Last Updated on May 23, 2024
Accuplacer Reading Practice Test 2024 Next Generation with Sentence Skills Questions Answers: We have added five reading comprehension passages for Accuplacer test preparation students. In addition, you can also test the Accuplacer Sentence Skills Practice Test Fill-in-the-Blank Questions.
Accuplacer Reading Practice Test 2024:
Reading for the main idea and supporting details Understanding specific word usage in passages Answering fill-in-the-blank practice questions. You put your reading skills to the test. First up are five reading passages with a total of 20 questions. After that, you try out 10 fill-in-the-blank questions to test your vocabulary in the context of sentences.
| Name of the Test | Accuplacer Practice Test |
| Administrated by | College Board |
| Total Questions | 30 |
| Question format | multiple-choice questions |
| Test subjects | Reading Passages with Sentence Skills |
Reading Passage: 1
What then is “Greek” about Greek art? And how much of it is “art”? For the Greeks,
“art” was craft and artists were by and large thought of as artisans: good with their hand
and not much else (though famous ones, like Pheidias, came to be respected for their
political power and the money that it made them.) Much of what we appreciate as “Greek
(line 5) art” today, or have done so in the past, has been elaborated, embellished, and reinvented.
In short, it has been translated by the crucial intervention of Rome and the Middle Ages,
not to mention the systematic efforts of Western European elites in early modernity.
1. Which of the following best describes the central idea of the passage?
- (A) Modern people perceive Greek art quite differently from how the Greeks of the time perceived it.
- (B) Greek art was, in fact, not crafted by the Greeks themselves, but by artists in other places such as Rome.
- (C) Greek artists did not think of themselves as artists, but rather as artisans and craftspeople.
- (D) The effort of modern historians to reinvent the concept of Greek art has done irreparable damage to our understanding of it.
Q2. According to the passage, the Greeks themselves thought of their artists much as we today think of
- (A) A famous singer or actor.
- (B) A reclusive artist or writer.
- (C) A successful entrepreneur or founder of a company.
- (D) A skilled plumber or electrician.
Q3.Which of the following can be inferred about Pheidias?
- (A) He was obscure in his own time, but later recognized as an artist of great talent.
- (B) He was successful as an artist and craftsman among Greeks of his own time.
- (C) He founded an important movement in Greek art that is still appreciated today.
- (D) He was respected, even lionized, in his day but sought scrupulously to avoid the public eye.
Q4. Which of the following is the best explanation of why the writer places the words “art” and “Greek art” in quotes?
- (A) He wants to bring into focus common assumptions and fallacies in the very use of these terms.
- (B) He is attempting to persuade the reader that Greek artists were, in fact, not particularly good artists in comparison with artists from other regions.
- (C) He hopes to underscore his opinion that no definition of art has ever been agreed upon among scholars.
- (D) He is confessing the fact that he, himself, is unclear about the meaning of these terms as they relate to Greek art.
Reading Passage: 2
In addition to attempting to provide basic food supplies, water, and sanitation, govern-
ments are expected to ensure that biomedical technologies are readily available, including
immunization and indispensable medication including antibiotics and painkillers. Increas-
ingly, however, as the media reminds us every day, money is spent on weapons as a result
(line 5) of local conflicts, leaving ever fewer resources for medical care, Furthermore, regulations
implemented in the name of security as a response to threats of terrorism, real and imag-
ined, have brought about restrictions by local governments on the movement of peoples as
they attempt to flee from violence and abject poverty, resulting in a phenomenal rise in
refugee and squatter populations. Epidemics of infectious disease thrive in conditions of
(line 10) poverty and instability, and today have the potential to wreak widespread havoc in a matter
of hours, striking even the world’s wealthiest — as demonstrated by the case of Atlanta
lawyer Andrew Speaker in 2007, who was infected with a lethal strain of extremely drug-
resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), leading to a frantic search for other exposed passengers
on transatlantic flights.
Q5. Which of the following best sums up the main idea of the passage?
- (A) A variety of current geopolitical realities make epidemics of infectious diseases an appreciable risk to people everywhere.
- (B) Money that governments spend on the military could be put to better use fighting the spread of infectious diseases.
- (C) Infectious diseases tend to thrive in conditions such as those often found where people fleeing from violence and poverty are forced to gather.
- (D) Generally speaking, world leaders tend to worry about the spread of disease only when wealthy people are infected
Q6. The writer includes the words, “as the media reminds us every day” (line 4), potentially for any of the following reasons EXCEPT
- (A) To encourage the reader to acknowledge that some of what she is saying is easily verifiable.
- (B) To hint at the fact that the trend she is citing is not likely to change anytime soon.
- (C) To call into question the validity of the media as a reputable source of information.
- (D) To underscore that the diversion of funds from healthcare to the military is commonplace.
Q7. Which choice best characterizes the overall structure of the passage?
- (A) A problem is stated explicitly, followed by a supporting example, and then some potential causes of the problem are enumerated.
- (B) A problem is stated explicitly, and then some potential causes of the problem are enumerated, followed by a supporting example.
- (C) Some potential causes of a problem are enumerated, and then the problem is stated explicitly, followed by a supporting example.
- (D) A supporting example of a problem is provided, then the problem is stated explicitly, followed by its potential causes.
Q8. The author’s purpose in writing the passage is most likely
- (A) To advocate for a radical solution to a problem that she anticipates may not be popular.
- (B) To expose the hidden source of a problem and bring its perpetrators to justice.
- (C) To explain multiple sources of a problem and its implications.
- (D) To discredit an explanation of a problem that she believes to be untenable.
Reading Passage: 3
More has been written about Hamlet than about any other single piece of literature. Not
only has it been commented upon by poets and thinkers such as Coleridge, Goethe, and Freud,
but it even has its own journal, Hamlet Studies, and every year dozens of articles and books are
published on it. Almost every literary movement in some way co-opts the play, and every
(line 5) school of criticism undertakes an interpretation of it. Hamlet functions as a touchstone: To
interpret it convincingly is to validate one’s literary theory or approach. Even people who have
read little or no Shakespeare know about the play by hearsay, and the character of Hamlet has
so much apparent substance that his name signifies a certain kind of person. For many young
people he functions as a literary liberator, because he seems so much like their secret
(line 10) selves — the person whom they feel themselves to be, unknown to their families and friends.
W’hile Hamlet is one of the most compelling of literary creations, he is also one of the
most elusive. Therefore, it is worth the effort to consider what it is about the play that
makes it at once so popular, so compelling, and so puzzling. The play generates its power
by staging the characters’ struggle with these questions.
(line 15) What delays Hamlet in getting his revenge on Claudius? What is Hamlet’s tragic flaw,
the one quality that leads to the nearly total destruction at the end of the play? Is he crafty,
insane, or a little of both? (Thinking About Shakespeare, by Kay Stockholder — Page 74)
Q9. Which of the following quotations from the passage best substantiates the specific claim that Hamlet has attained tremendous fame?
- (A) “Hamlet functions as a touchstone: To interpret it convincingly is to validate one’s literary theory or approach.”
- (B) “Even people who have read little or no Shakespeare know about the play by hearsay.”
- (C) “For many young people he functions as a literary liberator, because he seems so much like their secret selves.”
- (D) “The play generates its power by staging the characters’ struggle with these questions.”
Q10. 10. Which of the following statements would the author be LEAST likely to agree with?
- (A) Hamlet has attained a prominence that outstrips virtually any other work of literature.
- (B) In the centuries since it was written, Hamlet has inspired interpretation by a wide variety of literary critics.
- (C) No single interpretation of Hamlet, however convincing, will be likely to satisfy all or even most of the play’s audience.
- (D) The character of Hamlet is likely to appeal to individuals more as they get older.
Q11. When the writer describes Hamlet as “elusive,” she most likely means
- (A) Hard to pin down
- (B) Easily led by others
- (C) Volatile in his moods
- (D) Quick to take offense
Q12. Which of the following does the author state explicitly about the three questions that end the passage?
- (A) These questions are rhetorical and, thus, they are not meant to be answered.
- (B) She will attempt to provide satisfactory answers to these questions later in the essay.
- (C) The play is so captivating because its characters are forced to wrestle with these questions.
- (D) Virtually all previous attempts by literary critics to answer these questions have ended in relative failure.
Reading Passage: 4
The Great Depression of the 1930s transformed attitudes. Unemployment rocketed to
25 percent. People’s life savings vanished in a tsunami of bank failures. More than half of
older Americans were poor. In desperation, people turned to Washington for help, and
Washington looked overseas for ideas. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisors,
(line 5) including Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, considered an idea known as social insurance,
which had gained popularity in Europe. The idea was that governments could adapt insur-
ance principles to protect their populations from economic risks. Unlike private insurance
arrangements, which are supposed to protect individuals, social insurance programs are
supposed to help all of society.
(line 10) In 1889, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck pioneered the idea with a system of
old-age insurance that required contributions from workers and employers. By the time of
the Great Depression, dozens of nations had launched some sort of social insurance effort.
U.S. leaders, eager to ease the economic pain engulfing the nation, took a more serious look
at social insurance from Europe. Others viewed social insurance as radical and un-American.
(line 15) After a lengthy debate, Congress passed the Social Security Act, and President Roosevelt
signed it into law on August 14, 1935. The law provided unemployment insurance as well as
help for seniors and needy children. Title Il of the act, “Federal Old-Age Benefits,” created
the retirement benefits that many people now see as the essence of Social Security. (Social
Security For Dummies, by Jonathan Peterson — Page 10)
Q13. The main purpose of the passage is
- (A) To provide a brief history of Social Security, showing where this idea originated, as well as when and why it was implemented.
- (B) To convince a potentially skeptical reader that although Social Security was necessary in its time, it is now outdated and should be eliminated.
- (C) To critique Social Security as essentially un-American, having emerged from a variety of foreign governments.
- (D) To demonstrate the way in which German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was influential in creating Social Security as we know it today.
Q14. According to the passage, what distinguishes Social Security and other such programs from private insurance?
- (A) Private insurance originated in the U.S.; Social Security originated outside the U.S.
- (B) Private insurance is intended to help individuals; Social Security is intended to help society as a whole.
- (C) Private insurance dates back to the 1800s; Social Security dates back to the 1900s.
- (D) Private insurance provides benefits to people of all ages; Social Security provides benefits only to children and senior citizens.
Q15. Which of the following, if any, would most likely have objected to President Roosevelt’s plan for Social Security?
- (A) Both Frances Perkins and Otto von Bismarck
- (B) Frances Perkins but not Otto von Bismarck
- (C) Otto von Bismarck but not Frances Perkins
- (D) Neither Frances Perkins nor Otto von Bismarck
Q16. Why does the author place the words “Federal Old-Age Benefits” in quotation marks?
- (A) To cast doubts that these benefits actually exist within Title II of the Social Security Act.
- (B) To imply that even President Roosevelt himself questioned the validity of these benefits.
- (C) To indicate a non-literal usage of these words.
- (D) To clarify that these precise words are found in Title II of the Social Security Act.
Reading Passage: 5
Once, Samanas had travelled through Siddhartha’s town, ascetics on a pilgrimage,
three skinny, withered men, neither old nor young, with dusty and bloody shoulders,
almost naked, scorched by the sun, surrounded by loneliness, strangers and enemies to the
world, strangers and lank jackals in the realm of humans. Behind them blew a hot scent of
(line 5) quiet passion, of destructive service, of merciless self-denial.
In the evening, after the hour of contemplation, Siddhartha spoke to Govinda: “Early
tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will go to the Samanas. He will become a Samana.”
Govinda turned pale, when he heard these words and read the decision in the motionless
face of his friend, unstoppable like the arrow shot from the bow. Soon and with the first
(line 10) glance, Govinda realized: Now it is beginning, now Siddhartha is taking his own way, now his
fate is beginning to sprout, and with his, my own. And he turned pale like a dry banana-skin.
“0 Siddhartha,” he exclaimed, “will your father permit you to do that?”
Siddhartha looked over as if he was just waking up. Arrow-fast he read in Govinda’s
soul, read the fear, read the submission.
(line 15) “O Govinda,” he spoke quietly, “let’s not waste words. Tomorrow, at daybreak I will
begin the life of the Samanas. Speak no more of it.
Siddhartha entered the chamber, where his father was sitting on a mat of bast, and
stepped behind his father and remained standing there, until his father felt that someone
was standing behind him. Quoth the Brahman: “Is that you, Siddhartha? Then say what you
(line 20) came to say.”
Quoth Siddhartha: “With your permission, my father. I came to tell you that it is my
longing to leave your house tomorrow and go to the ascetics. My desire is to become a
Samana. May my father not oppose this.”
The Brahman fell silent, and remained silent for so long that the stars in the small
(line 25) window wandered and changed their relative positions, ‘ere the silence was broken. Silent
and motionless stood the son with his arms folded, silent and motionless sat the father on
the mat, and the stars traced their paths in the sky. Then spoke the father: “Not proper it is
for a Brahman to speak harsh and angry words. But indignation is in my heart. I wish not to
hear this request for a second time from your mouth.”
(line 30) Slowly, the Brahman rose; Siddhartha stood silently, his arms folded.
“What are you waiting for?” asked the father.
Quoth Siddhartha: “You know what.” (Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse — Pages 9-10)
Q17. Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
- (A) A young man gives his friend information about himself which changes the friend’s opinion of him, and then the friend tells his father about it.
- (B) A young man and his friend have a difference of opinion, and then the young man seeks the counsel of his father to help resolve it.
- (C) A young man informs his friend of a momentous decision, and then requests that his father support that decision.
- (D) A young man hears distressing news from his friend, and then tells his father the news.
Q18.Which of the following quotations from the passage provides the best evidence that Govinda is less ready than his friend for his life to change?
- (A) Lines 6–7: “Early tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will go to the Samanas. He will become a Samana.”
- (B) Lines 10–11: “Now it is beginning, now Siddhartha is taking his own way, now his fate is beginning to sprout, and with his, my own. And he turned pale like a dry banana-skin.”
- (C) Line 12: “‘O Siddhartha,’ he exclaimed, ‘will your father permit you to do that?’”
- (D) Lines 24–25: “The Brahman fell silent, and remained silent for so long that the stars in the small window wandered and changed their relative positions, ’ere the silence was broken.”
Q19. Siddhartha’s announcements could best be described as
- (A) Modest
- (B) Hasty
- (C) Conflicted
- (D) Determined
Q20. Which of the following best paraphrases Siddhartha’s apparent meaning when he says, “You know what”?
- (A) “You have asked me not to speak of something, and I am not speaking about it.”
- (B) “You have asked me not to make the same request twice, but I still want what I asked for.”
- (C) “You have forced me to request your permission, but I do not need it.”
- (D) “You have told me something that I don’t want to hear, and I am pretending that I didn’t hear it.”
Accuplacer Sentence Skills Practice Test
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
Q1. Surprisingly, Rebecca did not _____ her professor’s criticism; instead, she took it in the most constructive possible way.
- (A) adapt to
- (B) insist upon
- (C) react with
- (D) recoil at
Q2. Finding neither a diplomatic nor a military solution _____, the Pentagon committee sought another resolution to their dilemma.
- (A) crucial
- (B) feasible
- (C) lamentable
- (D) nominal
Q3. They describe his uncle as a _____ man, not normally given to small talk, and even less inclined to express personal thoughts or feelings.
- (A) confrontational
- (B) figurative
- (C) suggestive
- (D) taciturn
Q4. Although the band was dedicated and sincere, some of the audience experienced their music as ____, and found it necessary to leave before the show was over.
- (A) cacophony
- (B) deterrence
- (C) fortitude
- (D) obstinacy
Q5. The vice president concurred that our firing of Caldwell was justified, but added that our most _____ error had been hiring him in the first place.
- (A) auspicious
- (B) egregious
- (C) impenetrable
- (D) obligatory
Q6. Because his promotion from copywriter to journalist took more than 15 years, he often joked that success was more a matter of _____ than talent.
- (A) leniency
- (B) novelty
- (C) scholarship
- (D) tenacity
Q7. While doing her best to avoid _____, she said that her experience as a nun had led her to believe that religious people of all faiths tended to have certain characteristics in common.
- (A) castigating
- (B) generalizing
- (C) obstruction
- (D) unruliness
Q8. The astronomer _____ her students toward the profession not with guarantees of great monetary gain but rather with tantalizing accounts of a boundless universe waiting to be explored.
- (A) derided
- (B) enticed
- (C) infiltrated
- (D) permeated
Q9. The speaker was known to _____ his words with hand gestures, at times almost pounding the lectern as he spoke.
- (A) accentuate
- (B) excoriate
- (C) pummel
- (D) rectify
Q10. While Washington D.C. may appear to be quite _____ by day —especially for tourists who choose to focus exclusively on its monuments and museums — by night it’s just as vibrant and eclectic as any other American city.
- (A) benevolent
- (B) dissipated
- (C) malleable
- (D) venerable
See more
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