FTCE English Language Skills Practice

Select the most appropriate word to complete the sentence.

1. Unfairly, the ____ of the cost has been paid by just a few members of the group.
A: gift
B: brunt
C: choice
D: divestiture

2. The committee seemed more concerned with long-term plans than with solving ____ immediate problems.
A: apathetic
B: ludicrous
C: classic
D: acute

3. Many ideas that used to be considered outrageous have become part of the _____.
A: mainstream
B: counterculture
C: article
D: gentry

4. The public was shocked when it became clear that Dr. Jackson’s miraculous claims were in fact _____.
A: ersatz
B: laughable
C: bogus
D: jealous

5. After war was declared, the army still needed a couple of days to _____.
A: mobilize
B: reconstitute
C: adjudicate
D: remonstrate

Select the best version of the underlined portion of each exam.

6. Without making a sound Geoffrey crept down the stairs.
A: Correct as is
B: sound; Geoffrey crept
C: sound, Geoffrey crept
D: sound, crept Geoffrey

7. At seventeen he shipped as a cabin boy, bound for Liverpool.
A: Correct as is
B: a cabin boy; bound
C: a cabin boy: bound for
D: a cabin boy-bound for

8. The story is set in Boston, in colonial times when much of the land was undeveloped.
A: Correct as is
B: Boston in colonial times when
C: Boston, in colonial times:
D: Boston, in colonial times,

9. Gina had exams in the following classes, math, history, and science.
A: Correct as is
B: classes: math, history, and
C: classes, math, history, and
D: classes; math, history, and

10. Hector was known as ‘Slim’, because of his gaunt appearance.
A: Correct as is
B: known as ‘Slim because
C: known as ‘Slim’
D: known as Slim because

Answer Key

1. B. The brunt of something is the majority.

2. D. Acute can mean of utmost immediate importance.

3. A. Things that are in the mainstream are in common usage.

4. C. Bogus means false.

5. A. The process through which a military is prepared for action is mobilization.

6. C. The dependent clause needs to be separated with a comma.

7. A. A comma is required to separate the clause.