BHUSD Secondary English Placement Test 01

This informal English Placement Test contains 76 questions:

Section Points

Grammar: 50 (30 minutes)

Reading: 15 (15 minutes)

Listening: 10 (15 minutes)

Writing: 40 (20-40 minutes)

Your score will tentatively determine your English language proficiency level, which will help BHHS place you in suitable classes for you based on your level.

***This test is an at independent test you take alone without any help from other people, electronic devices, or the internet.

***Make sure you only complete what you think you know. If you do not know an answer, do not take any guesses.

You will also take a formal English Proficiency test called the Initial ELPAC (English Language Proficiency Assessment for California) after school has begun if you have never taken it before.

Below are two readings with missing words. Read and choose a missing word from the four options provided. The third reading has reading comprehension questions.

Reading 1

It’s easy to (51) _____ an e-mail. You type it on to a computer screen, hit a button, and off (52)_____ goes. But the speed of the process is also a problem. It doesn’t encourage (53)_____ to think much about what we write. As a result, e-mail messages are (54)_____ grammatically incorrect, disorganized, and full of spelling and typing errors. Badly expressed ideas are more difficult to read. They can also cause misunderstandings. Professionals nowadays have to read enormous quantities of e-mails, and (55)_____ adds to the stress of their jobs.

Reading 2

A hard sell is often seen as (56)______ in Japan. Japanese business people may think that you are trying to convince them (57)______ your product is no good. It is better to use a low-key sale pitch and give them objective information. The Japanese are not accustomed to aggressive American techniques that use a persuasive ‘winning’ argument. (58)____ you are not completely honest about your product, your credibility will be damaged and what you say will lose influence. Don’t say that yours is ‘the best on the (59)______’. It is better to say, ‘We sold more than two million units last year. As you know our closest competitor sold (60)_____ than a million.’

Reading 3

Ruins of a huge stone monument stand on

Salisbury Plain in southern England. Some of

the stones are about 18 feet (5.5 meters) tall and weigh over

20 tons. Many were likely brought to the site

from over 200 miles away. The stones form

broken rings in an area surrounded by a large

circular ditch. Known as Stonehenge, this

monument has existed for thousands of years—

since long before machines could have helped

create it. Who built it—and how and why?

Over the years, many people have tried to

explain Stonehenge. Some people wondered if

it was the work of the Romans. Others thought

the Druids, a group of ancient priests, built it.

Some even imagined that the legendary

magician Merlin had placed the stones.

Scientists have studied Stonehenge. Many

theorized that several groups of people

contributed to the structure at different times,

starting about 5,000 years ago. People have

made drawings of how Stonehenge may have

looked at different stages in history. At one

time, many more stones stood at the site.

Together with the stones still there, they likely

formed completed rings around two stone arcs.

Moving the large stones from their natural

homes into their places at Stonehenge would

have been difficult. Scientists have pondered

how the builders were able to do so without

modern tools. The builders may have rolled the

huge stones over a series of logs. They may

have used large sleds or rafts, and perhaps they

used animals. To test these possibilities, people

have tried to move similar blocks of stone in

several different ways.

Chances are that Stonehenge was an

important place for the people who worked on

and used it. But what did they use it for?

Some people have guessed that it was a place

where the injured or ill went for healing.

Others have said it was a shrine to the dead.

The entrance to Stonehenge aligns with the

path of the sun on the longest and shortest days

of the year. It's possible that the site served as

a type of calendar, helping people to keep track

of the seasons. Imagine trying to hang that

calendar on your wall!

Reading #4

According to urban legend, the children's

song "Ring Around the Rosy" refers to an illness

called the plague. Specifically, people interpret

this song as depicting a disease that produces red

sores, "ring around the rosy," and results in many

deaths, "we all fall down." Though we are

uncertain of the true meaning of this song, it does

seem to describe some of the symptoms of the

plague.

The most characteristic symptom of the

plague is painful, swollen lymph glands. These

swollen glands are called buboes, which is why

the most common form of the plague is called the

bubonic plague. Plague sufferers also develop a

high fever, and red spots that eventually turn black

appear on the skin.

One of the most disastrous plague epidemics

ever documented began when a severe outbreak

of the plague occurred in China in the 1330s. The

disease subsequently spread along trade routes,

and soon it appeared in many parts of the world.

By 1347, the plague had made its way to Europe,

where in five years it killed 25 million people,

over one-quarter of the continent's population.

Due to the plague's symptoms and results, the

disease came to be known throughout Europe as

the Black Death.

The people of this time period lived in

constant fear of the plague. Because doctors

knew of no effective treatments, most of those

suffering from the plague died within a week of

displaying symptoms. Terrified friends and

family members often abandoned the ill for fear of

contracting the disease themselves. Deaths

occurred so frequently that many victims ended up

buried in mass graves. As no scientific explanation

existed for the plague, most people assumed

it was a punishment from God. Many

people, called flagellants, even resorted to

beating themselves with scourges in order to

obtain forgiveness. Unfortunately, flagellants

probably just encouraged the spread of the disease

as they traveled from town to town.

The plague had enormous social, economic,

religious, and psychological consequences.

Morose medieval art and literature demonstrate

the immense impact the plague had on the people

of this time period. Despite its costs, the plague

did improve the standard of living and social

structure. When the plague ended, a surplus of

goods reduced prices, and feudal lords lost power

as a lack of laborers provided peasants with a

greater selection of jobs at higher wages.

Now we have more accurate information

about the plague and its origin. Scientists have

discovered that a bacterium called Yersinia pestis

causes the plague. Infected fleas mainly transmit

the bacteria to rodents, but sometimes the fleas

carry the disease from rodents to humans.

Humans can spread the disease to one another by

close contact, which is how the plague

proliferated so rapidly during the 14th century.

The plague still poses a threat to humans, but

antibiotics have drastically diminished the

danger.