Recommended study text for the Accuplacer On-line Reading Test:
501 Reading Comprehension Questions, 3rd ed.
ISBN:  1-57685-540-6
Publisher:  Learning Express
Publisher website:  www.LearnATest.com
A copy of this textbook may be available for purchase at WWU Portland Campus. 

Each student taking this test will be presented with a series of 20 questions of two primary types:  
1) a reading passage followed by a question based on the text
2) two sentences followed by a question about the relationship between those two sentences.

Each student will receive

• four long reading passages
• eight to nine questions based on short passages
• four to five questions involving sentence relationships

All paragraphs on the Accuplacer On-line Reading Test are short, not usually more than four sentences.  Most questions ask you to either:

• determine the main idea
• make an inference based on the information in the paragraph
• judge the relationship between two separate sentences

One way to prepare is to read newspapers, magazines, or books that are in your home.  When you have finished a paragraph or an article ask yourself, "what is the point?"  If you don't understand, then try to examine individual paragraphs more closely.  Do not get hung up on individual words that you may not know--look at the big picture.  From the information you read, what conclusions can you draw?  If you read that it was cold when I shoveled my driveway, you might conclude that there was snow on the ground.

Sample Questions (answers are found below):

1.  Cheating is the ultimate trick a student plays on him/herself.  Aside from the primary point of making an absolute mockery of the purpose of a college education, there is also the fact that there is no way a student can avoid being found out--there is at least one person who will always know about it.

Which of the following statements would the author agree?

A.  Students should not cheat because someone will find out and report it.
B.  Cheating really hurts the cheater.
C.  Professors should expect students to cheat.

A question about the main idea:

2.  Many college students do not want to take a math class.  When they learn that math is required these students hope for a way to avoid this requirement.  These students may be suffering from math anxiety, an overwhelming fear of the subject, rather than an intellectual impairment.

The main idea of this passage is:

A.  Many students are bad at math.
B.  Students who are bad at math can avoid taking it.
C.  Students who hope to avoid math may have math anxiety.

Do not get discouraged by unfamiliar words.  Sometimes the question is easier than you think:

3.  The protagonist of this popular children's tale has an aversion to colored poultry products and smoked meat.  His pursuer took increasingly creative measures to ensure that the protagonist would consume these victuals here, there or anywhere.

The author states that:

A.  The pursuer took increasingly creative measures.
B.  The victuals were virtually real.
C.  The protagonist consumed the pursuer.

Another question:

4.  There are two types of pottery that I do.  There is production pottery--mugs, tableware--the kinds of things that sell easily.  These pay for my time to do the other work, which is more creative and satisfies my needs as an artist.

The author of the passage implies that:

A.  Artists have a tendency to waste valuable time.
B.  Creativity and mass-production are incompatible.
C.  Most people do not appreciate good art.
D.  Pottery is not produced by creative artists.

A sentence relationship question:

5.  The owning of an automobile allows Americans the opportunity to explore this vast country.  In failing to develop a national public transportation system the ability of Americans to travel is severely limited.

The two above sentences:

A.  Contradict each other.
B.  The second sentence supports the first.
C.  The first sentence introduces the second.

6.  The Midwest is experiencing its worst drought in fifteen years.  Corn and soybean prices are expected to be very high this year.

What does the second sentence do?

A.  It restates the idea found in the first sentence.
B.  It states an effect.
C.  It gives an example.

Answers:
1  B
2  C
3  A
4  B
5  A
6  B