Sample English Placement Test - Glendale Community College

Reading
Material in the CPT Reading Test is similar in difficulty to that in most newspapers
and popular magazines. You will read a passage and answer questions about its main
ideas, important details, ideas the author has suggested but not stated directly, and
about the meaning of words as they are used in the passage. There will be several
reading passages in this section. This test is computerized, has 40 questions (20 in
Reading and 20 in Sentence Skills), and is not timed. Here is a sample with
directions, questions, and explanations of the best replies.
The cities are fighting back. Most of them are doing something about drugs, some of
it badly, much in panic, and all late. But they are moving—because they’re scared.
And they have every reason to be, for what they face is real horror. A top
New York City official despairs, “Two-thirds of our problems come directly from
drug abuse, and I see no hope of handling that problem.” New York’s grief is no
different from any other big town’s, only the numbers are larger. Drug abuse in our
cities is epidemic, and we haven’t even kept count of the victims.
New York drug experts still talk about 100,000 heroin addicts, an estimate
they reach by doubling the number registered with the police, hospitals, and city
social agencies in 1968. Figuring, as the city’s deputy medical examiner does, that
the addict populations is 200 times the annual toll of overdose deaths, New York has
about 150,000 junkies.
Sample questions:
1. Which of the following best describes how the New York official quoted
in the passage feels about the drug problem?
(A) The official does not believe it is as great as people say it is.
(B) The official is curious about it.
(C) The official does not care about it.
(D) The official does not think it will ever be solved.
2. The main purpose of the passage is apparently to
(A) warn the public about the harm drugs do to people who take them
(B) describe the ways cities are not fighting drug addiction
(C) show what a serious drug problem the cities are working to cure
(D) criticize the attitude of city officials toward drug addicts
3. The author suggests that the problem of drug abuse in the cities deserves
(A) routine investigation by the police
(B) less attention from the newspapers
(C) no sympathy from the public
(D) Immediate action
GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ASSESSMENT CENTER
ENGLISH PLACEMENT TEST
4. As used in line 7, “epidemic” most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Sample answers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
A B C
D
A B C
D
A B C
D
A B C
D
against the law
extremely widespread
easily cured
hard to understand
The best answer to Question 1 is D because the passage says that the “New
York City official despairs” and then quotes the official as saying”. . . I see no
hope of handling the problem.” The ideas in A and C are different from those
expressed in the passage, and the idea in B is not even discussed in the passage.
In Question 2, A is not the best choice because the passage does not deal
directly with the harm drugs do to drug users. B and D cannot be accepted as
the main purpose of the passage because the passage does not do any of the
things mentioned in those choices. However, the passage does tell us that large
numbers of people are taking drugs. Therefore, C is the best choice.
D is the best choice for Question 3. By using words like “horror” to
describe the problem of the cities and by pointing out in different ways how
great that problem is, the author tells us indirectly that he or she considers the
problem one that needs our attention right now. Therefore, C, which suggests
almost the opposite, cannot be the best choice. A and B are not the best choices
because the author does not even hint at specific action for solving the problem.
The best clue to the meaning of the work asked about in Question 4 is
that the paragraph in which it appears is concerned with the extent of the drug
problem in the cities. Only “extremely wide-spread” can be substituted for
“epidemic” in the sentences without greatly changing the thought the author is
expressing.
January 15, 2003

Sentence Skills
In this test, you will show your skill in standard written English, the kind you
will probably need in your courses and on the job.
Directions: Select the best version of the underlined part of the sentence.
Choice (A) is the same as the original sentence. If you think the original
sentence is the best, choose answer (A).
Sample questions:
1. The nervous student walked into the school to see his teacher with
trembling knees.
A. The nervous student walked into the school to see his teacher with
trembling knees.
B. With trembling knees the nervous student walked into the school to
see his teacher.
C. The nervous student walked into the school with trembling knees to
see his teacher.
D. Nervous, the student walked into the school to see his teacher with
trembling knees.
2. Most people approved of the candidate nevertheless most of them
did not bother to vote.
A. candidate nevertheless
B. candidate nevertheless,
C. candidate, nevertheless,
D. candidate; nevertheless,
GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ASSESSMENT CENTER
ENGLISH PLACEMENT TEST
In Question 2, circle D is marked because it is the only correct choice for
connecting two independent clauses.
Directions: Rewrite these sentences in your head, then choose the best answer.
Rewrite, beginning with:
1. Jennifer has an exam today,
The next words will be:
A. and she went to the movies last night.
B. but she went to the movies last night.
C. therefore she went to the movies last night.
D. until she went to the movies last night.
2. The lost wallet promptly returned to me by a customer at the grocery store.
Rewrite, beginning with:
A customer
Your new sentence will include:
A. has been returned promptly
B. will promptly return
C. returns promptly
D. promptly returned
Sample Answers:
1.
A B C
D
Sample Answers:
1.
2.
A
B
A B C D
D
In Question 1, circle B is marked because the description, “with trembling
knees,” must be placed next to the appropriate person.
2.
A B C D
In Question 1, circle B is marked because only “but” shows that the two
actions are in opposition.
In Question 2, circle D is marked because “returned” is the correct verb
tense for the sentence.
January 15, 2003