CLEP College Composition Exam |
Questions and Answers Rated A+ | 100%
Correct with Rationale | Latest 2025/2026
Guide
Which of the following pairs of literary devices appears in sentence 1?
A. Alliteration and onomatopoeia
B. Metaphor and juxtaposition
C. Personification and simile
D. Irony and paradox
E. Point of view and stream of consciousness
- Correct Answer - C. Personification and simile
There was a steaming mist in all the hollows, and it had roamed in its
forlornness up the hill (personification), like an evil spirit (simile), seeking
rest and finding none.
What rhetorical device is used in the following passage?
When I threw breadcrumbs in the water, the fish in the water were
bubbly and boisterous, begging for a bite to eat.
A. exemplum
B. rhetorical question
C. simile
D. alliteration
- Correct Answer - D. alliteration
When I threw breadcrumbs in the water, the fish in the water
were bubbly and boisterous, begging for a bite to eat.
,(5) Not one of the three could have said, from anything he saw, what
either of the other two was like; and each was hidden under almost as
many wrappers from the eyes of the mind, as from the eyes of the body,
of his two companions.
Which of the following best summarizes the meaning of sentence 5
(listed above)?
A. Even though the passengers were friends, none of them knew how
the others were feeling.
B. Two of the passengers were attempting to conceal what they knew
from the third passenger.
C. The dense fog made it hard for the coachman to keep track of the
passengers.
D. None of the passengers could discern the appearance or character of
the other two passengers.
E. All of the passengers had witnessed something they were afraid of
but could not discuss with each other.
- Correct Answer - D. None of the passengers could discern the
appearance or character of the other two passengers.
(1) There was a steaming mist in all the hollows, and it had roamed in its
forlornness up the hill, like an evil spirit, seeking rest and finding none.
(2) A clammy and intensely cold mist, it made its slow way through the
air in ripples that visibly followed and overspread one another, as the
waves of an unwholesome sea might do. (3) It was dense enough to
shut out everything from the light of the coach-lamps but these its own
workings, and a few yards of road; and the reek of the labouring horses
steamed into it, as if they had made it all.
(4) Two other passengers, besides the one, were plodding up the hill by
the side of the mail. All three were wrapped to the cheekbones and over
the ears, and wore jack-boots...
The overall mood of the passage can best be described as
,A. ominous
B. melancholy
C. nostalgic
D. depressing
E. serene
A. ominous
**Know what these mood words mean:
Ominous- giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is
going to happen; threatening; inauspicious.
Melancholy - a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious
cause.
Nostalgic - longing for or thinking fondly of a past time or condition
Serene - marked by or suggestive of utter calm and unruffled repose or
quietude
Although Red Canyon, Utah, is largely devoid of trees, but small
coniferous plots of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir exist in areas where
moisture is available.
Which of the following best replaces the underlined section above?
A. is largely devoid of trees, but
B. is largely devoid of trees,
C. largely devoid of trees,
D. being largely devoid of trees,
E. is largely devoid of trees, and
- Correct Answer - B. is largely devoid of trees,
Which one of these is probably not a fallacious argument?
A. If we open the border to one person, everyone will come in.
, B. You tell me to not drink so much whiskey, but what would happen if I
asked you to stop working out so much?
C. We have to get an electric car. Everyone is buying them now.
D. Judging from my family history, if I don’t lose weight, I will become
diabetic.
- Correct Answer - D. Judging from my family history, if I don’t lose
weight, I will become diabetic.
Which of following selections is not correct:
A. There were many people in the store.
B. I don’t know if there are any people here that speak French.
C. My friend has much money in the bank.
D. We don’t have a lot of time today.
- Correct Answer - C. My friend has much money in the bank. -
INCORRECT
My friend has too much money in the bank.
Read each sentence carefully, paying particular attention to the
underlined portions. You will find that the error, if there is one, is
underlined. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that must
be changed to make the sentence correct.
The orbits of comets in our solar system are much more eccentric than
planet Earth, which revolves around the Sun following a relatively
circular path.
A. are much
B. than planet Earth
C. revolves around
D. following
Questions and Answers Rated A+ | 100%
Correct with Rationale | Latest 2025/2026
Guide
Which of the following pairs of literary devices appears in sentence 1?
A. Alliteration and onomatopoeia
B. Metaphor and juxtaposition
C. Personification and simile
D. Irony and paradox
E. Point of view and stream of consciousness
- Correct Answer - C. Personification and simile
There was a steaming mist in all the hollows, and it had roamed in its
forlornness up the hill (personification), like an evil spirit (simile), seeking
rest and finding none.
What rhetorical device is used in the following passage?
When I threw breadcrumbs in the water, the fish in the water were
bubbly and boisterous, begging for a bite to eat.
A. exemplum
B. rhetorical question
C. simile
D. alliteration
- Correct Answer - D. alliteration
When I threw breadcrumbs in the water, the fish in the water
were bubbly and boisterous, begging for a bite to eat.
,(5) Not one of the three could have said, from anything he saw, what
either of the other two was like; and each was hidden under almost as
many wrappers from the eyes of the mind, as from the eyes of the body,
of his two companions.
Which of the following best summarizes the meaning of sentence 5
(listed above)?
A. Even though the passengers were friends, none of them knew how
the others were feeling.
B. Two of the passengers were attempting to conceal what they knew
from the third passenger.
C. The dense fog made it hard for the coachman to keep track of the
passengers.
D. None of the passengers could discern the appearance or character of
the other two passengers.
E. All of the passengers had witnessed something they were afraid of
but could not discuss with each other.
- Correct Answer - D. None of the passengers could discern the
appearance or character of the other two passengers.
(1) There was a steaming mist in all the hollows, and it had roamed in its
forlornness up the hill, like an evil spirit, seeking rest and finding none.
(2) A clammy and intensely cold mist, it made its slow way through the
air in ripples that visibly followed and overspread one another, as the
waves of an unwholesome sea might do. (3) It was dense enough to
shut out everything from the light of the coach-lamps but these its own
workings, and a few yards of road; and the reek of the labouring horses
steamed into it, as if they had made it all.
(4) Two other passengers, besides the one, were plodding up the hill by
the side of the mail. All three were wrapped to the cheekbones and over
the ears, and wore jack-boots...
The overall mood of the passage can best be described as
,A. ominous
B. melancholy
C. nostalgic
D. depressing
E. serene
A. ominous
**Know what these mood words mean:
Ominous- giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is
going to happen; threatening; inauspicious.
Melancholy - a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious
cause.
Nostalgic - longing for or thinking fondly of a past time or condition
Serene - marked by or suggestive of utter calm and unruffled repose or
quietude
Although Red Canyon, Utah, is largely devoid of trees, but small
coniferous plots of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir exist in areas where
moisture is available.
Which of the following best replaces the underlined section above?
A. is largely devoid of trees, but
B. is largely devoid of trees,
C. largely devoid of trees,
D. being largely devoid of trees,
E. is largely devoid of trees, and
- Correct Answer - B. is largely devoid of trees,
Which one of these is probably not a fallacious argument?
A. If we open the border to one person, everyone will come in.
, B. You tell me to not drink so much whiskey, but what would happen if I
asked you to stop working out so much?
C. We have to get an electric car. Everyone is buying them now.
D. Judging from my family history, if I don’t lose weight, I will become
diabetic.
- Correct Answer - D. Judging from my family history, if I don’t lose
weight, I will become diabetic.
Which of following selections is not correct:
A. There were many people in the store.
B. I don’t know if there are any people here that speak French.
C. My friend has much money in the bank.
D. We don’t have a lot of time today.
- Correct Answer - C. My friend has much money in the bank. -
INCORRECT
My friend has too much money in the bank.
Read each sentence carefully, paying particular attention to the
underlined portions. You will find that the error, if there is one, is
underlined. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that must
be changed to make the sentence correct.
The orbits of comets in our solar system are much more eccentric than
planet Earth, which revolves around the Sun following a relatively
circular path.
A. are much
B. than planet Earth
C. revolves around
D. following
