Sentence Skills
Test 1 - ACCUPLACER READING COMPREHENSION TEST
The 20 questions in this test are of two main types:
1. Read a Passage: The first type of question consists of a reading passage followed
by a question based on the text. Both short and long passages are provided. The
reading passages can also be classified according to the kind of information processing
required, including explicit statements related to the main idea, explicit statements
related to a secondary idea, application, and inference.
2. Sentence relationships: The second type of question, sentence relationships,
presents two sentences followed by a question about the relationship between these
two sentences. The question may ask, for example, if the statement in the second
sentence supports that in the first, if it contradicts it, or if it repeats the same information.
READING COMPREHENSION SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Directions for Questions 1 to 6:
Read the statement or passage and then choose the best answer to the question. Answer the question
based on what is stated or implied in the statement or passage.
1. In the words of Thomas DeQuincey, “It is notorious that the memory strengthens as
you lay burdens upon it.” If, like most people, you have trouble recalling the names
of those you have just met, try this: The next time you are introduced, plan to
remember the names. Say to yourself, “I’ll listen carefully; I’ll repeat each person’s
name to be sure I’ve got it, and I will remember.” You’ll discover how effective this
technique is and probably recall those names for the rest of your life.
The main idea of the paragraph maintains that the memory
A. always operates at peak efficiency.
B. breaks down under great strain.
C. improves if it is used often.
D. becomes unreliable if it tires.
2. Unemployment was the overriding fact of life when Franklin D. Roosevelt became
president of the United States on March 4, 1933. An anomaly of the time was that
the government did not systematically collect statistics of joblessness; actually it did
not start doing so until 1940. The Bureau of Labor Statistics later estimated that
12,830,000 persons were out of work in 1933, about one-fourth of a civilian labor
force of more than 51 million. Roosevelt signed the Federal Emergency Relief Act
on May 12, 1933. The president selected Harry L. Hopkins, who headed the New
York relief program, to run FERA. A gifted administrator, Hopkins quickly put the
program into high gear. He gathered a small staff in Washington and brought the
, state relief organizations into the FERA system. While the agency tried to provide all
the necessities, food came first. City dwellers usually got an allowance for fuel, and
rent for one month was provided in case of eviction.
This passage is primarily about
A. unemployment in the 1930s.
B. the effect of unemployment on United States families.
C. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.
D. President Roosevelt’s FERA program.
3. It is said that a smile is universally understood. And nothing triggers a smile more
universally than a taste of sugar. Nearly everyone loves sugar. Infant studies
indicate that humans are born with an innate love of sweets. Based on statistics, a
lot of people in Great Britain must be smiling because on average, every man,
woman, and child in that country consumes 95 pounds of sugar each year.
From this passage it seems safe to conclude that the English
A. do not know that too much sugar is unhealthy.
B. eat desserts at every meal.
C. are fonder of sweets than most people.
D. have more cavities than any other people.
4. With varying success, many women around the world today struggle for equal rights.
Historically, women have achieved greater equality with men during periods of social
adversity. The following factors initiated the greatest number of improvements for
women: violent revolution, world war, and the rigors of pioneering in an undeveloped
land. In all three cases, the essential element that improved the status of women was a
shortage of men, which required women to perform many of society’s vital tasks.
We can conclude from the information in this passage that
A. women today are highly successful in winning equal rights.
B. only pioneer women have been considered equal to men.
C. historically, women have only achieved equality through force.
D. historically, the principle of equality alone has not been enough to secure
women equal rights.
5. In 1848, Charles Burton of New York City made the first baby carriage, but people
strongly objected to the vehicles because they said the carriage operators hit too many
pedestrians. Still convinced that he had a good idea, Burton opened a factory in
England. He obtained orders for the baby carriages from Queen Isabella II of Spain,
Queen Victoria of England, and the Pasha of Egypt. The United States had to wait
another 10 years before it got a carriage factory, and only 75 carriages were sold in the
first year.
Even after the success of baby carriages in England,
A. Charles Burton was a poor man.
B. Americans were still reluctant to buy baby carriages.
C. Americans purchased thousands of baby carriages.
D. the United States bought more carriages than any other country.
