Practice Test 10 - AP English Language and Composition

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

Read the following argumentative passage excerpt (embedded here) and answer the question. To protect democracy, social media platforms should ban all political advertising. Political ads aren't harmless persuasion; they're precision-targeted manipulation. Platforms can sell campaigns access to people's fears and biases, delivering different messages to different groups with little transparency. When misinformation is boosted by paid targeting, elections become less about public debate and more about micro-marketed pressure. Banning political ads would reduce incentives to spread inflammatory content and would push campaigns back toward public forums where claims can be challenged. If candidates can't win without buying targeted ads, they don't deserve to win. Which addition would most effectively introduce an alternative perspective that adds complexity to the argument?
Read the following excerpt from a commentary on smartphone upgrades (embedded below). "Every September, advertisements insist that last year's phone is suddenly inadequate. The camera gains a new mode, the screen becomes a fraction brighter, and the old device is recast as a liability. Yet most of us are not 'power users'; we are commuters, parents, and students who need a battery that lasts and a map that loads. The upgrade cycle thrives on a small, persistent unease: the fear of being left with something merely functional." The author's precise choice of recast most strongly suggests the tone is…
Read the student essay excerpt below and answer the question. Scenario: A county library system is debating whether to eliminate late fees. A report from a neighboring county found that after removing late fees, overall returns increased 9% and new library card registrations increased 14%, but replacement costs for unreturned items rose slightly. Locally, staff note that late fees made up about 1.5% of the library budget last year. Student essay: People think late fees teach responsibility, but in practice they often teach people to stop using the library. When a family already juggling rent and groceries racks up a $15 fine, the easiest choice is to avoid the building altogether. Libraries exist to remove barriers to information, not add small punishments that accumulate over time. In a neighboring county, returns increased 9% after late fees were removed, and new library card registrations increased 14%. The report also noted a slight rise in replacement costs for items that never came back. Staff members there said they spent less time arguing with patrons about nickels and dimes. Our library's late fees made up about 1.5% of the budget last year, which is not nothing, but it is not the foundation of our funding either. If the library worries about truly lost books, it can still charge replacement fees after a long grace period. The point is to stop punishing forgetfulness and start encouraging participation. Question: Which revision of the bolded sentence would best establish a clear claim for this paragraph?
Read the student passage and answer the question that follows. A school district is debating whether to replace most paper worksheets with digital assignments on district-issued laptops. The superintendent argues that digital work saves money on printing and lets teachers give faster feedback. A parent group worries about screen time and notes that last year, 18% of students reported headaches "often" during the school week. Teachers are split: some like auto-graded quizzes, while others say students write less thoughtfully when typing quickly. Technology can help learning, but it can also make school feel like a never-ending scroll. Digital assignments are convenient because students can't lose them as easily, and teachers can comment quickly. But convenience isn't the same as quality. When everything is on a screen, students are tempted to switch tabs, and reading long passages online can encourage skimming instead of deep focus. Also, screens can cause fatigue, especially when students already spend hours on devices after school. The district doesn't have to choose between "all paper" and "all digital." For math practice or quick checks, digital tools can be efficient. For essays, annotation, and complex reading, paper still has advantages because it slows students down in a good way. If the district goes mostly digital, it should build in screen breaks and offer print options for families who want them. Otherwise, we'll save money but lose something harder to measure: attention. Which thesis statement would best complete the passage? Thesis: _____
Read the following excerpt from a column about public restrooms. The author notes that downtown added new restaurants but not new restrooms, leading to long lines and frequent "customers only" signs. The author argues that restroom access is a dignity issue. Where do we expect a delivery driver to go, a toddler to go, an elderly person to go? The author's use of the bolded sentence structure primarily serves to…
Read the following excerpt and answer the question. In a letter urging residents to vote in local elections, a community organizer writes: "Skipping municipal elections because they seem 'small' is like ignoring the thermostat because it's not the furnace. The thermostat doesn't generate heat, but it decides whether you'll wake up shivering or sweating. City council votes determine bus routes, zoning, and school funding—policies that touch your daily life more than most national speeches. In the last election, only 19% of eligible voters participated, meaning a few thousand people shaped decisions for everyone. If you want control over the temperature, you have to touch the dial." The comparison is effective because it
Read the following excerpt and answer the question. In a personal essay about quitting social media, a writer reflects: "My feed was like a refrigerator door covered in magnets: every time I walked by, something shiny demanded a touch. None of it was urgent, but it trained me to reach without thinking. When I deleted the apps for a month, I didn't become a different person; I simply had longer stretches of uninterrupted thought, and my nightly reading doubled. The point isn't that the magnets are evil. It's that constant grabbing leaves your hands full when you want to hold something real." The comparison is effective because it
In a school board meeting, a teacher argues that constant benchmark testing has narrowed instruction. She cites that students now spend multiple class periods each month preparing for and taking practice exams, leaving less time for projects and discussion. She writes, "Standardized tests can be a thermometer, not a thermostat: they tell you the temperature, but they don't set it." She supports using fewer tests and pairing results with teacher-designed assessments. The analogy primarily serves to…
Read the student essay below, then answer the question. The city should build more protected bike lanes downtown. A recent transportation newsletter reported that bicycle commuting increased by 18% over the past three years, yet the number of protected lanes stayed the same. If the city wants fewer traffic jams and a healthier population, it should make biking safer. Protected lanes prevent accidents. Paint on the road is not enough when cars can drift into the bike area. A physical barrier makes drivers more careful and gives cyclists confidence. Protected lanes also reduce traffic. Every person on a bike is one less person in a car. If we complain about congestion, we should support the easiest solution. Additionally, biking is good exercise. More lanes will encourage people to be active, which could lower healthcare costs. The city spends money on hospitals, so it should invest in prevention. Therefore, bike lanes are necessary for safety, traffic, and health. Diagnosis: Which aspect most weakens the author's line of reasoning? A. The essay assumes that building protected lanes will automatically cause many more people to bike, without addressing other factors like weather, distance, or storage. B. The essay uses the word "should" too often, weakening the author's voice. C. The essay would be better if it included a quotation from a cyclist. D. The essay's conclusion is too short to be effective.
Read the following nonfiction passage and answer the question. Companies love to advertise "unlimited" vacation, and employees love to hear it. But the policy often functions as a ceiling disguised as a sky. When no one knows what amount of time off is normal, workers take less, fearing they will look uncommitted; managers, lacking a clear benchmark, approve requests unevenly. The result is not freedom but ambiguity, and ambiguity tends to favor the bold over the burned out. A better system would combine flexibility with a minimum: guarantee, for example, three weeks that must be taken, while allowing additional days with manager approval. This removes the stigma of using time off and makes expectations visible across teams. Unlimited vacation sounds generous, but a defined floor is what turns permission into practice. The author maintains logical progression by…
Fix the dangling modifier: 'Walking home, rain fell.'
Read the embedded passage, then answer the question. Every year, my school holds a mandatory "career day" assembly where adults describe their jobs while students scroll quietly in the dark. The event is well-meaning, but it confuses exposure with engagement: hearing ten titles in an hour does not help a teenager imagine a path. The administration plans to fix the problem by inviting more speakers. More voices, however, will only amplify the same passive format. To make career day useful, the school should shift from speeches to workshops, pair students with alumni for follow-up conversations, and measure success by what students can do afterward (a resume draft, an internship email) rather than by attendance alone. If the goal is guidance, the structure must require action, not just listening. The thesis prepares the reader for the argument's structure by…
Read the following passage and answer the question. A state legislator has proposed requiring a full year of personal finance in high school. Opponents argue that students already learn "enough math" and that budgeting is something families should teach. But the proposal is not about adding more arithmetic; it is about teaching decision-making under constraints. Many graduates can solve for $x$ yet cannot compare a loan's long-term cost or recognize how interest punishes minimum payments. When we pretend that financial literacy is private, we ignore that the consequences are public: debt defaults affect local economies, and predatory lending thrives on confusion. Schools teach civics because voting shapes the community; they should teach finance for the same reason. A course cannot guarantee perfect choices, but it can reduce the odds that young adults enter contracts they do not understand. Education does not replace family guidance—it creates a baseline of protection. In a market where mistakes are expensive, ignorance is not a neutral condition. The passage's logic advances the main claim by…
The writer presents themself primarily as a(n)
Read the following excerpt from a local newspaper editorial about drought restrictions (embedded below). "The new watering rules are not a punishment; they are a recognition of arithmetic. Reservoir levels sit at 41%, and the forecast offers no heroic storm to rescue us. Lawns will brown, gardens will be trimmed back, and some frustration is inevitable. But the alternative is to pretend that a finite supply can be stretched by optimism alone." The author's precise choice of arithmetic most strongly suggests the tone is…
Writing to parents about homework policy, a principal explains that the school is not eliminating rigor; instead, teachers will assign fewer repetitive worksheets and more targeted practice tied to feedback. She cites internal data showing that students who slept at least eight hours improved their quiz averages more than students who studied past midnight. She also notes that families have uneven access to tutors and quiet workspaces, so "more time" does not always mean "more learning." If we want students who can think, not just comply, we must design work that teaches rather than merely tallies. She closes by inviting parents to review sample assignments at an open house. Which explanation best accounts for the author's decision to structure the bolded sentence this way?
In a city newsletter, an author argues that converting one traffic lane into a protected bike lane can reduce congestion by preventing double-parking and smoothing bus travel. The author references a transportation department memo noting bus speeds increased by 9% on a pilot corridor. The draft includes this sentence: "The new lane design, it keeps delivery trucks out of bus stops and that makes commutes faster." Which revision best improves clarity while preserving original meaning?
An editorial lists 'marched, voted, won' with no conjunctions. The omission makes the sequence seem:
Read the following excerpt and answer the question. In a school board newsletter, a principal argues that the district should delay middle-school start times by 30 minutes. She opens with a concrete constraint: buses already run two tiers, and the proposal uses the same fleet by shifting schedules, not buying vehicles. She then explains the biological premise—adolescents' sleep cycles naturally shift later—and connects it to a local pattern: first-period tardies spike on Mondays and during winter months. Next, she addresses the worry that later dismissal will harm after-school activities, noting that most practices already begin at 4:00 and that the change would move dismissal from 3:10 to 3:40. She then cites a neighboring district's results: absenteeism fell 12% and nurse visits for headaches decreased. She concludes that the schedule change is a low-cost way to improve learning conditions because it targets a known barrier—sleep—rather than adding new programs. The organization reflects the author's reasoning by…
Read the following excerpt and answer the question. In a persuasive essay about recycling, a student writes: "Recycling is like sorting laundry: it takes a few extra seconds, but it keeps you from ruining everything in the wash. When we toss glass, paper, and food waste together, we contaminate materials that could have been reused. Our apartment complex added clearly labeled bins, and contamination rates dropped from 35% to 18% in two months. People didn't become 'more virtuous'; the system became easier to follow. If we want better outcomes, we should design for ordinary habits." The author's comparison works primarily by

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