United States
Hong KongA worked English Language Skills question
Two worked items, both written by us. The first turns on subject-verb agreement across a prepositional phrase; the second on choosing precisely among four near-synonyms. In each case every wrong option is the answer a specific, common mistake produces.
Both questions below are ours. We wrote them against the skills listed in Section 82 of the competencies document, which Rule 6A-4.0021 makes part of Florida law. Neither is an FTCE question, and we have never seen one - the official sample items sit in the vendor's Test Information Guides, which block automated access.
What they are is honest examples of how this kind of item is put together.
The subtest they belong to
- Subtest
- English Language Skills (826)
- Items
- 30 in 40 minutes
- Per item (ours)
- 1.33 minutes, about eighty seconds
- Cut
- At most 63% correct
- Competencies
- 3, covering 19 skills
- First-attempt pass rate
- 68%, the lowest of the three multiple-choice subtests
Question one: agreement across a prepositional phrase
Choose the option that corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the sentence is correct as written, choose "no change". The list of approved textbooks and supplementary readers were posted outside the media center.
- no change
- was posted
- have been posted
- are posted
Notice what the item is doing with your attention. The prepositional phrase is not there for realism. It is there because the plural noun nearest the verb is the entire trap, and every distractor except one is built from taking that bait.
The method is mechanical and it takes about three seconds. Cross out everything between the subject and the verb, read what remains, and the sentence answers itself: the list was posted. Three seconds is a good use of eighty.
The same trap has a second form, and it catches people who have already learned the first one. Words like each, every, either and neither are singular however many nouns follow them. Singular, every time. So it is each of the teachers has, not have.
Question two: four words that all mean roughly the same thing
Which word best completes the sentence? The principal's memo was deliberately ______, so that each department could read it as supporting its own position.
- vague
- ambiguous
- confusing
- unclear
Candidates hunting for a wrong answer stall on items like this, because there is not one. Vocabulary application is its own competency and three of its skills concern precision rather than correctness.
The way in is to read the rest of the sentence for what it demands of the missing word. Here the demand is explicit and it is in the so that clause. Whatever the word is, it has to make multiple readings possible and it has to be something a person would do on purpose. That kills three options without any need to rank the four by shades of meaning.
Register and precision items are the hardest ones to write cleanly. It is easy to produce four options where our intended key is defensible and one of the others could be argued. When a candidate disputes a question in our bank it is nearly always one of these, and sometimes they are right. We rewrite more of these than any other type.
What both items have in common
No wrong option is careless. Each one is the answer a specific mistake produces, which is why three of the four look plausible and why plausibility is not information. If you are choosing between two options on this subtest, the correct next move is to name a rule, not to re-read.
And if you cannot name one within about twenty seconds, choose and move. This subtest allows eighty seconds an item and it fails more candidates at first attempt than either of the others.
Common questions
Are these real FTCE questions?
No. Both were written by us against the published competencies. Official sample items appear in the vendor's Test Information Guides, which block automated access, so we have not read them and nothing here reproduces or paraphrases an FTCE question.
How do I handle subject-verb agreement questions quickly?
Cross out every prepositional phrase between the subject and the verb, then read what is left. Item writers place a plural noun immediately before the verb on purpose, because agreeing with the nearest noun is the mistake being tested.
What if all the vocabulary options seem correct?
They usually are, grammatically. Vocabulary application is a separate competency and precision is what is tested. Find the constraint the rest of the sentence places on the missing word, then eliminate the options that ignore it.
Is "no change" a real option on these questions?
Yes, and it has to be, or every item would be answerable by finding any difference at all. Decide from the sentence: ask what it gets wrong, and if you can name nothing, no change is a legitimate answer rather than a trap.
How long should one English Language Skills question take?
About eighty seconds, from 30 items in 40 minutes. That division is ours. If an item passes roughly two minutes, choose your best remaining option and move, because the clock will not fund a fourth reading.