CSET English Subtest 2 Practice Test
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CSET English subtest 2 practice test
- 1.Which of the following best describes theconcept of Universal Grammar?
- A.
The grammatical rules that are established before the introduction of slang and jargon
- B.
A set of principles that apply to all languages and are unconsciously accessible to every human language user
- C.
The grammatical rules that all the dialects of a language have in common
- D.
A set of principles that should be followed when writing or when speaking in a formal setting
- 2.Read the passage below; then answerthe question that follows.When speakers of two mutually unintelligiblelanguages come into contact, theneed for communication often requiresthat they develop a common code thatcontains features of both languages. Thisis then learned as a first language bysubsequent generations of children. Thevocabulary is gradually expanded, andthe grammar becomes more complexover time, until the language is similarin structure to other human languages.Which of the following linguisticphenomena is described in the abovepassage?
- A.
Creolization
- B.
Hypercorrection
- C.
Motherese
- D.
Deep structure
- 3.The smallest unit of meaning in alanguage is known as a:
- A.
Morpheme.
- B.
Syntactic unit.
- C.
Phoneme.
- D.
Grapheme.
- 4.Which of the following topics is part ofthe study of pragmatics?
- A.
The acquisition of grammatical rules in a second language
- B.
The change in the meaning of a word over time
- C.
The relationship between a word's structure and its meaning
- D.
The uses of different types of utterances in different contexts
- 5.Use the diagram below to answer the question that follows. (Refer to test booklet -- could not copy diagram)SentenceNoun phrase Verb phrasePrepositionNoun Verb PrepositionalphrasePrepositionalphraseArticlePreposition Article Noun Article NounThis diagram represents the structure ofwhich of the following sentences?
- A.
The woman in the car drives to the opera.
- B.
A rainy day is an opportunity to stay at home.
- C.
The dog on the beach loves to play frisbee.
- D.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
- 6.English orthography is only partiallyregular (i.e., the spelling of a word isnot a perfect guide to its pronunciation).Which of the following best explainsthis fact?
- A.
The earliest forms of English evolved from languages with pictographic writing systems.
- B.
Careless transcriptions have changed the spelling of many English words.
- C.
In the transition to Modern English, the pronunciation of many words changed while their spelling did not.
- D.
Words that are slang and jargon have distinct pronunciation rules.
- 7.English-speaking children from differentsociocultural backgrounds are most likelyto differ in which of the following aspectsof language development?
- A.
The syntactic structures that they find easiest to learn
- B.
The style and structure of their oral narratives
- C.
The use of coordinate structures in oral language
- D.
The inferences they make about a speaker's desires or intentions
- 8.Convergent research suggests that infantsstart out able to discriminate betweenall the phonemes that occur in humanlanguage. However, they soon lose theability to distinguish between phonemesthat they do not hear being used in theirenvironment. This finding would help toexplain the fact that:
- A.
Second-language learners often have trouble recognizing and producing certain phonemes in the target language.
- B.
There are rules that govern the combinations of phonemes that can occur in any given language.
- C.
The sounds associated with letter combinations in English have changed over the history of the language.
- D.
Children's first utterances tend to involve the repetition of simple syllables.
- 9.Which of the following is most likely toincrease a reader's fluency and readingrate?
- A.
Stopping periodically while reading a difficult text to predict what will happen next
- B.
Taking notes while reading a difficult text, then reviewing the notes after reading
- C.
Using a graphic organizer after reading a text to represent the main ideas and themes
- D.
Engaging in repeated reading of a text at the reader's independent reading level
- 10.A speaker uses the Standard Englishdialect when interacting with strangers,and uses a different dialect wheninteracting with individuals whom sherecognizes as members of her own socialgroup. This illustrates which of thefollowing types of linguistic behavior?
- A.
Hypercorrection
- B.
Negative transfer
- C.
Borrowing
- D.
Code-switching
- 11.A reader who encounters an unfamiliarword in a text sounds the word out byapplying phonics and syllabication skills.It is most likely that the reader will thenbe able to identify the word's meaning if:
- A.
The word is in the reader's oral vocabulary.
- B.
The reader recognizes the word's part of speech.
- C.
The word is a homophone of a familiar word.
- D.
The reader recognizes the word's language of origin.
- 12.A reader will use predicting most effectivelyas a comprehension strategy if thereader:
- A.
Is able to recognize faulty reasoning.
- B.
Is familiar with the conventions of different genres.
- C.
Is able to use a text's index and glossary.
- D.
Has extensive knowledge of content-area vocabulary.
- 13.
- A.
Gabriel García Márquez, my favorite writer, is the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
- B.
Gabriel García Márquez is my favorite writer; he is the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
- C.
Gabriel García Márquez is my favorite writer and the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
- D.
Gabriel García Márquez, who is my favorite writer, is the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
- 14.Which of the following sentencescontains an underlined word thatfunctions as a noncount noun?
- A.
These flowers are beautiful.
- B.
Every petal has a different hue.
- C.
I will put them in a vase with water.
- D.
Thank you for this wonderful gift!
- 15.Which of the following word sets iscomposed of verbs that function asmodals?
- A.
Cooking, shopping, driving
- B.
Sailed, ran, soared
- C.
Can, would, must
- D.
Shine, disperse, finish
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