English Placement Test Prep: Master College Reading Comprehension & Writing Skills

The correct answer is B.

Enhanced Explanation:

Spelling questions test your knowledge of common spelling conventions and frequently misspelled words.

"Judgment" is correctly spelled. In American English, there is no 'e' after the 'g'.

"Permanant" is incorrectly spelled. The correct spelling is "permanent" with an 'e' before the final 't'.

"Dialogue" is correctly spelled with the 'ue' ending.

"Adjacent" is correctly spelled.

Success Tip:

For spelling questions, watch for these common patterns:

Doubled consonants (like "commitment" vs. "committment")

Silent 'e' placement (like "permanent" vs. "permanant")

The "ie" vs. "ei" rule ("receive" vs. "recieve")

Foreign-derived word endings (like "-que" or "-gue")

Create mental spelling rules to help remember tricky words, such as: "The word permanent permanently ends with -ent, not -ant."

Answer: A.

Enhanced Explanation:

Grammar and usage questions test your ability to recognize standard English conventions and identify errors.

Option A contains an incorrect infinitive form. After "to," we need the base verb form ("pick"), not the past participle ("picked").

Option B correctly uses the future progressive tense.

Option C correctly uses passive voice in present tense.

Option D correctly uses present tense in a prepositional phrase construction.

Success Tip:

When evaluating grammar, check for these common errors:

Verb tense consistency

Subject-verb agreement

Proper infinitive construction (always "to" + base verb)

Misplaced modifiers

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

Remember the structure of infinitives: "to" + base verb (never "to" + past tense or past participle).

The correct answer is (A) — negative . . . exceeds.

Enhanced Explanation:

This question tests your ability to understand logical relationships between concepts and choose words that create coherent meaning.

Option A creates a logical relationship: "negative population growth" corresponds with "deaths exceeding births."

Option B uses "ominous" (threatening/worrying) and "intercedes" (mediates/steps between), which don't create a logical cause-effect relationship.

Option C creates a contradiction: "positive growth" cannot result from deaths "outpacing" (exceeding) births.

Option D uses "unstable" with "surmises" (guesses/concludes), which doesn't form a logical relationship between population dynamics.

Success Tip:

For logical relationship questions:

Identify what relationship the sentence structure implies (cause-effect, contrast, etc.)

Test each word pair to see if they maintain this relationship

Eliminate pairs that create contradictions or illogical connections

Choose the pair that creates the most coherent meaning

Pay attention to transitional phrases like "which means that" which signal specific logical relationships.

The correct answer is C.

Enhanced Explanation:

In sentence restatement questions, you must identify the option that maintains the original meaning without adding or removing key information.

Option A changes the relationship from "helps" to "depends upon," introducing a stronger dependency than the original states.

Option B introduces a comparison ("more rapidly than children who do not") that wasn't in the original sentence.

Option C correctly preserves the helping relationship between toys and brain development using synonymous phrasing ("aided by" instead of "helps in").

Option D shifts focus to parents' intentions rather than the effect of toys on development.

Success Tip:

When tackling sentence restatement questions, focus on the key relationships in the original sentence. Identify the subject, verb, and object, then ensure these core elements maintain the same relationship in your chosen answer. Watch for subtle shifts in meaning through intensifiers (like "depends" vs. "helps") or added comparisons.

The correct answer is (A). 

Enhanced Explanation:

Sentence completion questions test your understanding of contextual relationships and parallel structure.

"Creating" and "modifying" are both active processes that involve developing code with similar skills.

"Planning" happens before creation and is conceptual rather than active programming.

"Disarranging" (breaking apart) is opposite to creating rather than similar.

"Closing" a program means to shut it down, unrelated to creation.

"Integrating" combines programs rather than working on a single program.

Success Tip:

For sentence completion questions, identify what type of word is needed (noun, verb, adjective) and then look for logical relationships. The context often indicates whether the word should create similarity, contrast, or causation. In this case, the phrase "are fairly similar" signals you need a word that represents an activity comparable to "creating."

The correct answer is (D) stab.

Enhanced Explanation:

Vocabulary questions test your knowledge of word meanings and ability to identify synonyms.

"Pierce" means to penetrate or pass through something with a pointed object.

"Rocky" describes something full of rocks or uneven terrain.

"Immense" means extremely large or great in size.

"Abstract" refers to ideas or concepts rather than physical objects.

"Stab" means to thrust a pointed object into something, making it synonymous with "pierce."

"Fold" means to bend something over itself.

Success Tip:

To excel at synonym questions:

Define the given word in your own words first

Look for an answer choice that matches your definition

Eliminate words with clearly different meanings

For closely related words, check for subtle differences in usage

Expanding your vocabulary through regular reading and vocabulary practice is the best long-term strategy for these questions.