Northern Virginia Community College requires a specific skill level for entry into the English Composition (ENG 111) class.  The primary tool for determining your skill level is an interactive computer generated test called COMPASS, developed by American College Testing in Iowa City, IA. 

 

The COMPASS English Placement Test is divided into two parts, reading and writing.  Each part of the test begins with instructions to help you become familiar with the format of the test and the use of the keyboard and mouse.  Single click only with the mouse; do not double click – you may send in a blank response and lose points. 

 

An appointment is not required to test, but you must arrive no later than two hours before the Testing Center closes in order to take the placement test.  The test is untimed; however, you should expect to take approximately 2 hours to complete the test.   If you are taking both the math and English placement tests, you must arrive at least 3 hours prior to closing.

 

You must complete the test to get a score.  The computer will only print scores when you have finished the entire test.  If the test is suspended (stopped), you must return within a week to complete the test.

 

Reading Test

The figure below shows a sample item similar to those in the Reading Placement Test and illustrates how a reading test passage and items would appear on the computer screen.  Use the “More” buttons on the left half of the screen to move toward the beginning or the end of the passage.  The numbered boxes in the lower right of the screen correspond to the questions associated with the current passage (this passage has four questions you will need to answer). Click on the boxes in any sequence, but be sure to click on all boxes in order to respond to all relevant test questions. When you answer a question, a checkmark will appear in the box. After answering all the questions, the “Go On” button is enabled and then must be clicked in order to proceed to the next computer-selected passage and its associated test questions. 

Sample Passage for reading Placement

When I’m in New York but feeling lonely for Wyoming I look for the Western movie ads in the subway.  But the men I see in those posters with their stern, humorless looks remind me of no one I know in the West.  In our earnestness to romanticize the cowboy we’ve ironically disesteemed his true character.  If he’s “strong and silent” it’s because there’s probably no one to talk to.  If he “rides away into the sunset” it’s because he’s been on horseback since four in the morning moving cattle and he’s trying, fifteen hours later, to get home to his family.  If he’s “a rugged individualist” he’s also part of a team:  ranch work is teamwork and even the glorified open-range cowboys of the 1880s rode up and down the Chisholm Trail in the company of twenty or thirty other riders.  It’s not toughness but “toughing it out” that counts.  In other words, this macho, cultural artifact the cowboy has become is simply a man who possesses resilience, patience, and an instinct for survival.  “Cowboys are just like a pile of rocks – everything happens to them.  They get climbed on, kicked, rained and snowed on, scuffed up by the wind.  Their job is ‘just to take it,’” one old-timer told me.                 (Adapted from Gretel Ehrlich,    ©1985 by Gretel Ehrlich)

 

(Referring)

1.      According to the passage, cowboys are probably “strong and silent” because:

1. their work leaves them no time for conversation.
2. they have been cautioned not to complain.
3. they are stern and humorless.
4. there is no one nearby to listen to them.
5. their work makes them too tired to talk.

(Reasoning)

2.      For which of the following statements does the passage give apparently contradictory evidence?

1. The cowboy’s work takes endurance.
2. Cowboys work alone.
3. Cowboys are adequately paid.
4. The cowboy’s image has become romanticized in American culture.
5. Cowboys think of themselves as humorless.

Answers:  1. D         2. B

 

 

WRITING TEST

The figure below shows a sample item similar to those in the Writing Placement Test and illustrates how a writing test passage and items would appear on the computer screen.  Read the essay and look for errors in grammar, punctuation, usage, and style. When you find what you believe to be an error, move the mouse pointer to the appropriate section of the text and click the mouse. That section will be highlighted and on the right side of the screen five options appear for revising that section of text.  Note that the first option is always identical to the original text, and thus represents a NO CHANGE option.  Choose the revision that best fixes the error in the text, and then continue in this fashion to correct all text errors.   When you have finished correcting the essay, click on the “Finished editing essay” button.  IMPORTANT:  once you click on the “finished” button, YOU CANNOT RETURN TO THAT PASSAGE. Questions that address strategy, organization, and style are then presented.  When you have finished those questions, click on the “Go On” button to move to the next computer-selected essay. 

Sample Essay for Writing Placement

The essay below contains the same number and types of errors that an actual Writing Skills Test would contain; however, for demonstration purposes, only a handful of the segments below have been selected for revision.  These segments are indicated by bold type, and the items associated with them are shown on the next page.  (Note: There are additional errors below that are not in bold that in an actual testing situation you would need to respond to.  You should try to find and correct these.)

                                                   

1.                        An increasing number of lakes and rivers in the northern United States

2.                  invaded are being by a mussel no larger than a fingernail.

3.                       The zebra mussel probably steamed aboard a transatlantic ship sometime

4.                  in the mid-1980s from the Caspian Sea into U.S. waters.  Despite its growth was

5.                  explosive, partly because the species was preyed upon by very few native

6.                  predators in its new environment.  As a consequence, the zebra mussels did

7.                  find a plentiful food supply.  They eat huge amounts of phytoplankton, which

8.                  tiny free-floating sea organisms that dwell in water.  Scientists are concerned

9.                  when the mussels may compete aggressively with other species that depend on

10.              the same food supply.

11.                   Others concerned by the invading species are industry, public utilities, and

12.              boat owners.  Zebra mussels cluster in huge colonies, being anchored

13.              themselves to any hard surface.  These colonies can clog your water intake

14.              pipes of electric and water treatment plants. Fishery specialists are currently

15.              casting about and baiting their hooks to gun down control methods that will

16.              cause the lowest amount of damage to water supplies and other aquatic species.

17.              Two of the alternatives exploring are interrupting the species reproductive cycle

18.              and finding a bacterium harmful only to zebra mussels.

 

 

(Basic Grammar and Usage:  Ensuring Grammatical Agreement)

Segment 1

 

1. An increasing number of lakes and rivers
2. An increasingly number of lakes and rivers
3. A number increasing of lakes and rivers
4. A number increasingly of lakes and rivers
5. An increasing of lakes and rivers

 

 

(Style:  Avoiding Redundancy)

Segment 2

 

1. was preyed upon by very few native predators in its new environment.
2. found very few predators in its new environment.
3. found very few native predators and was seldom eaten in its new environment.
4. was preyed on by very few native predator species in its new environment.
5. was seldom eaten or preyed on by native predator species in its new environment.

 

(Sentence Structure:  Relating Clauses)

Segment 3

 

1. Scientists are concerned when the mussels
2. Scientists are concerned that if the mussels
3. Scientists are concerned wherein the mussels
4. Scientists are concerned that the mussels
5. Scientists are concerned as if the mussels

 

(Strategy:  Making Decisions about Cohesive Devices)

Item 4 (end-of-passage)

 

The writer wishes to add a sentence at the end of Paragraph 1 that will serve as a transition between Paragraphs 1 and 2 and will establish the main focus of the essay.  Which of the following sentences most effectively fulfills that purpose?

 

1. The zebra mussel will provide a difficult challenge for public utility managers.

 

2. The zebra mussel is only the latest in a series of newly introduced species to thrive in the U.S.

 

3. No one knows how far south and west the zebra mussel is likely to spread, but scientists think they may be on the trail of important clues.

 

4. Although small in size, the zebra mussel may become a huge problem for pleasure boat owners in North American waterways.

 

5. Despite its size, however, the zebra mussel may have a dramatic effect on North American waterways.

 

Answers:         1. A 

                        2. B        

3. D        

4. E

 

 

DID YOU FIND THESE ADDITIONAL ERRORS?

Line 2.              ‘invaded are being’

Line 4-5           ‘Despite its growth was explosive’

Line 6-7           ‘the zebra mussels did find’

Line 7-8           ‘which tiny free-floating sea organisms’

Line 12-13       ‘being anchored themselves’

Line 13             ‘These colonies can clog your water’

Line 14-15       ‘are currently casting about and baiting their hooks to gun down control’

Line 16             ‘cause the lowest amount of damage’

Line 17             ‘Two of the alternative exploring are’

 

 

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