COMPASS-Test Computer-adaptive Placement, Assessment, and Support System: English, Math, Writing

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Showing 7–9 of 20 questions

Question 7 (Writing)

The passages below contain several enumerated sections, each of which may or may not contain an error of grammar, usage or style. For each multiple-choice question, the first choice reproduces the selection from the original passage. The other choices offer alternatives. Select the best choice from among the five choices offered for each enumerated selection.

Leopold Sedar Senghor

Léopold Sédar Senghor, the Senegalese poet and statesman, leading a life of mythic proportions. Born in a small West African village in 1906, Senghor had directed a movement against French colonial rule that bringed Senegal independence in 1959. Senghor served as Senegal’s first elected president from 1960 to 1980. Because of Senghor’s political influence, therefore, Senegal is today one of Africa’s most stable and affluent nations.

After World War II, Senghor has entered politics and held a number of elected positions in France and Senegal between 1946 and 1959. During this time, working ceaselessly in African independence movements, all the while it emphasizes the importance of African cultural identity. Senghor’s efforts contributed to Charles de Gaulle’s grant of national sovereignty to Senegal and other West African countries in 1959.

One legend about Senghor claim that at the moment of his birth, a tree on the ground fell and split, releasing a great spirit that entered the newborn's body. Senghor himself did not believe this story, true or not, the tale on the other hand gives an appropriately mythic dimension to the life of a man honored for his courageous and progressively work for the freedom of African peoples.

If the writer were to eliminate the information in paragraph 3 that Senghor himself did not believe the story about the tree, the essay would primarily lose:

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  • a sense of Senghor’s skeptical nature.

  • insight into African politicians’ beliefs.

  • an illustration of one way a spirit can be released.

  • a suggestion of the admiration Senghor inspired.

  • the implication that all African myths involve nature.

Question 8 (Writing)

Determine whether the underlined portion of the sentence below is correct or whether it needs to be revised.

Fleeing the horde of zombies on foot, an apparently safe building became visible to the terrified couple.

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  • an apparently safe building became visible to the terrified couple.

  • the terrified couple spotted a building that looked safe.

  • a safe looking building was spotted by the terrified couple.

  • the terrified couple's luck changed when they spotted a safe looking building.

  • their fear subsided somewhat when the terrified couple would spot a safe looking building.

Question 9 (Mathematics)

What is the first term in the arithmetic sequence ____, 8 1/3, 7, 5 2/3, 4 1/3,… ?

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  • 11

  • 9 1/2

  • 9 2/3

  • 10

  • 10 1/3