The Best Test Preparation for the CLEP (College-Level Examination Program): Freshman College Composition

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Chapter 1 - PASSING THE CLEP FRESHMAN COLLEGE COMPOSITION CBT

About this Book
This book provides you with an accurate and complete representation of the CLEP Freshman College Composition Computer-Based Test, or CBT. Inside you will find a complete review of college composition, as well as tips and strategies for test-taking. We also provide three full-length practice tests, all based on the official CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT. REA's practice tests contain every type of question that you can expect to encounter on the actual exam. Following each practice test you will find an answer key with detailed explanations designed to help you master the CLEP CBT.

About the Exam
Who takes the CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT and what is it used for?
CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) examinations are usually taken by people who have acquired knowledge outside the classroom and wish to bypass certain college courses and earn college credit. The CLEP Program is designed to reward students for learning-no matter where or how that knowledge was acquired. The CLEP is the most widely accepted credit-by-examination program in the United States.

Although most CLEP examinees are adults returning to college, many graduating high school seniors, enrolled college students, and international students also take the exams to earn college credit or to demonstrate their ability to perform at the college level. There are no prerequisites, such as age or educational status, for taking CLEP examinations. However, you must meet any specific requirements of the particular institution from which you wish to receive CLEP credit.

There are 34 CLEP examinations. Of these, five-English Composition (with or without essay), Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences and History-cover material usually taken as requirements during the first two years of college.
Who administers the exam?

The CLEP is developed by the College Board, administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS), and involves the assistance of educators throughout the United States. The test development process is designed and implemented to ensure that the content and difficulty level of the test are appropriate.
When and where is the exam given?

The CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT is administered throughout the year at more than 1,400 test centers in the United States and can be arranged for candidates abroad on request. To find the test center nearest you and to register for the exam, you should obtain a copy of the free booklets CLEP Colleges and CLEP Information for Candidates and Registration Form, which are available at most colleges where CLEP credit is granted, or by contacting:

CLEP Services P.O. Box 6601
Princeton, NJ 08541-6601
Phone: 1-800-257-9558
Website: http://www.collegeboard.com

How to Use this Book

What do I study first?
Read over the course review and the suggestions for test-taking. Then take the first practice test to determine your area(s) of weakness. Those areas should constitute the focus of your study efforts. Studying our topical survey thoroughly will reinforce the basic skills you will need to do well on the exam. Make sure to take the practice tests to become familiar with the format and procedures involved with taking the actual exam.

To best utilize your study time, follow our Independent Study Schedule, which you'll find in the front of this book. The schedule is based on a six-week program but can be condensed to a three-week plan if necessary by making a single week's study unit out of every two weeks' coverage.

When should I start studying?
It is never too early to start studying for the CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT. The earlier you begin, the more time you will have to sharpen your skills. Do not procrastinate! Cramming is not an effective way to study, since it does not allow you the time needed to learn the test material. The sooner you learn the format of the exam, the more time you will have to familiarize yourself with it.

Format of the CLEP Freshman college composition CBT
The CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT covers the material one would find in most first-year English courses. It measures a candidate's understanding of both mechanics and style, with questions concerning the structure of sentences, the logical development of essays, and the ability to recognize rhetorical purpose and strategies in prose and poetry. Candidates must also demonstrate familiarity with research papers and reference skills.

There are 90 multiple-choice questions, each with five possible answer choices, to be answered in 90 minutes.

Coverage is apportioned approximately as follows:
65% Recognizing logical development in student drafts as well as published prose
20% Recognizing and using standard written English
15% Demonstrating the ability to use resource materials

There is also an optional free-response section to the CLEP Freshman College Composition that you will take only if your college requires it. If you sit for this section, you will need to respond to two essay questions, with a combined time limit of 95 minutes. Candidates must respond to the first essay topic, while the second essay may choose to write on one of two topics. The College Board advises candidates to spend between 35 and 40 minutes on the first essay and between 50 and 55 minutes on the second.

We have not included sample essay questions within our practice tests. Since the scoring is left to the college that requests this portion of the exam, it is impossible to determine what a satisfactory answer would be in every case. Below, however, are three topics similar to the ones you can expect to find on the exam.

Sample Topic A Our use of language differs depending on the manner or conditions in which it is used. Our language may differ in use of syntax, inflection, vocabulary, and pronunciation, dependent on circumstances.

Write an essay describing the differences in the language you would use in two different circumstances-a conversation with a friend and a job interview, for instance. Your essay should indicate what purposes the differences in your use of language serve.

Sample Topic B Polls of American youth suggest that they want high-paying jobs, not necessarily satisfying careers. This reflects the current cultural value implied in the popular media that money is the key which opens the golden door to satisfaction, unlike the traditional value of work for its own reward.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Support your opinion with specific examples from history, current events, literature, or personal experience.

Sample Topic C Because of increased crime involving teenagers at area malls and other places of recreational activity, local city councils and many concerned citizens have recently proposed curfews, hoping to stem the tide of teen crime.

Write an essay, to be read by the city council and concerned citizens, approving or disapproving of the proposed curfews for teenagers.

About Our Course Review
REA's review for the CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT is divided into two areas. The first is an introduction that covers all the major styles of college writing, the tools used by effective writers, and useful techniques for handling a college research paper. This portion of the review will prove to be effective in scoring well on the second half of the exam and will serve as a good preparation tool for college-level work in general.

The skills review in this book provides a comprehensive study of the mechanics of writing, including diction, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. The drills in this section will sharpen your knowledge of all aspects of grammar, thus putting you in a strong position to score well on the first half of the exam.
Scoring Your Practice Tests

The CLEP Freshman College Composition Exam is scored on a scale of 20 to 80. To score your practice tests, count up the number of correct answers and enter the result on the scoring worksheet below. The number of correct answers represents your raw score. Finally, convert your raw score to a scaled score using the conversion table that follows. Note that the CLEP exams are scored only according to correct answers; no credit will be lost for incorrectly answered items.

When will I receive my score report?
A scoring printout will be made available to you immediately after you finish the CLEP CBT. Scores for the essay section of the CLEP CBT will be available about three weeks after the day of your test. Your scores are reported only to you, unless you ask to have them sent elsewhere. If you want your scores reported to a college or other institution, you must fill in the correct code number on your answer sheet at the time you take the examination. Since your scores are kept on file for 20 years, you may also request transcripts from ETS at a later date.
Studying for the CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT

It is crucial for you to choose the time and place for studying that works best for you. Some students set aside a certain number of hours every morning, while others choose to study at night before going to sleep. Only you can determine when and where your study time will be most effective. But be consistent and use your time wisely.

Work out a study routine and stick to it!

When you take our practice tests, try to make your testing conditions as much like the actual test as possible. Turn off the television or radio, and sit down at a quiet table or desk free from distraction. Use a timer to ensure that each section is accurately clocked.

As you complete each practice test, score it and thoroughly review the explanations for the questions you answered incorrectly; but don't review too much at one sitting. Concentrate on one problem area at a time by reviewing the question and explanation, and by studying our review until you are confident that you completely understand the material.

Keep track of your scores and mark them on the scoring worksheet. By doing so, you will be able to gauge your progress and discover general weaknesses in particular sections. You should carefully study the review sections that cover your areas of difficulty, as this will build your skills in those areas.
Test-Taking tips

Although you may not be familiar with standardized tests such as the CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT, there are many ways to acquaint yourself with this type of examination and help alleviate your test-taking anxieties. Listed below are ways to help you become accustomed to the CLEP, some of which may be applied to other standardized tests as well.

Know the format of the CBT. CLEP CBTs are not adaptive but rather fixed-length tests. In a sense, this makes them kin to the familiar paper-and-pencil exam in that you have the same flexibility to go back and review your work in each section. Moreover, the format hasn't changed a great deal from the paper-and-pencil CLEP. For this exam, you can expect to encounter 90 questions that need to be answered within 90 minutes. You are likely to see some so-called pretest questions as well, but you won't know which they are and they won't be scored.

Read all the possible answers. Just because you think you have found the correct response, do not automatically assume that it is the best answer. Read through each choice to be sure that you are not making a mistake by jumping to conclusions.

Use the process of elimination. If you don't immediately see the correct answer among the choices, systematically scan the list and eliminate as many as you can by simple inspection. Confidently casting aside choices will help you isolate the correct response, or at least knock your choices down to just a few strong contenders. This approach has the added benefit of keeping you from getting sidetracked and distracted by what in fact may be just an occasional tricky question. Importantly, your score on a CLEP CBT is based only on the number of questions you answer correctly.

Work quickly and steadily. You will have just 90 minutes to work on the 90 questions you'll be facing, so take a steady-as-she-goes approach to avoid spending an inordinate amount of time on any one question. Taking our practice tests-which feature the same number of items as the actual test-will help you learn to budget your time wisely.

Learn the directions and format for each section of the test. This will put extra time on your side that you can use to review your work on test day.

Acquaint yourself with the CBT screen. Familiarize yourself with the CLEP CBT screen beforehand by logging on to the official College Board Website at www.collegeboard.com. Waiting until test day to see what the CBT screen looks like in the pretest tutorial risks injecting needless anxiety into your testing experience. One caveat: The tutorial, while a useful tool to acclimate yourself to the type of test you'll be taking, should not be taken literally in all its details, including the number of sample choices you may see. In its totality, however, it should lend greater confidence to your test-taking experience.

Be sure that your answer registers before you go to the next item. Check the screen to see that your mouse-click causes the pointer to darken the proper oval. This takes far less effort than darkening an oval on paper, but don't lull yourself into taking less care!

Throw it in reverse. One of the more unusual ways you can turn a multiple-choice format to your advantage is to work backwards from the answer choices to the question. While we do not recommend using this strategy all the time, it can be helpful if you need to plug the choices into a given formula, equation, or word problem. Consider that the answers can serve as a series of clues, often narrowing the scope of your search for the correct responses. You may even be able to make an educated guess based on eliminating choices that you know do not fit the problem. Again, however, use this approach sparingly.

The Day of the Exam

Taking the CLEP CBT
On the day of the test, you should wake up early (after a decent night's rest, one would hope) and have a good breakfast. Dress comfortably so that you are not distracted by being too hot or too cold while taking the test. Plan to arrive at the test center early. This will allow you to collect your thoughts and relax before the test, and will also spare you the anxiety that comes with being late. No one will be allowed into the test session after the test has begun.

Before you set out for the test center, make sure that you have your admission form, Social Security number, and a photo ID with your signature (e.g., driver's license, student identification card, or current alien registration card). You need proper ID to get into the test center.

You may wear a watch to the test center, but it cannot make any noise, which could disturb your fellow test-takers. No calculators, computers, dictionaries, textbooks, notebooks, scrap paper, briefcases, or packages will be permitted; drinking, smoking, and eating are prohibited.

Good luck on the CLEP Freshman College Composition CBT!