Secrets in Action_ACCUPLACER

ACCUPLACER Secrets in Action - 2 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACCUPLACER SECRETS IN ACTION ................................................................................................................... 3 SAMPLE QUESTION FROM THE SENTENCE SKILLS TEST ........................................................................................................ 3 SAMPLE QUESTION FROM THE ARITHMETIC TEST .................................................................................................................. 6 SAMPLE QUESTION FROM THE READING COMPREHENSION TEST ........................................................................................ 9 SAMPLE TOPIC FOR THE ESSAY ................................................................................................................................................ 13 SAMPLE QUESTION FROM THE COLLEGE-LEVEL MATHEMATICS TEST ............................................................................. 16 - 3 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Accuplacer Secrets in Action Sample Question from the Sentence Skills Test Louisa May Alcott’s difficulty over the philosophical brilliance of her father’s intellect was tempered by her impatience with his unworldliness A. exasperation with B. respect for C. rebellion against D. reverence for Let’s look at a couple of different methods of solving this problem. 1. Understand What to Expect Before you have read any of the answer choices and begin to stumble over some of the complicated vocabulary words used in the answer choices, see if you can predict what the answer might be, based on the information provided to you in the problem sentence. You aren’t trying to guess the exact word that might be in the correct answer choice, but only the type of word that you should expect. Is it a positive word, negative word, etc. Ask yourself what sort of words would likely fill the blanks provided. Consider that she loved her father and thought highly of him, particularly with regards to his intelligence. Therefore, you should expect a verb with a positive meaning. Now that you have an idea of what to expect in a correct answer choice, review the choices provided. Choices B and D both have a positive word, “respect” and - 4 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. “reverence” respectively, so either could be correct. Looking further ahead to the second verb in the sentence “tempered,” you notice that it means modifying or adjusting. It does make sense that her perception of a positive attribute of her father’s would be modified or adjusted by a negative attribute (his unworldliness), making choice D correct. 2. Group the Answers Review the answer choices and try to identify the common aspects of each answer choice. Are any of the words synonyms or antonyms? Without ever having looked at the problem, but simply reviewing the answer choices can tell you a lot of information. Classify the words in the answer choice as positive or negative words and group them together. For example, you can tell that both answer choice A and C deal with “anger”, using the words “exasperation” and “rebellion”. Answer choices B and D deal with “appreciation”, using the words “respect” and “reverence”. Grouping answers makes it easy to accept or reject more than one answer at a time. By reviewing the context of the sentence, “appreciation” makes more sense than “anger” in describing a woman’s perception of her father’s intellectual brilliance. Therefore, answer choices A and C can both be rejected simultaneously, leaving you with choices B and D. Once again, in comparing the remaining words in choice B and D, “tempered”, with its root word “temper” acting as a modifying agent makes choice D the better answer. - 5 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 3. Make it Easier As you go through and read the sentence and answer choices, don’t allow a complicated wording to confuse you. If you know the meaning of a phrase and it is over complicated, be sure to mentally substitute or scratch through and write above the phrase an easier word that means the same thing. For example, you can rewrite “Louisa May Alcott’s -------- the philosophical brilliance of her father’s intellect was tempered by her impatience with his unworldliness” as “Louisa May Alcott’s -------- her father’s intelligence was tempered by her impatience with his simplicity. Using words that are simpler and may make it easier for you to understand the true context of the sentence will make it easier for you to identify the correct answer choice. Similarly, you can use synonyms of difficult words as a mental replacement of the words in the answer choices to make it easier for you to understand how the word fits into the sentence. For example, if you know the meaning of the word “reverence” in choice D, but have difficulty understanding how it fits into the sentence, mentally replace it with the word “appreciation.” Appreciation means the same thing and may be easier for you to read and understand in the context of the sentence. - 6 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Sample Question from the Arithmetic Test Three coins are tossed up in the air. What is the probability that two of them will land heads and one will land tails? A. 0 B. 1/8 C. 1/4 D. 3/8 Let’s look at a few different methods and steps to solving this problem. 1. Reduction and Division Quickly eliminate the probabilities that you immediately know. You know to roll all heads is a 1/8 probability, and to roll all tails is a 1/8 probability. Since there are in total 8/8 probabilities, you can subtract those two out, leaving you with 8/8 – 1/8 – 1/8 = 6/8. So after eliminating the possibilities of getting all heads or all tails, you’re left with 6/8 probability. Because there are only three coins, all other combinations are going to involve one of either head or tail, and two of the other. All other combinations will either be 2 heads and 1 tail, or 2 tails and 1 head. Those remaining combinations both have the same chance of occurring, meaning that you can just cut the remaining 6/8 probability in half, leaving you with a 3/8ths chance that there will be 2 heads and 1 tail, and another 3/8ths chance that there will be 2 tails and 1 head, making choice D correct. - 7 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 2. Run Through the Possibilities for that Outcome You know that you have to have two heads and one tail for the three coins. There are only so many combinations, so quickly run through them all. You could have: H, H, H H, H, T H, T, H T, H, H T, T, H T, H, T H, T, T T, T, T Reviewing these choices, you can see that three of the eight have two heads and one tail, making choice D correct. 3. Fill in the Blanks with Symbology and Odds Many probability problems can be solved by drawing blanks on a piece of scratch paper (or making mental notes) for each object used in the problem, then filling in probabilities and multiplying them out. In this case, since there are three coins being flipped, draw three blanks. In the first blank, put an “H” and over it write “1/2”. This represents the case where the first coin is flipped as heads. In that case (where the first coin comes up heads), one of the other two coins must come up tails and one must come up heads to fulfill the criteria posed in the problem (2 heads and 1 tail). In the second blank, put a “1” or “1/1”. This is because it doesn’t matter what is flipped for the second coin, so long as the first coin is heads. In the third blank, put a “1/2”. This is because the third coin must be the exact opposite of whatever is in the second blank. Half the time the third coin will be the same as the - 8 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. second coin, and half the time the third coin will be the opposite, hence the “1/2”. Now multiply out the odds. There is a half chance that the first coin will come up “heads”, then it doesn’t matter for the second coin, then there is a half chance that the third coin will be the opposite of the second coin, which will give the desired result of 2 heads and 1 tail. So, that gives 1/2*1/1*1/2 = 1/4. But, now you must calculate the probabilities that result if the first coin is flipped tails. So draw another group of three blanks. In the first blank, put a “T” and over it write “1/2”. This represents the case where the first coin is flipped as tails. In that case (where the first coin comes up tails), both of the other two coins must come up heads to fulfill the criteria posed in the problem. In the second blank, put an “H” and over it write “1/2”. In the third blank, put an “H” and over it write “1/2”. Now multiply out the odds. There is a half chance that the first coin will come up “tails”, then there is a half chance that the second coin will be heads, and a half chance that the third coin will be heads. So, that gives 1/2*1/2*1/2 = 1/8. Now, add those two probabilities together. If you flip heads with the first coin, there is a 1/4 chance of ultimately meeting the problem’s criteria. If you flip tails with the first coin, there is a 1/8 chance of ultimately meeting the problem’s criteria. So, that gives 1/4 + 1/8 = 2/8 + 1/8 = 3/8, which makes choice D correct. - 9 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Sample Question from the Reading Comprehension Test Mark Twain was well aware of his celebrity. He was among the first authors to employ a clipping service to track press coverage of himself, and it was not unusual for him to issue his own press statements if he wanted to influence or "spin" coverage of a particular story. The celebrity Twain achieved during his last ten years still reverberates today. Nearly all of his most popular novels were published before 1890, long before his hair grayed or he began to wear his famous white suit in public. We appreciate the author but seem to remember the celebrity. Based on the passage above, Mark Twain seemed interested in: A. maintaining his celebrity B. selling more of his books C. hiding his private life D. gaining popularity Let’s look at a couple of different methods of solving this problem. 1. Identify the key words in each answer choice. These are the nouns and verbs that are the most important words in the answer choice. A. maintaining, celebrity B. selling, books C. hiding, life D. gaining, popularity - 10 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Now try to match up each of the key words with the passage and see where they fit. You’re trying to find synonyms and/or exact replication between the key words in the answer choices and key words in the passage. A. maintaining – no matches; celebrity – matches in sentences 1, 3, and 5 B. selling – no matches; books – matches with “novels” in sentence 4. C. hiding – no matches; life – no matches D. gaining – no matches; popularity –matches with “celebrity” in sentences 1, 3, and 5, because they can be synonyms At this point there are only two choices that have more than one match, choices A and D, and they both have the same number of matches, and with the same word in the passage, which is the word “celebrity” in the passage. This is a good sign, because the test writers will often write two answer choices that are close. Having two answer choices pointing towards the same key word is a strong indicator that those key words hold the “key” to finding the right answer. Now let’s compare choice A and D and the unmatched key words. Choice A still has “maintaining” which doesn’t have a clear match, while choice D has “gaining” which doesn’t have a clear match. While neither of those have clear matches in the passage, ask yourself what are the best arguments that would support any kind of connection with either of those two words. “Maintaining” makes sense when you consider that Twain was interested in tracking his press coverage and that he was actively managing the “spin” of certain stories. “Gaining” makes sense when you consider that Twain was actively issuing his own press releases, however one key point to remember is that he was only issuing these press releases after another story was already in existence. - 11 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Since Twain’s press releases were not being released in a news vacuum, but rather as a response mechanism to ensure control over the angle of a story, his releases were more to maintain control over his image, rather than gain an image in the first place. Furthermore, when comparing the terms “popularity” and “celebrity”, there are similarities between the words, but in referring back to the passage, it is clear that “celebrity” has a stronger connection to the passage, being the exact word used three times in the passage. Since “celebrity” has a stronger match than “popularity” and “maintaining” makes more sense than “gaining,” it is clear that choice A is correct. 2. Use a process of elimination. A. maintaining his celebrity – The passage discusses how Mark Twain was both aware of his celebrity status and would take steps to ensure that he got the proper coverage in any news story and maintained the image he desired. This is the correct answer. B. selling more of his books – Mark Twain’s novels are mentioned for their popularity and while common sense would dictate that he would be interested in selling more of his books, the passage makes no mention of him doing anything to promote sales. C. hiding his private life – While the passage demonstrates that Mark Twain was keenly interested in how the public viewed his life, it does not indicate that he cared about hiding his private life, not even mentioning his life outside of the public eye. The passage deals with how he was seen by the public. - 12 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. D. gaining popularity – At first, this sounds like a good answer choice, because Mark Twain’s popularity is mentioned several times. The main difference though is that he wasn’t trying to gain popularity, but simply ensuring that the popularity he had was not distorted by bad press. - 13 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Sample Topic for the Essay Possessions can be extremely difficult to give up or lose due to the personal attachment that develops over the years. Assignment: Do you agree or disagree with the topic statement? Support your position with one or two specific examples from personal experience, the experience of others, current events, history, or literature. Let’s look at a few different methods and steps to solving this problem. 1. What’s the Goal? Remember that on the essay portion of the Accuplacer, there isn’t a “correct” answer. The response you choose to give to the topic provided does not have to be the first thing that comes to your mind. In fact, the side or response you pick doesn’t even have to support the side of the topic that you actually believe in. It is better to have a good explanation for the position, rather than to actually believe in the position on the topic. However, typically you will find that the side you believe in is also the side that you have the most information that you can write about. To go through some of the steps that you could walk through as you develop your response, let’s choose to support the belief that the attachment develops over the years. As you consider some good examples of possessions, your first thought might be the importance of your home or car, which are necessary for the basic functions of life, such as providing a roof over your head and a method of transportation. Yet, what would be your supporting answer about why your car is important and would be - 14 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. difficult to give up? Some possibilities might be: “it gets me where I need to go, it is brand new, it is expensive, I like it a lot, it would be difficult to replace, it’s shiny.” These answer choices may fill up some space, but don’t have much meaning. There are other possessions in your life that have much more meaning and priority in other ways that would be better to write about. Think of possessions that have meaning beyond the mere basics of shelter or transportation. You want a examples that you could potentially write pages and pages about, filling each of them with depths of passionate detail. While you probably won’t have time to write pages and pages, it’s good to have a examples that have plenty of room to be expanded upon. 2. Make a Short List The best way to think of examples you would want to include might be to create a short list of possibilities. What are some that you would truly hate to give up? What are things that you would regret and miss for years to come? What are items that would fit the description of having an emotional attachment develop over the years? Perhaps a precious heirloom, a family antique, or a faded photograph would be suitable examples. After you’ve made your list, look back over it and see which possessions you could write the most information about. Those are the ones you would want to include as examples. - 15 - Copyright © Mometrix Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. 3. Answer “Why” Notice that choosing possessions and writing about them is not the only thing that you have to do. You have to explain your position. You have to answer the “Why.” That is an all-important question. If y