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Study Guide

Sample Selected-Response Questions
Field 100: Adult Education: English Language Arts

Practice Questions

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Subarea I–Listening and Reading

Read the excerpt below from a speech delivered by Chief Ten Bears of the Yamparika Comanches at the Medicine Lodge Treaty Conference in 1867; then answer the two questions that follow.

You said that you wanted to put us upon a reservation, to build us houses and make us medicine lodges. I do not want them. I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures and where everything drew a free breath. I want to die there and not within walls. I know every stream and every wood between the Rio Grande and the Arkansas. I have hunted and lived over that country. I lived like my fathers before me, and, like them, I lived happily.

When I was at Washington the Great White Father told me that all the Comanche land was ours, and that no one should hinder us in living upon it. So, why do you ask us to leave the rivers, and the sun, and the wind, and live in houses? Do not ask us to give up the buffalo for the sheep. The young men have heard talk of this, and it has made them sad and angry. Do not speak of it more.

Objective 0001: Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of informational texts.

1. In the excerpt, Chief Ten Bears primarily relies on which of the following organizational text structures?

  1. cause and effect
  2. chronological order
  3. problem and solution
  4. hierarchical order
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0001: Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of informational texts.

2. In the excerpt, Chief Ten Bears asks "So, why do you ask us to leave the rivers, and the sun, and the wind, and live in houses?" primarily to:

  1. convey a sense of tranquility.
  2. emphasize a feeling of betrayal.
  3. suggest that he took the past for granted.
  4. illustrate a romanticized view of his childhood.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.

Read the excerpt below from "Faithful Forest," a poem by Alberto Ríos; then answer the two questions that follow.

1.
I will wait, said wood, and it did.
Ten years, a hundred, a thousand, a million—

It did not matter. Time was not its measure,
Not its keeper, nor its master.

Wood was trees in those first days.
And when wood sang, it was leaves,

Which took flight and became birds.

2.
It is still forest here, the forest of used-to-be.
Its trees are the trees of memory.

Their branches—so many tongues, so many hands—
They still speak a story to those who will listen.

By only looking without listening, you will not hear the trees.
You will see only hard stone and flattened landscape,

But if you're quiet, you will hear it.

Objective 0002: Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of literary texts.

3. Which of the following lines best conveys the idea of the resiliency of nature?

  1. I will wait, said wood, and it did. / Ten years, a hundred, a thousand, a million—
  2. And when wood sang, it was leaves, / Which took flight and became birds.
  3. It is still forest here, the forest of used-to-be. / Its trees are the trees of memory.
  4. You will see only hard stone and flattened landscape, / But if you're quiet, you will hear it.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0002: Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of literary texts.

4. In the second stanza, the speaker of the poem uses the phrase "so many tongues, so many hands" primarily to:

  1. promote a romanticized view of the forest.
  2. illustrate a belief in both the physical and spiritual realms.
  3. suggest that variety in nature is needed for ecosystems to thrive.
  4. highlight the multifaceted nature of a seemingly uniform landscape.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

Subarea II–Speaking and Writing

Read the draft paragraph below; then answer the two questions that follow.

1Born in Nogales, Arizona, Charles Mingus was a renowned bassist, bandleader, and composer known for his masterwork, Mingus Ah Um. 2Released in 1959, the record feature songs that pay tribute to the musical styles that influenced Mingus's work. 3"Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" celebrates saxophonist Lester Young, while "Better Git It In Your Soul" echoes the gospel hymns that Mingus heard in church as a boy. 4The album also reflects an audacious spirit, as it includes a protest song called "Fables of Faubus." 5The song denounces the segregationist policies of Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas, who opposed the integration of African American students into Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

Objective 0003: Demonstrate knowledge of effective speaking and writing skills for a variety of purposes in a variety of contexts.

5. Which of the following revisions is needed to correct a grammatical error in the paragraph?

  1. Sentence 2: Change "feature" to "features."
  2. Sentence 3: Change the comma to a semicolon.
  3. Sentence 4: Change "includes" to "include."
  4. Sentence 5: Change the comma to a colon.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0003: Demonstrate knowledge of effective speaking and writing skills for a variety of purposes in a variety of contexts.

6. Which of the following sentences would provide a concluding statement that logically follows from and supports the information in the paragraph?

  1. Additionally, Mingus was a pioneer of Afro-Cuban jazz, the earliest form of Latin jazz in the 1940s.
  2. Overall, Mingus Ah Um is a musically rich work of art that invites the listener to experience a wide range of emotions.
  3. Mingus Ah Um was produced by Teo Macero, who is best known for his work on Miles Davis's Kind of Blue.
  4. Many musicians claim to have been influenced by Mingus, from bassist Dave Holland to singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0004: Demonstrate knowledge of effective research and presentation skills.

7. A student is developing a presentation on how narrative tone shapes readers' perception of the characters in a story. Which of the following types of digital media would be most appropriate for the student to use during the presentation to enhance the audience's understanding of the topic?

  1. an excerpt from a podcast about the dynamics of human speech
  2. an original story created by combining clips from multiple audiobooks
  3. audio recordings of voice actors reading aloud the same passage in a novel
  4. examples of sound effects designed to evoke a range of emotional responses
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0004: Demonstrate knowledge of effective research and presentation skills.

8. A student is gathering information for a report on the need for passenger train service between Phoenix and Tucson. Which of the following Internet resources would provide the most relevant and reliable information for the report?

  1. search results for "Arizona transit" in an online encyclopedia
  2. vlog entries from Arizona commuters uploaded to a video hosting site
  3. photographs in an electronic file maintained by the Arizona Railway Museum
  4. traffic volume maps posted on Arizona Department of Transportation's Web page
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

Acknowledgments

Items 3 and 4: Ríos, Alberto. Faithful Forest (1&2). Copyright © 2016 by Alberto Ríos. This poem was commissioned by the Academy of American Poets and funded by a National Endowment for the Arts Imagine Your Parks grant. Reprinted with permission of the author.