Praxis Core sample questions, with worked answers

E: The librarian knew where each book was shelved.. The passage says the library "had no catalog" and that the librarian "simply remembered where each of its 800 books was shelved."

The trap: Choosing "a card catalog" because old libraries had one. The passage says this one had no catalog.

A: Simple, regular hand-washing is an effective way to reduce illness in schools.. The passage argues that hand-washing, though simple, is effective, and supports it with how germs spread and with fewer absences. The other options are either unsupported or too narrow.

The trap: Picking "Germs survive longest on keyboards," a detail the passage mentions only in passing, and never compares.

D: Author talks. Compare the two columns row by row. Only Author talks went down (120 to 40); every other row went up.

A: A bus line planned for commuters turned out to improve student attendance.. Every sentence supports one point: a commuter bus line had an unplanned benefit for attendance. The passage says it was planned for commuters, so it was not built to raise attendance.

1. Name the topic: the bus line and attendance.
2. Find what the passage says about it: rainy-day absences fell to the dry-day level.
3. Check the last sentence: the benefit was not planned. Only the first option keeps all of that.

The trap: Choosing "Planners should always consider students." It sounds reasonable, but the passage never recommends anything.

A: Teachers with master's degrees are more often assigned advanced classes, whose students already scored higher.. The argument assumes the degree causes the higher scores. If degree-holders teach students who were already stronger, the score gap may have nothing to do with the degree.

1. Find the conclusion: pay for every teacher's master's degree.
2. Find the evidence: degree-holders' students score higher.
3. Look for another explanation of the evidence: class assignment is one.

The trap: "Some teachers without master's degrees are excellent." True of a few teachers, but it does not touch the average gap the argument relies on.

B: done with little care or effort. The colon introduces the evidence: two lines, a thank-you and no answers. That describes a reply made with minimal effort.

1. Find the clue after the colon: two lines, no answers.
2. Put your own word in the blank: "minimal."
3. Match it: "done with little care or effort."

The trap: "Angry." Nothing in the letter is hostile; it is just thin.

B: me. The pronoun is part of the subject, so it must be the subject form "I." Test it alone: "I spent the afternoon," not "me spent."

The trap: Leaving "me" because "Maria and me" sounds familiar in speech. Say the pronoun alone: "me spent" is wrong.

E: Kim felt the rain begin to fall heavily. "Walking to school" must describe the word right after the comma. Only Kim can walk, so "Kim" has to come next; the rain cannot walk.

The trap: Choosing a version that starts with "the heavy rain" or "it." Only Kim can be walking, so Kim must come right after the comma.

C: A report published this year by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A current report from the federal agency that collects the data is both authoritative and up to date. The 2010 article is out of date, and the others are not reliable sources of statistics.

The trap: Choosing the encyclopedia because encyclopedias are reliable. A 2010 article cannot give the current rate.

B: were. The subject is "stack," which is singular, so the verb must be "was." "Of graded essays on the teacher's desk" sits between the subject and the verb.

1. Find the verb: "were returned."
2. Find its subject by crossing out the phrases: "The stack ... were returned."
3. "Stack" is singular, so "were" should be "was."

The trap: Matching the verb to "essays," the plural noun right before it.

B: Having graded every paper, Ms. Lee had a free weekend.. The opening phrase describes whoever graded the papers, so that person must come right after the comma. The weekend did not grade anything.

1. Ask who did the action in the opening phrase: Ms. Lee.
2. Check the word after the comma: "the weekend." That is a dangling modifier.
3. Choose the version that puts "Ms. Lee" next, with a comma, not a semicolon.

The trap: Choice C puts a noun after the comma but still not Ms. Lee; choice E fixes the order but uses a semicolon after a phrase.

A: The text of the law on the state legislature's website. The law itself is the primary, authoritative and current source on what it changed. The blog is out of date, the thread is opinion and the others are off topic.

1. Ask what the report needs: what the 2024 law requires.
2. Rule out sources older than the law (2015) and sources that are opinion.
3. The law's own text is the most authoritative source.

The trap: The social media thread. It is current and on topic, but it reports opinions about the law, not the law.

C: 48. Find the rate first: 16 ÷ 4 = 4 pages a minute. Then 4 × 12 = 48 pages.

D: 9/20. Probability = favorable outcomes ÷ all outcomes. There are 20 counters and 9 of them are blue, so the probability is 9/20.

B: 106°. The angles of a triangle add to 180°. 180 − 53 − 21 = 106°.

B: 0.35. Write each as a decimal: 3/8 = 0.375, 0.35 = 0.35, 36% = 0.36, 2/5 = 0.4, 0.39 = 0.39. The least is 0.35.

A: 3/11. Without putting it back, the second draw has 5 girls' names out of 10. Multiply: 6/11 × 5/10 = 30/110 = 3/11.

E: 2. Slope = change in y ÷ change in x = (14 − 6) ÷ (0 − −4) = 8 ÷ 4 = 2. Putting x over y gives the reciprocal, a common slip.

A: 7. 75% of 28 is 0.75 × 28 = 21 students who returned slips, so 28 − 21 = 7 did not. Or directly: 25% of 28 = 7.

1. Returned: 0.75 × 28 = 21.
2. Not returned: 28 − 21 = 7.
3. Check: 25% of 28 is 7.

The trap: Answering 21, the number who did return a slip. Underline "NOT" before you calculate.

B: 25%. The increase is $4. Percent change divides by the original price: 4 ÷ 16 = 0.25, or 25%.

1. Change: 20 − 16 = $4.
2. Divide by the original: 4 ÷ 16 = 0.25.
3. Write as a percent: 25%.

The trap: Dividing by the new price: 4 ÷ 20 = 20%.

A: 13.5. Sort the scores: 9, 11, 12, 15, 15, 20. With six values the median is the mean of the third and fourth: (12 + 15) ÷ 2 = 13.5.

1. Sort: 9, 11, 12, 15, 15, 20.
2. Six values, so take the 3rd and 4th: 12 and 15.
3. Average them: 27 ÷ 2 = 13.5.

The trap: Averaging the two middle numbers of the unsorted list (9 and 20) gives 14.5; the mean of all six is about 13.67; the mode is 15.

A: 17. Distribute: 3x − 12 = 2x + 5. Subtract 2x from both sides: x − 12 = 5. Add 12: x = 17.

1. Distribute the 3: 3x − 12.
2. Subtract 2x: x − 12 = 5.
3. Add 12: x = 17. Check: 3 × 13 = 39 and 2 × 17 + 5 = 39.

The trap: Distributing only to the x (3x − 4) gives 3x − 4 = 2x + 5, so x = 9.

A: 15 feet. The rise and the run are the legs of a right triangle and the ramp is the hypotenuse: 9² + 12² = 81 + 144 = 225, and √225 = 15.

1. Square the legs: 81 and 144.
2. Add: 225.
3. Take the square root: 15 feet.

The trap: Adding the legs (21) or stopping at 225 before taking the square root.