Practice Test 12 - AP English Language and Composition

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

Read the following excerpt from a community newsletter urging residents to conserve water during a drought: "Drought announcements always arrive with polite verbs: 'request,' 'encourage,' 'suggest.' But the reservoir does not negotiate. If we water lawns at noon, if we rinse driveways for convenience, if we treat scarcity like someone else's problem, we will earn the restrictions we claim to hate. Conservation is not punishment; it is preparation." The author's use of periodic syntax in the bolded sentence serves to…
Read the student essay excerpt below. Some people say community service hours should be mandatory for graduation because it "builds character." That sounds inspiring, but it ignores how students' time actually works. My classmates aren't blank slates waiting for a moral lesson; they're people balancing school, jobs, sports, and family. First, a requirement would hit low-income students hardest. If you already work fifteen hours a week to help pay rent or buy groceries, unpaid service is not a "character builder"—it's an extra burden. Schools would be rewarding students who can afford free time and penalizing those who can't. Second, forcing service often produces fake service. Students chase signatures, not impact. They pick whatever is easiest, not what matters. Volunteering is supposed to be about commitment, but a mandatory system trains students to do the minimum. Third, the school could encourage service without requiring it by partnering with local organizations, providing transportation, and celebrating sustained involvement. Support creates participation more effectively than threats. Mandatory community service should not be required for graduation. Which revision of the bolded thesis best previews the reasoning that follows?
Read the excerpt below, then answer the question. In a blog post about phone use in restaurants, a server writes: "Last Saturday, I watched a table of four sit silently while their screens scrolled. They tipped fine. That's not the point. A meal is not a pause button; it is a practice. We learn to listen by doing it, not by wishing we had." The author's use of A meal is not a pause button; it is a practice. syntax serves to…
In a piece advocating for stricter building-energy codes, the author argues that efficiency upgrades pay for themselves: better insulation lowers utility bills, and efficient HVAC systems reduce peak demand on the grid. The writer wants to revise the bolded sentence to correct a mechanical issue and improve readability. Retrofitting old apartments is expensive; however, landlords can apply for rebates, and which reduces the upfront cost. Which revision best improves clarity while preserving original meaning?
Read the following passage and answer the question. Some employers insist that returning to the office will rebuild culture, as if culture were a plant that only grows under fluorescent lights. In practice, culture is created by predictable support: clear expectations, fair feedback, and time to collaborate. A 2024 internal report at a mid-sized tech firm found that teams with weekly check-ins reported higher trust than teams with mandatory three-day office schedules. ___ the report also noted that new hires struggled more when they never met colleagues in person. The point is not that offices are useless, but that flexibility should be designed around tasks and onboarding rather than nostalgia. Which transition best fits in the bolded location?
Read the following argumentative passage and answer the question. Cities should replace most single-family-only zoning with mixed-use zoning. The housing shortage is not a mystery: we have made it illegal to build enough homes in the places people most want to live. When a neighborhood allows only detached houses, it caps supply and guarantees that prices rise beyond what teachers, nurses, and young families can afford. Mixed-use zoning—allowing duplexes, small apartment buildings, and corner stores—would create more housing choices and reduce pressure on rents. Mixed-use neighborhoods are also better for the environment. When people can live near shops, schools, and transit, they drive less. That reduces emissions and traffic. It also makes streets safer, because more "eyes on the street" means more natural community monitoring. Opponents often claim that density "ruins neighborhood character," but character is not a museum exhibit. Cities change, and they should change toward inclusion rather than exclusion. If we keep zoning frozen in time, we are choosing segregation by income. Anyone who opposes mixed-use zoning is simply protecting their own privilege. Which revision to the bolded sentence would best broaden the argument by acknowledging an alternative perspective while maintaining the author's overall position?
Read the following passage and answer the question. A coach argues that the school should delay team tryouts until the second week of the semester. She begins by describing the current problem: tryouts occur before students have schedules, so athletes commit and then quit when a class conflict appears, disrupting team planning. She then explains the broader impact: late roster changes reduce practice quality and can discourage newer players who feel like placeholders. Next, she acknowledges the concern that delaying tryouts shortens the season, but she argues that a stable roster yields more productive practices and fewer wasted sessions. She concludes that the small loss of calendar time is outweighed by the gain in consistency and student experience. The sequence of ideas mirrors the author's logic by…
Read the student essay excerpt below, then answer the question. Scenario: A county is considering switching all school cafeterias to "compostable" trays and utensils. A vendor proposal claims the switch would reduce landfill waste by 40 tons per year, but a facilities manager warns that without an industrial composting contract, compostables may still end up in the landfill. Essay excerpt: Compostable trays sound like an easy win, because nobody likes the idea of students throwing away mountains of plastic. The vendor proposal promises a big reduction in landfill waste, and that number is hard to ignore. But the facilities manager's point matters: if the county doesn't actually compost the materials, the label is basically marketing. A good policy has to match the infrastructure. __________ The vendor says the district would reduce landfill waste by 40 tons each year. The facilities manager says the county currently has no industrial composting contract and that contamination (like students tossing milk cartons into compost bins) can cause entire loads to be rejected. Another district tried compostable trays and ended up paying extra hauling fees when the compost facility refused mixed waste. These details show that the materials alone don't solve the problem. Which sentence would most effectively introduce the claim of this paragraph?
Read the following excerpt and answer the question. In a persuasive article about museum admission fees, a writer argues: "A 'pay-what-you-can' policy is like a ramp at the front door: it doesn't change what's inside, but it changes who can enter. When our museum experimented with free Sundays, attendance increased by 40%, and the biggest gains came from zip codes with the lowest median income. Critics worry that free entry 'devalues' art, but price is not a measure of worth; it's a barrier. If art belongs to the public, the door should open." The author's comparison works primarily by
Read the following student-written argumentative passage and answer the question. A state legislature is debating whether to restrict minors under 16 from using social media without verified parental consent. Supporters argue the restriction would protect mental health and reduce exposure to harmful content. Opponents argue it would raise privacy concerns, be difficult to enforce, and could block teens from supportive communities. A pediatrician testified that she sees more patients reporting sleep problems linked to late-night scrolling. A student speaker argued that social media is also where teens organize clubs, find tutoring videos, and connect with peers when they feel isolated. It's tempting for adults to treat social media like a single villain, but the reality is more complicated. Social media can be harmful, especially when algorithms push endless content and make it hard to stop. At the same time, banning teens from platforms doesn't erase the reasons they go there in the first place. If the state requires parental consent, it should be careful not to turn the policy into surveillance. Some teens have parents who are supportive and involved; others don't. A strict consent rule could cut off access to information for teens in unsafe homes or teens who need anonymous support. The better solution is to focus on design and use, not just age. The state can require default time limits for minors, stronger nighttime "quiet mode" settings, and transparency about how recommendation algorithms work. Schools can also teach digital literacy so students understand how feeds are designed to keep them scrolling. Which thesis statement would best complete the passage? [Blank]
Read the excerpt below, then answer the question. A community organizer argues against installing hostile architecture on benches downtown. "The city says the metal dividers prevent 'misuse.' Yet the dividers do not prevent sleeping; they prevent resting. They do not prevent loitering; they prevent lingering. They do not solve poverty; they hide it. A bench should be a welcome, not a warning." The sentence structure in lines They do not solve poverty; they hide it. contributes to the argument by…
Read the following student-written argumentative passage and answer the question. Some states are proposing stricter limits on students' smartphone use during the school day. At my high school, teachers report that phone-related distractions are the number-one cause of repeated redirection, and a student council poll found that 48% of students "wish phones were less tempting" in class. Schools should adopt a bell-to-bell phone-free policy, with phones stored in lockers or locked pouches, because attention is a learning resource and schools are responsible for protecting it. A phone-free day would improve instruction. Teachers could plan discussions without competing with buzzing notifications. Students would practice listening and participating instead of half-watching a lecture while scrolling. Just as schools set rules about hats or hallway passes, they can set rules about devices. Phone-free policies also help mental health. Constant checking trains students to expect interruption. When students go hours without feeds and notifications, they remember what it feels like to focus. School should be one place where students are not required to perform online. The argument that students "need" phones for safety is mostly just panic, since schools have office phones and teachers can always call home. If we want students to learn, we have to remove the biggest distraction. Which revision would best incorporate an opposing view without weakening the author's claim?
Read the following excerpt and answer the question. In a workplace training handout about feedback, a supervisor writes: "Good feedback is like a GPS update, not a verdict. It tells you where you are and suggests a better route, but it doesn't declare you a 'bad driver.' When we shifted from annual reviews to monthly check-ins, project revisions decreased and new employees reported feeling clearer about expectations. The goal is improvement, not humiliation. If feedback only arrives as a surprise ticket, people learn to fear the road." The comparison is effective because it
Read the following embedded passage and answer the question. In response to rising electricity prices, my town is offering rebates for home solar panels, but only for homeowners who can pay the full cost upfront and wait for reimbursement. Officials call it "universal," yet renters and lower-income families are effectively excluded. The policy is like handing out umbrellas only after the storm has passed: it rewards those who stayed dry enough to wait. If the goal is resilience, the town should finance panels through on-bill repayment, community solar subscriptions, or grants that don't require thousands of dollars in cash. Yes, some residents will still choose not to participate, and any program can be abused. But the current design bakes inequality into the first step: having money to get money back. A rebate can be part of the solution, but not when it pretends to be the whole solution. By comparing the rebate program to handing out umbrellas only after the storm has passed, the author primarily…
Read the following embedded passage, then answer the question. Banning phones in schools sounds like an easy fix for distraction, and I understand the appeal: no buzzing, no cheating photos, no lunchtime doomscrolling. But a ban treats every use as misuse. In the hallway outside my classroom, a student once translated a voicemail from a doctor for her mother; another checked a bus delay that would have stranded him after practice. The better approach is not prohibition but training: teach students to silence notifications, to recognize manipulative apps, and to use devices for purposeful tasks. Yes, enforcement is harder than confiscation. Still, education has never been the art of choosing the easiest rule; it is the work of building judgment. The author advances the argument primarily by…
Read the following passage embedded in this question: A technology columnist argues that password rules requiring frequent mandatory changes can decrease security. When users must invent a new password every month, she says, they respond predictably: they recycle the old password with a "1" added, write it on a sticky note, or store it in an unencrypted file so they can remember it. Those workarounds create more opportunities for theft than a stable, strong password does. By contrast, she explains, longer passphrases and two-factor authentication reduce the payoff for guessing and make stolen passwords less useful. The columnist acknowledges that changing a password after a breach is essential, but insists that routine forced changes treat all accounts as equally threatened and push users toward the very behaviors companies claim to prevent. If organizations want fewer compromises, she concludes, they should design rules that match human habits instead of pretending habits don't exist. Which method of development best describes the passage?
A city council member argues that expanding late-night bus service is a practical safety measure because it reduces the number of people walking home alone after midnight and offers workers a reliable way to get home without driving. In the draft below, the writer wants to revise the bolded sentence for clearer grammar and mechanics while keeping the same meaning. Because the buses run only every forty minutes after 11 p.m., riders miss one and they wait in the dark, which makes the program feel unreliable even when it is technically available. Which revision best improves clarity while preserving original meaning?
Read the following embedded passage, then answer the question. A tech company introduces an AI tool that drafts performance reviews for managers. Executives celebrate the time saved and claim the tool will reduce bias by standardizing language. But within weeks, employees notice the reviews sound polished yet oddly hollow. Specific accomplishments vanish into generic phrases like "demonstrates leadership." Worse, the tool learns from past reviews that already reflected unequal expectations: women are praised for being "supportive," while men are praised for being "strategic." Managers, relieved to avoid difficult conversations, begin accepting the drafts with minimal edits. An HR analyst argues that automation cannot replace judgment; it can only scale whatever values an organization already practices. She recommends using the tool to summarize concrete evidence—projects completed, goals met—while requiring managers to add personalized feedback and to audit language patterns for stereotypes. "Efficiency," she writes, "is not neutrality. If we want fairness, we have to design for it and keep humans responsible for the meaning of the words." The overall message of the passage is that…
Read the following excerpt from a personal essay about phone use and answer the question. I used to blame my phone for my distraction the way people blame weather for their mood: it was always there, always convenient, always outside my control. Then I checked the settings and found I averaged four hours a day on social media—time I swore I didn't have when friends asked me to volunteer, read, or call my grandmother. I didn't delete every app; I just moved the most tempting ones off the home screen and turned my display to grayscale. And the silence—after the last notification, after the last reflexive swipe, after the last tiny hit of novelty—was not empty; it was usable. In that quiet, I noticed how often I reached for my phone without needing anything at all. The device didn't change. My habits did. The syntax of the bolded sentence is most effective because it…
Read the excerpt below, then answer the question. In a piece about neighborhood recycling, the writer describes a pilot program that increased recycling pickup to twice a week and reduced landfill waste by 9% in three months. "We can argue about whether one household matters. We can argue about whether one bottle matters. But when a city adds up its 'ones,' the sum is not small. Policy is arithmetic performed in public." The author's use of But when a city adds up its 'ones,' the sum is not small. syntax serves to…

Practice tests