Use these CLEP College Composition sample questions to review Standard Written English, revision, source evaluation, source integration, and rhetorical analysis. The actual College Composition exam also includes two required essays; this set focuses on multiple-choice skills.
Topics Covered
- Grammar and agreement
- Thesis statements
- Clarity and concision
- Organization and sentence placement
- Evaluation of supporting evidence
- Source credibility
- Synthesis of source material
- Purpose and rhetorical appeals
Sample Questions
Conventions of Standard Written English
Directions: The underlined portion may contain an error. Choose the best replacement, or select No change if it is already correct.
Each of the committee members have submitted their draft for review.
- A. has submitted a draft
- B. have submitted a draft
- C. has submitted their drafts
- D. have submitted his or her draft
- E. No change
Show Answer
The subject Each is singular and requires the singular verb has.
Using a draft also makes it clear that every committee member submitted one individual draft.
Questions 2–5 refer to the following early draft.
- A. Composting is something that many people have heard about.
- B. A well-designed campus composting program can reduce waste and support other sustainability efforts.
- C. North Valley College has dining halls and a campus garden.
- D. Food waste is unpleasant and should probably be reduced.
- E. There are several different kinds of compost bins.
Show Answer
The paragraph discusses both reducing dining-hall waste and supplying compost to the campus garden.
Choice B states a focused claim that previews both ideas and gives the paragraph a clear direction.
- A. During the first month, misplaced plastic forks contaminated entire loads, forcing the college to reject them.
- B. During the first month, plastic forks were being put where they should not have been by students.
- C. Students, during the first month, often did things with plastic forks that caused rejection.
- D. Entire loads were rejected during the first month, and plastic forks were something students placed in bins.
- E. No change
Show Answer
Choice A clearly identifies what caused the problem and what resulted from it.
It avoids the vague pronoun which and removes unnecessary wording.
The signs showed which materials belonged in compost and which belonged in trash.
- A. Before sentence 1
- B. After sentence 2
- C. After sentence 4
- D. After sentence 5
- E. After sentence 8
Show Answer
Sentence 5 introduces the picture-based signs.
The proposed sentence immediately explains what those signs communicated, so placing it after sentence 5 creates the clearest progression.
- A. A description of the color of the compost bins
- B. A quotation from a student who dislikes gardening
- C. Data showing that contamination remained low during the following semester
- D. The name of the company that manufactured the signs
- E. A list of every dining-hall menu item
Show Answer
Sentence 8 claims that clear instructions can make a composting program more effective.
Evidence that the improvement continued over time would provide stronger support for that conclusion than unrelated descriptive details.
Questions 6–8 refer to the following source material.
Source B: An anonymous neighborhood-forum post states, “The new route is always late, and nobody uses it.” The post does not provide ridership records or identify the writer.
- A. The new route increased ridership while its on-time performance declined.
- B. The new route reduced ridership because buses were late.
- C. Every passenger preferred the previous route.
- D. The transit department intentionally made the route slower.
- E. The new route had no measurable effect.
Show Answer
Source A reports a 12 percent increase in weekday boardings and a decline in on-time performance from 86 percent to 81 percent.
Choice A accurately combines both findings without adding an unsupported causal claim.
- A. Source A uses longer sentences.
- B. Source A was written more recently.
- C. Source A includes systemwide fare-card records, while Source B offers one unidentified person’s impression.
- D. Source B uses informal vocabulary.
- E. Source B disagrees with Source A.
Show Answer
The question concerns overall ridership, so broad records are more useful than a single anecdote.
Source B may describe one commuter’s experience, but it cannot establish how many people used the route.
- A. The route was an unquestionable success because ridership increased.
- B. The route was a complete failure because one commuter reported delays.
- C. Although fare-card records show increased ridership, the decline in on-time performance may help explain complaints about reliability.
- D. The anonymous post proves that the transit department falsified its records.
- E. Because the sources disagree, neither source should be used.
Show Answer
Choice C incorporates the strongest evidence from Source A while acknowledging the concern raised in Source B.
It preserves the distinction between documented ridership data and a complaint about reliability.
Questions 9–10 refer to the following passage.
- A. To entertain readers with a story about the library
- B. To explain how college budgets are calculated
- C. To persuade the college to extend library hours
- D. To criticize students who study at night
- E. To compare several campus buildings
Show Answer
The writer presents a specific proposal, supports it with survey and cost information, and ends by urging the college to treat the change as an academic investment.
Those features establish a persuasive purpose.
- A. The use of survey results and a specific cost comparison
- B. The repeated use of emotionally charged insults
- C. A personal story about one student
- D. An appeal to the writer’s professional title
- E. A description of the library’s architecture
Show Answer
The survey percentage and the comparison with the student-activities budget provide quantitative support.
This evidence appeals primarily to logic by addressing both the need for evening study space and the proposal’s relative cost.
How to Use These Questions
For revision questions, consider the paragraph’s purpose and organization before focusing on individual wording. The shortest choice is not always best; choose the option that is clear, precise, logical, and appropriate for the audience.
For source questions, distinguish documented evidence from opinion or anecdote. When synthesizing sources, represent each source accurately and avoid claiming more than the evidence supports.
These practice questions are not official CLEP questions and are not endorsed by the College Board.
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